The Commenter

His mind swirled in a whirl
for he travelled far
yet never left his chair
but the whole world
was there
he watched it on his screen
and mind told fingers
just where to go
tapping the keyboard
late into the night
while the ideas
were still
bright
then they took flight
around the world
onto screens
here and there
and now and then
someone else
on a chair
read thoughts
as the Earth
swirled and whirled
around the Sun.

The Desert

The desert is a place
where all certainty
is uncertainty
where reality
is a mirage
where a mirage
becomes reality
where the wind tests
all that dares to challenge it
and the challengers that survive
are never the same
erosion bares all
with softness the first to go
hardness is the survivor
adaptability
coming in
a strong
second.

The Scientist

He flew
in airplanes
and walked on
sandy shores
and rocky ones too
he could count atoms
and stars too
constructed molecules
inside his head
with thoughts and memories
of textbooks and tweezers
he inspected
insects
and with a hammer
he once split a rock
just to give light
to a trilobite
and ask
who
are
you?

Molecules in One Grain of Sand

It was about a
trillion billion
by his rough calculations
but I wasn't about
to start counting
for I had sixty whole minutes
in the hour that I thought I had
until I realized that
time wasn't minutes
for me to count
but was a trillion billion
chances
just waiting
to be.

Mojave

In the Mojave desert
I once spent the night
talking to the stars
in darkness
in a sleeping bag
atop still warm sand
as the wind calmed
eyes to the heavens
filling my mind
with wonder
as I told the stars
that they twinkled
and could think
of nothing else
that the universe
wanted to hear
and so 
I closed my eyes
and listened
and heard
myself talking
as always 
to 
myself.

Soul on Fire

Was it funny
that he put
a smile on his face
when his soul
was on fire
for want
of a better
term?

Ode to a Leaf

I couldn't see the forest
for the trees
and couldn't see the trees
for the leaves
and couldn't see the leaves
for the cells
and couldn't see the cells
for the cytoplasm
and couldn't see the cytoplasm
for the forest
that I held in my hand
that I called
a leaf
that was filled
with more wonder
than my mind
knew how to
grasp.

The Ruse

No thing
seems at times
like nothing
but that's the ruse
because behind
all the aught
is everything
under the sun
with thoughts
that go beyond
the stars
with memories
sprinkled in
just for delight.

The River Was No More

It was a day like no other
day in the long string
of countless days
that faded all the way back
in my memory
until there was nothing
but jumbled glimpses
of reconstructed minutes
when everything was new
and now all that gone
yet the future was here
unpredictable pieces
constructed
inside my head
but to cross the river
just once
into the future I walked
to the other side
where it was all so familiar
to my surprise
then I turned around
and the river was
no more.

Chet's Porch

I think 
it was a
break of drawn
moment
when in the distance
I heard voices
of every kind
speaking of wonder
and reality
all matter in between
some words 
crystal clear
while others 
wrapped in mystery
before I knew it
darkness approached 
but I returned
the next day
and approached
the porch again
this time a chair was bare
and no one seemed to care
when I sat
and made myself
at home
and daily I returned
others came and went
yet no matter
how early I arrived
I could never catch a glimpse
of the owner of the porch
but always there
his words
as though they were 
the nails 
the sawn and planed timber planks 
that is what
we call 
the porch.

Suddenly Brave

Before the storm
lightning and thunder
rain that stung
my face
we laughed before
the gathering dark clouds
on the narrow trail
faster our pace
down and around
the tall redwoods
and boulders 
we scampered over 
as the first drops
urged us on
when suddenly the dark
of the forest 
awoke our primal instincts
to blinding light
then a boom that
sent us running
across the high meadow
no time to dwell
upon alpine beauty
poured the rain 
but now safe 
inside the Volkswagen
we burst into laughter
soaked and cold
yet now
all of a sudden
brave.

God = x

I blink
in the dark
overhead
bejeweled sky
I tease the universe
and find
potential came first
and all that matters
then came forth
to be
you and I
to wonder
why.

