Friday, November 30, 2018
from The Wishin' Jupiter Poems: Each Step
Each step a
step away
or towards.
Why aren't we
content with
the here and
now, with this
wind, the sound
of cottonwoods,
the evening's
coyotes
talking to
the only
God they know.
THE RED-TAIL
The red-tail
becomes one
with tree and light,
field and snow,
with waiting.
There can be
nothing here
without him.
Thursday, November 29, 2018
from The Wishin' Jupiter Poems: Again the Idle
Again the idle
chatter of
cottonwoods.
They have done
their work and
may now speak
at leisure.
They know all
the gossip and
will share it
if you wait.
EVERY DAY
Wednesday, November 28, 2018
Random November (38)
from The Wishin' Jupiter Poems: The Poet, Walking
Go back, I think,
you're done.
I'm not done,
just breathing
harder for
each new word.
In this season
the easy path
will be a tough one.
WHAT / WE KNOW
Tuesday, November 27, 2018
Random November (37)
Random November (36)
from The Wishin' Jupiter Poems: Blessings
All are blessings,
even the sad crickets
singing for winter,
even the rattlesnakes
asleep in their dens.
ESTABLISH / A LANGUAGE
Monday, November 26, 2018
Random November (35)
Random November (34)
from The Wishin' Jupiter Poems: Someone Who Loved
Someone who loved
a woman shaped these
soft hills. Someone who
touched with tenderness.
Even the broken
parts are lovely,
even for the dead
who rest here now.
You might say the world
ends where it began,
with woman waiting
to be born to this.
WONDER IS
Sunday, November 25, 2018
Random November (33)
Random November (32)
from The Wishin' Jupiter Poems: A Cattle Path
A cattle path
through the pasture.
The meadowlark
flies blue sky.
I know I should
tell you something
but will instead
let the wind
have its say.
Listen. Listen.
FIRST THINGS
Love in the morning.
The work we do.
The way the day
turns to afternoon.
The long light with wind
becoming evening.
At night, stars and
all we dream.
Saturday, November 24, 2018
LIVE AT THE OLD FOLKS HOME
Two Ol' Flats: Doug Burk (guitar) and Tom Montag (bass). Cabinet holds our gear for performances: foot pedal, mixer, drum machine, monitor, and two microphones. We will be performing at Prairie Place in Ripon in January.
Random November (31)
Random November (30)
The white silence
of morning light.
The hope of birds.
Listen, listen,
they say, the only
song they know.
from The Wishin' Jupiter Poems: The Wind Here
The sun
and the
grasses
paint red
and green.
The wind
believes these
soft hills
belong
and goes
gentle
among them,
moving their
colors,
touching and
letting go,
touching
again.
CAN IT BE / DEATH
Can it be
death shall have
no meaning?
Matter and
energy
are neither
created
nor destroyed.
Even dead
stars are not
dead, but are
transformed. Out
of decay,
new growth.
We shall be
whatever
the cosmos
wishes.
Friday, November 23, 2018
Random November (29)
Random November (28)
They are all
hunger moons and
all the winds
are lonely.
November
the same as
ever, the
stars retreating
as they always do.
from The Wishin' Jupiter Poems: What Blood Knows
What blood knows,
and muscle,
would fill the sky.
The blue air
of October
keeps me whole
as I wander
lonely as a
cloud-headed
poet who
loves this world.
WHERE THE GHOSTS
Here where the
ghosts linger,
where the wind
does not bother
them, the slanted
light holds
nothing but
shadows. The
stillness is
deep and cold,
as quiet as
oak when
you split it.
Thursday, November 22, 2018
Random November (27)
Random November (26)
from The Wishin' Jupiter Poems: October Air
Embrace the chill
October air.
Let it whisper
another story.
Let it walk you
home. Let it tell
you who you are.
THOUGH THEY MAY 11-12-18 (5)
Though they may
see you walking,
where you walk
is inside
yourself, or out
at the edge
where the stars
know themselves.
It cannot be
otherwise,
dreamer, shape-
shifter, poet.
Wednesday, November 21, 2018
Random November (25)
Random November (24)
from The Wishin' Jupiter Poems: The Last
THE TRAIN 11-12-18 (6)
Tuesday, November 20, 2018
Random November (23)
Random November (22)
from The Wishin' Jupiter Poems: Dead Cottonwoods
THE POET 11-12-18 (7)
The poet like a man
with a hammer cracking
rocks. Sometimes he finds
it's only common granite.
Sometimes it shines like
sun in all directions.
You cannot know until
the stone is broken.
Monday, November 19, 2018
Random November (21)
Oh, yes,
the water
still loves
the wind
and will
until
winter
chills and
smooths it.
Then the
wind will
love what
water
has become.
Random November (20)
November's
code, something
secret
from the sun,
grey, of course,
lonesome.
We worry
we have lost
too much,
yet we don't
know what, or
when, or
what it means.
We don't know
whether
we should
even begin
again.
from The Wishin' Jupiter Poems: What Measure
What measure
but my stride,
the ravens'
dark flight,
the cottonwoods
holding to
what they know
of water.
WHAT IS THIS 11-12-18 (8)
What is this
that we cannot
say, out beyond
where words are
uttered. Not
silence, not
emptiness,
the fullness
of wonder.
As if love
and loss live
at the edge,
with hope
between them.
