Bro. Bartleby

Without Past nor Future

2012-01-19T07:43:00.001-08:00

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

2012-01-16T10:32:00.000-08:00

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

2012-01-13T16:37:00.000-08:00

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

2012-01-06T21:07:00.000-08:00

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

2012-01-06T21:05:00.000-08:00

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.

Unlocked

2011-12-29T17:33:00.000-08:00

Ink to pen
to paper
words
thoughts locked
in time
the battle begins
save for nature's laws
all else must change
thoughts unlocked
as words
dissolve
in time.

The Fall of Icarus

2011-12-21T14:15:00.001-08:00

Like Icarus too
we who escape
the maze of life
seeking wisdom's light
we the moth
drawn to promise
of revelation
yet soon find
our imagination
not enough
to grasp the fiery truth
that shines from afar
and burns all
that dare to venture
too close
with but
everyday minds
disguised
with feathers
of imagined
angels.

Hand Jive

2011-12-14T06:08:00.000-08:00

I raised my hand
a flag waved
attention getter
the tool holder
the shaper of vessels
the caster of seeds
the plucker of fruit
from the tree of life
the grabber
the holder
the maker
the examiner
the connector
touching you
and me
inspecting
and admiring
beholding
I lift the apple
it feeds me
too
as it writes
my thoughts
for minds
to see
and touch
and hold.

Midnight

2011-12-06T07:24:00.001-08:00

It was cold
and dark
and the flashlight beam
seemed to bounce
before me
the trail revealed
nothing but whiteness
the snow still falling
and up ahead
I could hear
voices
as the guard tower
came into view
"Halt! Who is there?"
it reminded me of
old war movies
on a Zenith TV
in the warmth
of the living room
and before I heard the challenge
with the password
on the tip of my tongue
I was struck by
how beautiful
this white landscape was
at midnight
in Korea.

Under the Sun

2011-12-05T06:58:00.000-08:00

Did you say
what has been
will be again
what has been done
will be done again
there is nothing new
under the sun?
Yes the building blocks
atoms and quarks
and all
the tiny stuff
are ever the same
but the assembly
taking this
or that
shape
makes forever
new
all under
the sun.

Once Again

2011-11-30T06:43:00.000-08:00

Earth spins
once again
sun rises
so I think
inside my head
a rooster crows
from long ago
memories rise
as I wake
to begin again
to construct
another day
recollections
from my collection
of days
when wonder and
anticipation
were
all I had.

To Be or Not To Be

2011-11-29T06:22:00.001-08:00

A tree is a tree
and by being a tree
it shouts
to the universe
a tree I am
just so.

But you and me
can we be
like the tree
just so
or need we be
one a tiger
another
a lamb
all because
we chose
to be
or not
to be?

The Porch

2011-11-27T17:24:00.000-08:00

Giving thanks
for a chair
to sit and stare
at the stars
from the porch
for a time
and to listen
to words
thoughts
feelings
and to share
my say
and at times
overcome
with memories of
youthful zeal
the kind that
blind the eyes
to all but one's
own rhapsody
yet to some ears
much too much
to
deal
with
so they say.

The Table Saw

2011-11-27T17:00:00.001-08:00

The table saw
had no safety features
just an on-off switch
and rising from the steel bed
a whirling steel-toothed blade
that divided the pine boards
as fast as I could
feed the hungry blade
saw dust filling the air
with smells of a pine
forest
and as a young lad
that was enough.

Home

2011-11-24T07:53:00.000-08:00

Happy trails
to you
as rivers course
seeking home
we forever choose
the right way
to return home
where we all
meet on shores
waves lap
to midnight
ebb and flo
stars overhead
never change
by candlelight
we feast
and call
this place
home.

The Useless Tree

2011-11-21T17:01:00.001-08:00

It seemed a useless tree
a stump rooted
for countless years
firmly to the earth
yet now a safe haven
for rootless insects
inside and out
boarders
that if they could speak
would call
this former home
to eagles and owls
and raccoons
and once a robin
and always rustling leaves
of greens and golds
their own.

Autumn

2011-11-15T21:35:00.001-08:00

It was tall
taller than me
the sunflower
petals were no more
and half the seeds
gone too
the head hanging
as if weary
of all those
summer days
following the sun
yellow petals
before blue sky
no more.

