A Wooded Area
a huge rack
displays
the antler stag.
There is snow
on the ground.
Wisconsin.
Detachment
I'm reformed.
The old spells and charms
and hexes and vexes
and the ubiquitous
television commercials
no longer carry weight.
I'm under no sign.
I drink this glass of wine
and find a soulmate,
free as the wind.
From The Criticism Of My Poetry
"What you say
is too abstract.
You should pick
a nut to crack."
Examination of Conscience
Why write this?
Do I write to see
my name in print,
as my wife once suggested,
or because I have something
valid to say?
It's hard to say
on a given day.
The inspiration, maybe, is apt,
but the practice lacks something.
I must examine myself
moment to moment, word to word
to see if I only see my own way
or prepare "the way".
Relics
I carry my heroes
in my hands
and on signs hold,
and their works
and acts work wonders
for me and you.
I carry Robert Kennedy,
John Lennon, and Martin King
with me, and they weigh nil.
The relics of a hero
are not dried bones
but living presence
in our lives
and my inspiration
rises high thru
tumultuous later times.
Scenarios For An Apocalypse
The end is near
for everyone.
The world ends
for each with dying
and that's the end
of the world
Each generation may
have its apocalypse.
Some intimate
ferocius dragons
breathing out fire
and spewing dark liquids
from the vagina.
Is it the same
when others suspect
a sudden sharp pain?
Wild Dog - a haiku
Dog barks. Mad at me.
On perimeter of fence.
I walk, shrinking from.
Domesticity
The lamp is broken.
My wife is sitting
on the potty because
it's the room
with the best light
in the whole house.
We are intimate
after our fashion.
The birds have left
the roost
and we are bereft
and lean
on each other.
Tt is almost
like doing penance
for early escapades
and such.
The goose-neck lamp
is broken
and we
shall get
a new 1amp.
Eileen At Eighteen
Her new fiancee
laughed
"We took care of that
in the car
before we got here."
There was some small talk.
I said nothing...
started to.
They turned to go.
She looked back.
All her love for me
was in her eyes.
For having loved me once
she loved me still.
For having loved her once
I loved her still.