Like TIme

To the seashore
again
this time the lapping surf
catches me with ease
no longer can I taunt
the sea
outrun its endless dare
like time it is
always there
for me to measure
and be aware
just how much longer
I need
to care.

The Blue Jay Feather

The blue jay feather
was the bookmark
about the halfway point
in Moby Dick
and the Volkswagen van
pulled into the camp space
surrounded by redwood trees
a stream nearby
provided the music
and she began
preparing lunch
and he began exploring
the campsite as only
five-year-old boys do
and I retreated
to camp table and bench
and opened to
the blue jay feather
and all about us
the sunlight streamed
in long shafts
down from the tall trees
confirming to me
this was the spot
to be
for we three
and nothing else
counted.

Old Men with White Hair

Old men with white hair
blown in the wind
when each step
is considered
with care
and no more
thoughtlessly
moving about
with matters
in their head
of consequence
to none
now all those thoughts
faded and threadbare
awaiting a pause
a chair
then time to dwell
on memories
of thoughts
of consequence
to none.

Painting and Printing

A matter
of an 'a'
for an 'r'
and the difference?
Printing
when we paint words
not for eyes alone
but for minds
to translate
into invisible images
inside darken skulls
where eyes
think they see.

Making Sense

Making sense
of a world
a universe
without a thought
but for yours
and mine
the starry night
and atoms
dancing their dance
without a thought
neither rhyme nor reason
except for yours
and mine
we sense
what we can
and construct
what we can
and think we know
what we can
and bite apples
and chew facts
and call it
knowledge.

Creating Memories

Once
I remember
creating memories
out of thin air
one by one
each more amazing
than the other
then summer
came to an end
and school filled
my mind with facts
that crowded my memories
until this day
when I sit
under the shade
of a cottonwood tree
and remember
amazing things
that refused
to flee.

The Plums

The plums
were dark purple
under the summer sun
I reached up
big and round and firm
I picked a basket full
after I bit into one
and juicy and sweet
it was
the basket rested
by the window
in the kitchen
and after I had my fill
the remainder
slowly dried
and it was late July
when I rediscovered
my harvest
now shriveled prunes
and to my delight
even sweeter
than before
as I opened
the back door
holding the basket
and spitting the pits
onto the bed
of white roses.

Constructing Reality

Another daybreak
the world awakes
to my open eyes
blinking 
as if chewing 
bits of reality
my eyes feed 
my still sleepy mind
as my imagination
hurries to make
the world
real.

Is and Is Not

The unthinkable
What is it
that is not?
That is
and forever is
yet is not?
For all our thinking
is not enough
to make
what is not
to become
what is.

Reverse Engineering a Universe

The universe / oh so slowly / re-created
in words / of countless / souls
and even now / that journey / just begun
until that day / when all / will fit
inside / just / a single one.

Dreamland

Dawn splits heaven from earth
this morning
and I roll over
my eyes close again
as my mind settles
beneath a cottonwood
tree
leaves quaking
in the breeze
as I lay below
and watch
with hands behind head
blue sky beyond
and I blink
the heavens overhead
filled with stars
in the black night
and I awake again
with thoughts
of eggs and bacon
sputtering
over a break of day
camp fire.

Known and Unknown

The Emperor Moth
took flight at night
beneath a starry sky
to where it went
he never knew
but as for the sun
and the moon
he knew
when and where
because
his Farmer's Almanac
told him so.

Argyle Socks

How many years
did legs and knees
and feet
take to evolve
into confident
steps
to stride across
continents
floating mountains
plains and deserts
atop molten rock
only to walk daily
to and fro
the parking lot
legs hidden
beneath desks
to spend the days
toes wiggling
trying to escape
the darkness
inside argyle
socks.

Atoms

If I look closely
then all the pieces
the invisible too
do fit together
just so.

The Constants of Nature

The constants
of nature
make
for infinite
possibilities.

Cut Short

I don't recall
was the response
and like a cleaver
cutting my story short
gone the shared memory
of that time
that place
and I smiled
and talked of rain
and thunderclouds
and lightning
before silently
putting my memory
to rest.