Cell Phone to Ear

2011-11-14T06:34:00.000-08:00

The next best thing
to experience
are symbols
that recreate
everything
that can be
thought of
symbols flowing
from out fingertips
a quill pen and jet
black ink
an imagined keyboard
glowing on a glass faced
iPhone
a finger drawing
in the sand
sounds uttered
from evolved
vocal cords
that come to life
in ears
that hunger for
symbolic sounds
that waiting
minds
understand and
bring to life
experience
inside heads
that are forever
constructing
reality
out of symbols
in the dark.

Evidence

2011-11-09T06:59:00.001-08:00

It was evident that
he came this way
the footprints cast
in dried clay
stride across the
dried riverbed
to the stand of
green fluttering
leaves in the breeze
cottonwoods
that today shaded
bleached bones
of what appeared
to be
a dog.

Army days

2011-11-07T07:19:00.001-08:00

What was I doing
in the motor pool?
Paying a debt
for goofing off?
The clipboard in hand
nosing beneath
the huge truck hood of
the olive drab
deuce-and-a-half
yet I inspected yesterday
so I checked the tiny boxes
on the clipboard sheet
now seated behind the wheel
with time now to spare
until the captain came
making a beeline to
my assigned vehicle
now clipboard
in his hand
he inspected
the tiny check marks
tiny frauds resting
in tiny boxes
for oil unchecked
battery unchecked
water unchecked
a deuce-and-a-half
uninspected
and he shouted
"bull shit!"
to which I found myself
in that motor pool
for another week
at the breaking
of seven Korean dawns
inspecting a row
of deuce-and-a-halfs
with greasy hands
in cold silence.

Every Moment

2011-11-01T06:17:00.000-07:00

Every moment
can be sacred
the gift of life
oh so overwhelming
that in wakeful
moment-by-moments
one can be moved
to tears
by what God
has made us
a part of.

Are we yet
awake?

A Knapsack of Truth

2011-10-28T06:57:00.000-07:00

Truth cares not
that a telescope
reveals a bit more
and changes
unknowns
into knowns.

Now we all
can have a knapsack
filled with truths
truths that our ancestors
never imagined
so here we are
the load upon our backs
but will we find happiness
easier to come by
or kindness towards others
easier
or empathy
for those hurting around us
an empathy
that translates into actions
actions
to make wrongs right?

Science gives us this knapsack
but can we be wise
with newfound truths
when it becomes so easy
to exploit
the entire earth
for the sake
of our short-lived
comfort?

Science can't answer
these ultimate questions
of human motives
for science
doesn't care.

Gratefully some scientist
do care
but if as some wish
for the future
a world without religion
then I wonder
will any then be left
that remember
what caring
for those that are hurting
really means?

First the Big Bang

2011-10-26T16:50:00.000-07:00

First the Big Bang.

Then a chain
of a zillion causes
and effects.

And here you are
with that backpack
of ‘all time’ on your back.

And every breath you take
is that which moves you
into
the ever present.

And you ask,
now what?

Beyond Monkey Business

2011-10-26T16:49:00.002-07:00

Matter is dumb
yet springs forth
from dumbness
intelligence
found inside
the very
bits and
pieces
when
pieced together
just so.

Where does
this manifestation
come from?

From complexity
built upon
simplicity
and simplicity
built upon
a potential
beyond
monkey
business.

In the Beginning

2011-10-26T16:49:00.001-07:00

In the beginning
no time
sprang to
time
and evolution
started
and in time
produced us.

Then we
lived
and thought
about all this
then we died.

Then all was
silent
and time became
no time
again.

If a tree fell ...

2011-10-26T16:48:00.001-07:00

The tree falls
and the air vibrates
in silence
with not an ear
in sight.

Autumn Leaves of Green

2011-10-26T16:47:00.001-07:00

In summer when we seek comfort
under those trees that work mightily
to deflect and reject
the cool greens
and stand tall with leaves shimmering
with the absorbed reds and golds
yet it takes autumn
for us to realize
what summer held
when in turn
those trees
of grandeur
finally accept that tiny slice
of the electromagnetic spectrum
that we call green
hidden to our eyes
dazzled by
the now rejected waves
of reds
and golds.

More or Less

2011-10-23T21:24:00.001-07:00

We live between
the nothing more
and the nothing less
bologna
between slices of bread
and like sacred words
to be consumed
chewed
champed
munched
and the less
becomes more
and the more
becomes less.

Creator of the Universe

2011-10-23T21:23:00.001-07:00

Creator of the universe
are the building blocks
one by one
assembling into this
disassembling into that
again and again
we too for a bit
assembled into this
and later changed
into that
and Jesus too
a creator
of the universe
just like me
and you
too.

