Saturday, June 30, 2012

THREE fromTHE OLD POET SAYS


"Shall we gather
at the river?

Shall we wish
upon a star?

Fifty cents won't
get you coffee.

That's the way
things are."

*

"Offer your nothings
to the universe.

The universe will
offer you nothing.

That's how it is
with poets."

*

"Poets make promises
they intend to keep,

and they would keep them
if they could,

but they're poets.
You've been warned."



Friday, June 29, 2012


LINES FOR JUNE 29

Stay or
go? Crow

hides his
sorrow.



Thursday, June 28, 2012


LINES FOR JUNE 28

Seagulls, geese,
contrail in the east.

What you see
depends upon

how you choose
to view it.



Wednesday, June 27, 2012


LINES FOR JUNE 27

Unhappiness,
more sauce than soup.



Tuesday, June 26, 2012


LINES FOR JUNE 26

Face the rising sun.
Face the face of

darkness undone.



Monday, June 25, 2012


LINES FOR JUNE 25

The new day,
more flash

than bang.



Sunday, June 24, 2012


THREE from
THE OLD POET SAYS


“Ah,
simple poem,

iceberg.”

*

“Keep
doing that,”

he said,
“you'll have

a book.”

*

“Sometimes more
paper than ideas.

Sometimes not.”



Saturday, June 23, 2012


THREE from
THE OLD POET SAYS


“A short
poem

on a long
piece of paper

is still
a blessing.”

*

“Yeah, you say,
that's what we want,

and then it's not.”

*

“Sometimes what you think is
not what you thought at all.”



Friday, June 22, 2012


LINES FOR JUNE 22

Far dreams
of mountains,

the distance
I have to go.



Thursday, June 21, 2012


LINES FOR JUNE 21

Clouds scooped
by mountains,

the wind.



Wednesday, June 20, 2012


LINES FOR JUNE 20

High plains
wind leaves nothing

on the table.



Tuesday, June 19, 2012


LINES FOR JUNE 19

New day.
Gift of sky.

High wire
sadness.



Monday, June 18, 2012


LINES FOR JUNE 18


Blue sky
sandwich -

clouds and
mountain.



Sunday, June 17, 2012


THREE from
THE OLD POET SAYS


“Take it apart and
you might find there's

nothing there you can
put back together.”

*

“Keep trying,
poet.

You could still
pull one

out of the mud.”

*

“Just when you get
the poem-tent

all rolled up,
you find you might

be pitching
another one.”



Saturday, June 16, 2012


THREE from
THE OLD POET SAYS


“I'm a poet.
Kiss me and

what you get
is whiskers.”

*

“Talk, talk, talk.
Take it off.

Let's see
what you've got.”

*

“You'd think if I
keep at this

they'd lock me up.
You have to wonder

why they don't.”



Friday, June 15, 2012


LINES FOR JUNE 15

Contrails like
noodle soup

spilled

on the dome
above us.



Thursday, June 14, 2012


LINES FOR JUNE 14

Man, oh man,
the mountains!



Wednesday, June 13, 2012


LINES FOR JUNE 13

Torn sky.
Ragged sad

wind unwinding.



Tuesday, June 12, 2012


LINES FOR JUNE 12

Loaf of smoke
on the ridge.
It hides the sky.

The world is lost
without solace.



Monday, June 11, 2012


LINES FOR JUNE 11

Why are you so sad?
Because the sky is

blue or not blue,
according to her whim.

And she thinks love is
what she thinks love is,

nevermind what I think.



Sunday, June 10, 2012


THREE from
THE OLD POET SAYS


“The odds
are pretty good

I'll die
writing a poem.

What are
your odds?”

*

“The poet's
mark, a hawk

riding the sky.”

*

“Sometimes all
the parsing

in the world
won't tell you

what it means.”



Saturday, June 09, 2012


THREE from
THE OLD POET SAYS


“How many
ways to say it?

How many
words?”

*

“They're there.
They're just

there. You
can choose

to take them,
or not.”

*

“Sometimes it's a general principle.
Sometimes it's this particular.”



Friday, June 08, 2012


LINES FOR JUNE 8

The fog like a bag;
me, the cat

that can't get out.



Thursday, June 07, 2012


LINES FOR JUNE 7

A fineness of haze
laid on the day.



Wednesday, June 06, 2012


LINES FOR JUNE 6

The sky,
lifted by

morning.



Tuesday, June 05, 2012


LINES FOR JUNE 5

Morning, still
damp with its

freshness.



Monday, June 04, 2012


LINES FOR JUNE 4 

Another rule to live by:
End it when it's
over, and not a

moment too soon.



Sunday, June 03, 2012


THREE from
THE OLD POET SAYS


“Where you stand
is what

the world is.”

*

“You want
the poem

to do
the work?

As if.”

*

“How much
of nothing

is enough,
O Lord?

Give me
that much

and more.”



Saturday, June 02, 2012


THREE from
THE OLD POET SAYS


“Sometimes I must
remind myself -

Lift up, lift up.”

*

“A few is
enough.

Don't be
greedy.”

*

“You're in
a hurry?
You must

excuse
the plodding
poet.”



Friday, June 01, 2012


LINES FOR JUNE 1

Another rule to live by:
Read from back to front -

the book is sweeter.

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?