Day One

In the beginning
God cast out a large net
into nothingness
and the net made space
and the time it needed
to discover
not one fish
to be found
and that was
the first day.

Life Unfolds

Life
like an origami puzzle
too complex to understand
each day
new creases and folds
I make
to those that were there
from the start
yet in the end
as I unfold
I no longer can tell
those I made
from those
that were there
from the start.

My Hungry Eyes

In the dark of night
I look up and gaze
upon countless stars
and feel in awe
as starlight
fill and nourish
my hungry eyes
unlike those everyday
sunny photons
these are ancient
old and wise
that touch
my mind.

Lucy

Lucy was bawling
on the black and white
screen that turned
to snow every so often
in the hot summer night
outside I walked
the neighborhood sidewalk
by myself
from open front doors
flickering light spilled
onto front porches
and at the Taylor house
I could hear Spanish
and then I knew
that crazy Cuban
discovered another
red harebrained scheme
gone wrong.

Jonah Tried It

Jonah tried it
and failed
to run away
from the Creator
of the universe
only to discover
how really small
one is when
thinking such thoughts
as never being alone
in the depth of night
looking up to infinity
and still think
a silent voice
inside one's head
is enough
to make personal
that which is
behind
infinity.

One

I slap my face
to wake
the universe
it and me
one and the same
it too big
and me
I can count
one, two, three
and you
know not one.

No Tassels

My mind took in  
just enough  
so that it all fit  
like a comfortable  
pair of loafers  
scuffed up and  
unpolished  
and certainly not  
with tassels  
that needlessly  
distract   
but facts  
one by one  
filed away  
to await   
another day  
when the tip  
of my tongue  
calls one   
forth.  
 

Happiness

A thirty nine
Ford Coupe
would be enough
to bring happiness
I thought
as the geometry teacher
drew circles
and triangles
with chalk
on the blackboard
when my mind
could think
only of red lacquer
and naugahyde
a three oh two
fuel injected
vee eight
and speed
when I heard
the teacher speak
of beauty
while drawing an isosceles
triangle
and I chuckled
under my breath.

Falling

He walked far
before it dawned
on him
that with each step
he fell
to the earth
only to catch
himself
with the very
next step.

Angels and Devils

I once read a book
about angels and devils
while I sat beneath
a cottonwood tree
on a huge granite boulder
beside a rushing stream
and frequently I would pause
and look above my head
leaves would quake
as though they knew
something that I had yet
uncovered until I set
the book down
and the words of
angels and devils
disappeared
to be replaced by
the sounds of life
breaking the surface
and my eyes beheld
for just a second
the rainbow speckles
of a trout
surrounded by
a rainbow mist
and then I knew
what the tree
had always
known.

Time and Again

Sometimes he
would buy time
or take time
even give time
as if the clock
with the pendulum
would swing
forever.

Constructing Values

One by one we construct
values
out of nothing but memory
and experience
some hidden inside 
innate desires to live
we call good
and darkly night sounds
of a nature that chills
our minds with death
as natural as life
yet we build our values
and my values
sometimes thinking a Creator
is like us
yet at night we know 
that death is the food 
of life
a cycle that we clothe
with myth
so that life stripped bare
is hidden from view
in modesty we value
life to be
beauty we call it
the surface
decorated 
to dazzle our eyes
as 
it
must
do.

War and Peace

I once pressed wildflowers
inside heavy books
like War and Peace
only to be forgotten
until years later
when I looked to reread 
Tolstoy
and instead found
star bursts 
of Queen Anne's lace
on stained words
that spoke 
to my imagination
of beauty
long waiting
for the light
of day.

The End of Spring

The End of Spring

Long ago
in a small village
in China
they all sat around 
a large table 
with scissors in hands
cutting colorful silk 
like flower petals and
the old man with thin
copper wire constructed
stems and glued green
leaves and shaped them
just so
that across an ocean
on the dining room table
a silk bouquet would be
there for nearly 
a lifetime and dusted 
occasionally 
and never did
a seed come to life
or a bud burst open
to greet a bee
or butterfly
with nectar 
or pollen
just like that
flower 
so long ago
that the old man
studied 
in his garden
in a small 
village
in China.