Autumn Leaves of Green

2011-10-23T21:19:00.000-07:00

Fishing in a Sea of Sand

2011-10-17T16:19:00.001-07:00

Years ago I viewed a Zen rock garden
with not a petunia in sight
just sand
raked into swirling patterns
of the sea
and a few large rocks
here and there
I guessed then
they represented islands
the sand
the watery sea
with the raked swirls
which created the metaphor
in my head
of watery sea
and not
bone-dry sand.

I returned a few times
to that garden
once watching a solemn monk
carefully dragging a rake
as he first made a course
around one large rock
then the others
he seemed to have
the courses
already memorized
for he dragged
that rake
as I recall.

I used to push a lawnmower
in my youth.
In the backyard
I cut the lawn
not as my older brother did
in careful overlapping rows
but I would push
that old lawnmower
in circles and swirls
and zigzags
anything
but in straight lines.

It was fun
drawing with a lawnmower
I would stop to admire
the meandering course
cut through the tall grass
but in the end
I would always do
a quick
back-and-forth
to clip the tall grass
before my father
returned home
from work.

The Buddhist
dragging the rake
didn't appear
to be having
much fun
not as much fun
as I had
pushing
a heavy
lawn
mower.

Then
I wondered
why?

Rock On

2011-10-14T12:45:00.000-07:00

When the creator departs town
taking care
and concern
and desire too
all that is left
behind
goes the way
of all that is forgotten
former complexity
seeks its origins
constructs destruct
bricks turn to dust
old men rock in chairs
awaiting the youth
of their mind
to rock
once again.

Wind Chimes

2011-10-05T21:58:00.001-07:00

Wind chimes
did I hear?
my eyes closed
and my outdoor chair
creaks as I adjust
myself again
thoughts of
a long ago
late summer breeze
filled with funky smells
of rice paddies
that surround my way
and the dragonflies
hovering, darting
while rivulets of sweat
stream down my back
and the air filled with the crazy
whaa-whaa-whaaahaaahaaahaaahaaa
of countless
hidden
cicada.

Cargo Pants Man

2011-09-24T12:38:00.000-07:00

Dawn split heaven from earth
this morning
as a long-shadowed figure
walked toward me
silhouetted by the rising sun

cargo pants man
greeted me with a smile
he with knapsack filled with tools
to record the mysteries
of prehistoric desert peoples
a laptop to capture thoughts
a Nikon to record burnt fire rings

a Clovis Point
would be the jackpot
he said
in his quest to imagine rituals
and ceremonies
that excited his speech
in a mysterious sort of way

his excitement suddenly
turned to sobriety
when I told of my quest
to imagine
this fellow called Jesus
he too
from a desert clime

seated atop large boulders
he told tales
of Anasazi
and Hohokam
and Mogollon

and I shared
my tuna sandwich
when he unexpectedly
cracked a smile

then I told him
I imagined Jesus
wearing a pair
of cargo pants
just like his

the smile disappeared
as he reached
into his knapsack
and produced
a large arrowhead
and handed it
to me

saying

I
prefer
real
things.

Hunters and Gatherers II

2011-09-19T15:41:00.001-07:00

With twine we bind
all that we find
to later dine
on our feast
of memories.

FIRE

2011-09-19T15:37:00.002-07:00

The F leans
against the I
a tepee
when R
then E
ignite
a fire
that leaps
to life
when cried
out loud
some panic
while others
fall dead
to just
the sound
of
a single
word.

Words and Apples

2011-09-19T15:37:00.001-07:00

I imagine
the human brain
evolved into a mind
when words
became as real
as an apple
in hand.

We Journey

2011-09-19T15:35:00.001-07:00

With memories
we journey
through space
and time
as if
past
and future
were naturally so.

Imagining Nature

2011-09-07T11:21:00.001-07:00

Can I imagine
rain drops
striking my face
or a wind
that attempts
to blow me away
or thunder
that gets
my attention
or cold
that sets
my teeth chattering
or a stillness
that quiets
even my thoughts
or sun rays
that bleach
white bones
that once
imagined
it all?

Two Generations

2011-08-30T15:48:00.001-07:00

See? See?
Isn't that enough
to do?
To look and muse
about the wonder
of it all?
I want more
to do
than to
merely look
and see
when I can
make
things
happen
in interaction
talk and listen
read and write
cause and effect
communicate
my world
is more
much more
and it happens
right now
again
and
again.