Sunday, November 18, 2018
Random November (19)
Random November (18)
The monarch
butterflies
crossing
the border
south of here,
how the wind
has loved them,
how they
love the wind.
from The Wishin' Jupiter Poems: October Moment
CHINESE LANDSCAPE IN WISCONSIN: NOVEMBER
All the grasses tend to bend
the same in wind -- no reason
not to. Bending is the choice
to make when you have the earth
to hold to and the power
of wind is only passing.
Saturday, November 17, 2018
Random November (17)
Random November (16)
from The Wishin' Jupiter Poems: The Poet Examines His Method
NIGHT. DARKNESS
Night. Darkness
wants to take
this old house.
Cold abounds
now, in late
November.
Wind pushes
at the eaves.
What assures
is knowing
this is what
we've chosen:
the warmth of
light shows out
the window,
tells the world
this is so.
Friday, November 16, 2018
Random November (15)
Random November (14)
from The Wishin' Jupiter Poems: Sounds
The sound of a jet
overhead, of cattle
in their pasture.
Wind in the small grass,
you can hear that, too,
if you listen.
I SING LIKE
Thursday, November 15, 2018
Random November (13)
from The Wishin' Jupiter Poems: And Shall I Walk?
And shall I walk
this walk tomorrow?
And shall I see
the world still shining?
Will I hear
the birds, the sound
of water moving
towards winter?
And if I don't, I did.
The birds know,
the water knows.
That's enough.
MONKS CHANTING
Wednesday, November 14, 2018
Random November (12)
Random November (11)
from The Wishin' Jupiter Poems: Chance Upon
Chance upon
the river.
Chance upon
the dead cow
the coyotes
have opened.
Chance upon
the moment
when truth
kind of stinks.
OLD POET SELF-EXAMINATION
Even after
a lifetime
he doesn't
understand
what it is
he is. And
how can he?
He's always
last to know.
Tuesday, November 13, 2018
Random November (11)
from The Wishin' Jupiter Poems: Somewhere Coyote
Somewhere Coyote,
old Crow's brother,
thinks this place is his.
I ask, May I share?
As is his custom
he says nothing,
NOVEMBER WIND WITH GEESE
Dark geese fly
against a dark
sky, the evening
darkening. Hard
wind pushes them
back, holds them
motionless.
Not the end
of the world,
yet they stay
as if it were.
Monday, November 12, 2018
Random November (10)
Random November (9)
from The Wishin' Jupiter Poems: I Can Show You
The rim of soft hills,
the river. We have sky
with clouds. We have
cottonwoods talking.
Otherwise the silence.
If you cannot find God
here, I can show you
where the thistles are.
LAST NIGHT'S DREAM 11-5-18 (11)
Sunday, November 11, 2018
Random November (8)
from The Wishin' Jupiter Poems: All I Know
All I know
is nothing
when it comes
to speaking
with the red-
tail. Kii, he
says. Kii, ii.
The sky knows
what he means,
yet here I stand,
lost for words.
NIGHT SKY POETRY 11-5-18 (12)
Thursday, November 08, 2018
Random November (7)
Random November (6)
from The Wishin' Jupiter Poems: Things Are
Things are what
they seem and
a deer trail
shows me the
way out and
back. You can't
ask for more.
Yet you can
still get lost
if you want.
WHAT THE POET HEARS 11-5-19 (13)
Wednesday, November 07, 2018
Random November (5)
Random November (4)
Random November (3)
from The Wishin' Jupiter Poems: Snow Begins
Snow begins to
cover the world.
We are not
ready yet.
Not that what
we might want
will ever make
a difference.
HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE POEM 11-5-18 (14)
Tuesday, November 06, 2018
from The Wishin' Jupiter Poems: At Sunrise
POET'S MIND 11-2-18 (7)
Monday, November 05, 2018
Random November (2)
from The Wishin' Jupiter Poems: Mist
Mist. Neither
off nor on.
The slow sky
holding it-
self mostly,
just this edge
of wetness.
You can see
where you're
going, but
you can't see
farther.
POEMS WALK 11-2-18 (8)
Sunday, November 04, 2018
Random November (1)
from The Wishin' Jupiter Poems: Who Shall Speak
Who shall speak
of morning
this morning
except these
cottonwoods
and small birds
flashing on
and off like
signs of hope?
THE POET'S WORK
The poet's
work is rough
copy, not
exact. This
world wobbles
in the wait,
blurs. And
mystery hides
in plain sight.
Saturday, November 03, 2018
from The Wishin' Jupiter Poems: Such Is the World
Such is the world
that the trees know
when to let go.
Such are we that
we don't. To every-
thing there is a
season. The soft
hills in the distance
know. The cranes
know. Overhead
the sky promises
winter. Even
the small dark birds
will tell you: Let go.
LATE LIGHT
Friday, November 02, 2018
THIS LIGHT 11-2-18 (9)
Not every
day, but now,
which is here,
and in an
infinite
number of
universes,
there and there
and there, which
is now and
then and then,
all of them
shining.
SOLACE 11-1-18 (7)
from The Wishin' Jupiter Poems: Oh, Yes, Beauty
Oh, yes, beauty,
the blind sky, trees
losing their leaves,
light on the snow,
here and there grass
and dirt showing
through. You might think
this is enough
but the world has
just begun.
Thursday, November 01, 2018
from The Wishin' Jupiter Poems: Read Things
A TREE SPEAKS OF ITS FELLING
You think because
the axe loves wood
I love steel. No.
Pain is why chips
explode each chop.
The distance to
the ground is a
slow eternity,
long stories I tell
while you wait for
the moment when
you think this stops.