Toe to Toe

In my head
right and wrong
often go
toe to toe
playing their game
with my mind
as I try
to construct
actions
that define
who
I am.

I Caught My Breath

I caught my breath
before the last 
few steep steps 
that would take me to
the top of the world
it wasn't a mountain top
but a desert mesa top 
that overlooked a valley
and below a river 
that now looked like 
a silver ribbon 
that seemed to be 
following the setting sun
and there I turned
and began my hike down
to save the table 
for another day
when I hoped 
I'd be ready 
for just
that moment.

The Game

For the sake of peace
have it your way
in all things
I care not much 
for my mind 
is busy at the moment
trying to decide
if the Celtics 
have
what it takes.

Nature Moves

Nature moves
one atom 
at a time
obeying 
unseen rules
until aware minds
chip hard stone
into pyramids
and cathedrals
as well 
saw trees
to meet their needs
chairs and tables
and match sticks 
to build
fire.

The Eclipse

It was called a kiva
a circle of carefully
placed stones that was
now but a desert artifact 
for wondering minds to pause
and reflect of those who long
ago stacked one heavy stone
atop another in what must
have been a quest to quell
fears of the unknown
and if not making the mysteries
known
then creating an answer that would
prove to work for some
and the others just
had to embrace their fears
until the moon passed
from the face of the sun
and the light of day
would shine 
and fears no more
as sun light 
would illuminate 
what the eclipse
had hid.

Morning Broke Again

Morning broke again
and the peek of sunlight
chased ever longer shadows
across the desert floor
a Joshua tree's shade stretched
for what seemed a mile
and distant mountains too
cast longer shadows still
before their slow and long retreat 
until at exactly high noon 
the geometry of darken ground
disappeared for but a moment
and how long ago
did minds that thought
discovered what was 
always there
mathematics
waiting to be discovered
to measure mountains too
with foot against foot
counting long shadows
and short ones too
some minds calculating
while others simply wondered
which came first
the math 
or the mind?

The Poetry Book

It was a thin book of poems 
that a long ago librarian 
thought an excellent addition 
to the collection 
even though she opened 
the newly arrived book but once 
before dipping her crow quill pen 
into the special white ink 
to pen a Dewey decimal eight one one 
to the thin spine 
that tried her patience
that sultry summer afternoon
in July of nineteen forty one
then the library card 
and envelope typed and glued 
inside the cover
and later the poems were squeezed
between two larger books
and then forgotten
and for over half a century 
before finally touched again 
by human hands 
and then dropped into a cardboard box
which was later stacked 
among the others in a basement
to await 
an annual used book sale
although the poems
were still 
unused.

Invisible Thoughts

Have you ever seen a thought
with your own eyes
before it escapes
and becomes
an idea
that makes
you blink?

In Common

But for the circumstance
of sunlight beaming across
the ground at sunrise
the forever hidden fossil
would remain lost
but now cast an eerie shadow
that I happened to see
and later the anthropologist
said it was one of us
from so long ago
that if I were to meet
this former soul
today
that all we'd have
in common
would be some older
soul that walked too
and watched the same
sun rise each morning
and breathed the same air
and most likely
enjoyed
barbecue.

Taking Flight

The stream runs swift  
as I step   
atop the first large rock  
of many   
that lead across   
the swirling water  
like   
a tightrope artist   
my arms outstretched   
tremble  
at each step  
the rushing current  
reminding me   
of   
a false step  
yet half across  
a final dash  
no time to tremble  
I leap to ground  
only   
to find  
right behind  
my son   
balancing  
on the last stone  
camera   
in hand  
above the whirl  
snapping a shot  
of a deer  
now no longer near  
that I missed  
in my haste  
but later saw  
startled  
in the photograph  
of a leaping man  
outstretched arms  
as in flight  
the deer   
staring   
at the farfetched   
sight.  

Cycle -- Take 2

Some times
I find myself
some where
on the straight line
of time
always trying to stand
half way
between past and future
yet my mind rebels
and never seems to find
the exact middle
tittering and tottering
my thoughts go
tug at the past
grab for the future
I hold both
and in that brief moment
I realize
it is a cycle
all the time.

Ode to Jimmie Rodgers

Out the train window
the desert in the fading light
rushes past as I rock and roll
to steel wheels hanging tight
to steel rails holding to wood ties
from trees long ago felled
and lumberjacks no more
carry axes or manhandle
whipsaws in forests
and darkness falls
the whistle blows
to warn forgetful men
and women
that when the stars shine bright
trains know no other way
than straight and fast
rocking and rolling
to long gone hillbillies
who once sang songs
that are
now but memories
to old men
staring into
the dark
desert night.

4/28/12

The Dove is Silent

In morning
the dove is silent
as the breeze
sweeps
old ideas
now exposed
to the light of day
with the veil of night
lifted
and my eyes
see
for the first time
what my imagination
already
knew.

One Hand Claps

Once a drop in the sea
until  the sun rose
to the radiance
of Easter day
then a quick farewell 
whisked away 
and now a cloud 
as one hand claps
in silence.

Easter Time

He was here
then was gone
in more than a poof
rabbits still hop
in the early morning
dewy grass
and hens cackle
when smooth eggs
are forgotten and
left for children
to gather
after those who knew
first dye the shells
with colors of
soft rainbows
and think thoughts
of long ago
with new ideas
of spring gardens
seed packets
now empty 
and in dark earth
are but summer dreams
of a fiery red tomato
that I bite 
and taste
juicy ripe
sweet life
seedy with a touch
of remembered love
on a hot
august day.

Without a Trace

They no longer read books
long ago 
they used them
as bricks
to build their shelters
and those still stood
although the dwellers
had disappeared
without a trace
as to who they were
yet the brick ruins
held inside
the complete history
of all those that
lived before 
books 
became 
bricks.

I read the iPad oh boy

Staring at  photon glow
my brain connects
with how many I do not know
thoughts unravel
visions of lizards 
seaside walks
a cranky old desert solitary
a long ago paperback 
distant conversations 
Fiji water in plastic bottles
hula girls and swaying palms
then a crow lands in a far north land
a saint-named wanderer 
and jello-like brains 
sizzle and spark
and today I read the iPad oh boy
the Holy Grail of neuroscience 
is consciousness
a trillion synaptic connections
sizzle this morning
as I sip
Japanese 
green tea.

Peter and the Rooster

A rooster crows
with memories of
oh so long ago
three times he did 
cock-a-doodle-do!
and now recalls 
hidden sobs
oh so strange
a greeting to
the breaking of 
what seemed
just 
another day.

Shell Games

It was a puzzle undone
in my mind
it dwelled
each night I returned
only to discover
at the break of day
once holding a shell
snatched
before the wave
crashed onto the sand
a young boy ran
holding prize
in hand.

Walking Pi

I found pi in the sky
when I imagined
fluffy white clouds
between hard earth
and black space
floating in a sea
of blue air
to protect numbers
and ideas
inside minds
that walk the surface
of pi
one
step
at a time.

The Weaver

I, the one
who wove the tale
with mystery weaving
through the fray
with awe inspiring
to all
but those that see
not pattern
woven
before the I.

The Blueprint

In all the universe
everything is but
the right now
and the right here
time and space
right down to 
the building of atoms
from protons
and neutrons
and electrons
elements built
each the same
as if by blueprint
each with potential
to construct
no more
or no less
than the original
plan
allows
possible.

Building Reason

Reason is 
built upon experience
gathered by self
and others who
we think reliable
enough to accept
their rhyme as reason
even though they may
be now but dust
and memory
yet we live life
without experience
because we trust
our gathered reasons
are reliable enough
that we need not touch
the flames to know
that they burn.

He

Smug as could be
he gazed at his plate
with a look of self
satisfaction
that he alone
plowed the field
planted the corn
and summered
through to 
the harvest
and even the moon 
through the window
seemed 
to agree
until his wife
broke the silence
with 
ah-ah-ah-choo!

The Wall

The wall was covered 
with photographs
maybe over a hundred
thumb tacked somewhat haphazardly 
over there scenes of smiling people
in dress of long ago
beside faded Kodacolor prints
of a once vivid Grand Canyon
and teenagers beside hot rods
posing like James Dean
and an elderly couple
with looks of amazement 
standing beside a huge
Mickey Mouse in Disneyland
and I imagined each picture
but one one-hundredth of a second
slices of time captured on film
and I estimated the entire wall
represented a total of
one second 
or maybe two seconds of time
and I wondered 
what happened
to all the other 
time?

Hiding

Trowel in gloved hand
I dig into the earth
to make a home
for the bulb
with yellow daffodil 
hiding inside.

Rock Around the Clock

Solid rock
is the mountain
with all the time
in the world
to await 
a ticking clock
to give it rhythm
a beat in time
to rock
around
the clock.

I Once Wondered

I once wondered  
how far is far  
for then   
the earth was flat  
and all I had  
was my imagination  
but then I studied  
science and things  
that could fit  
in my pockets  
atoms and neutrinos  
and all sorts of things  
invisible to my eyes  
yet known to my brain  
and no more was   
the earth flat  
when I discovered  
that it was the universe  
all along  
that was flat  
and the earth round  
and my mind  
infinite.  

What is, Is

What is, is
and never was
and never will be
for is
is stuck
forever now
until a mind
with memory
and thoughts
can put 
it all
together.

Carbon Talk

Stars are the factories
where protons are smitten 
denser and denser
until the time has come
to release the new creations
with graphite
to talk
marks on paper
carbon given voice
to the universe
and life
remembers
for as long
as stars
shine
in the night
sky.

In Silence

And right now
somewhere 
on the other side
of the universe
it is snowing
on a dead planet
with no one 
to behold the beauty
of the snowflakes
they fall
in silence.

In the Garden

Was it rude of me
biting into your apple
that you claimed
before I plucked it
from the apple tree
or were we partners
in crime
you worm and me
taking tasty bites
of apple's flesh
as if neither
you nor I
knew the difference
between 
good 
and
evil?

Truth was Here

Truth was here
before anyone
appeared
then evolution
brought us near
enough to think
we see it all
so clear
but time for more
when further change
will shape the mind
to fit truth
exactly so.

Without Past nor Future

The changing universe
subatomic interactions 
without past or future
ever the present 
a comet has not an orbit
a planet not a revolution
a star neither a birth nor death
for without an intelligence
be it large or small 
to connects the dots
that creates past and future
we have no spinning objects 
or revolutions
or even
an ongoing
reality.

Is My Mind Mine

Is my mind mine
only to mine
ideas from thoughts
to imagine
and construct
what could be
from nothing
and there it dwells
inside the head
until the mouth
and fingers
and toes
make it so?

The World was Doubtless

The world was doubtless
until another
entered the picture
before
all that I knew
was true
the bite of the apple
raindrops on my head
eyes waking to
a rising sun
now were added
observations
thoughts and ideas
opinions
that were not my own
then
I discovered
doubt.

In Our Youth

In our youth 
we have the choice
to deny ourselves
a world of pleasure 
or to yield to 
that pleasureful world
and in choice
we are empowered 
to flip the switch
take or deny
yet as time goes by
nature slowly takes away
with its want 
to finally 
deny.

Near the Roadside

An orange, an apple, a pear
were the fare
and I ate each
in turn
seated in my
blue Chevy
with the door open
and my legs swung out
and my feet
planted on the gravel
of the shoulder
near the roadside
fruit stand
and around 
my bare feet
were the bright
orange peels
an apple core
and just as I prepared
to bite 
into the juicy pear
I wondered
if life
could be
any better.