One More Miracle

2011-08-30T15:47:00.000-07:00

The paradox
of gathered knowledge
is that
former miracles
become
common knowledge
so abundant
that one cannot count
so widespread
that one cannot grasp

stars, cells, atoms, time,
evolution, water, eclipses,
DNA, metamorphosis

yet the mind
has room enough
for one
more
miracle.

Think It Real

2011-08-30T15:46:00.000-07:00

Forever change
neither good
nor bad
locked in time
and space
mind too
tries to
halt time
grasp space
just long enough
to
think
it
real.

I Think

2011-08-23T10:52:00.000-07:00

And inside the mind
hidden among the memories
and behind the facts
were bits and pieces
of the soul
and if one looked hard
one could catch glimpses
of feelings and beauty
truth and love
curiosity and insight
compassion and imagination
integrity and emotion
the mind claimed it's own
yet when asked
to explain
the essence of the soul
the mind could but say
I think.

Loss for Words

2011-08-19T16:12:00.001-07:00

He was at a loss for words
yet in his pocket he had
the entire alphabet
more than enough
to say everything
that has ever
been said.

To the Point

2011-08-18T10:55:00.001-07:00

If we look close enough
we come to a point
where matter dissolves
and the best
we can come up with
is point
without matter
yet in this infinitely tiny world
we can pluck one
a quark
and attempt to grasp
that inside our very cells
inside the atoms
that compose those very cells
are quarks
and stars are composed
of quarks
air is composed
of quarks
you and I are composed
of quarks
rocks and mountains
and bears and wolves
and whales and turnips
and automobiles
are composed
of quarks
the many
in oneness
did God created?

Meditating Upon Forever Change

2011-08-13T16:58:00.001-07:00

Sometimes deep into the night
deep into the desert
with but the canopy of stars above
and a meandering breeze
that seems to come and go
as it pleases
and a kind of darkness below
a circular horizon that stuns the eyes
and tiny sounds about
some familiar
some strangers
and seated atop gritty sand
with still warmth from the long departed sun
new smells tickle the nose
and the body slowly finds an ease
and seems held upright
by that breeze
and the mind
oh the mind
wants to take it all in
as the senses grow bold
and bolder
what was once ordinary
becomes extraordinary
then the mind lets go
the voice
in the brain
is dumbstruck
and what was thought
to be stillness
suddenly becomes
forever change
and in the blink of a blind eye
the entire universe
slips into
that silent mind.

Flooding Forth

2011-08-01T10:08:00.000-07:00

That 'I'
which experiences
and acts
and thinks

that 'self' which is forever
dwelling upon itself

like Adam at the very moment
of self realization
when the 'I' came
flooding forth

a river
a lake
an ocean
that separated Adam
from innocence

humanity now all alone
with but an inner monologue
in stead.

A Blade of Grass

2011-07-26T07:15:00.000-07:00

But then I stopped
stooped and plucked a blade of grass
and it was this blade of grass
that I sought to ponder
but then it struck me
that this too
was too much for me to grasp.

A single blade of grass?
I marveled at its greenness
then held it up to the sky
and with the bright sunlight behind
could see the individual cells.

Ah, I thought, perhaps I can grasp
just one cell
of this singular blade of grass.

But no, this too seemed too much
for my mind to apprehend
for even upon close inspection
this green island in a sea of islands
was a vessel of enormous complexity.

Botany 101 taught me this.

This so tiny cell
was in fact
a dynamic powerhouse
a manufacturing plant
a converter of mystical rays of sun
into food for growth.

Ah, the enormity of it all
I thought
within this single cell
were more and more realms of wonder,
all the way to the carbon atoms
and protons
and the very
very tiny quarks.

And there it was
held between my thumb
and forefinger
but now not dynamic life
but a plucked blade of grass
dying a quick death.

Bless even you blade of grass
an enormously complex creation
a fingerprint from the hands of God
yes
a beauty of which I will not
soon forget.

Forgive me.

Light

2011-07-24T07:24:00.000-07:00

The moment
when light turns to dark
inside our brain
imagined light
then comes to life.

Thoughts are ever evolving
expressions that can morph
from this to that
in a nanosecond
then disappear in a blink
to might or might not
ever surface again
while words are thoughts expressed
thoughts solidified
in that they take on a life
apart from the solitary mind
and become part
of the collective mind
with dictionaries as arbitrators
when the collective disagree
on a once solid word
that begins crumbling
into ambiguity.

I'm out the door
and with mindless resolve
point myself in the dark
toward the east
toward the crescendo
of lightness
that will halt me in my tracks
when night becomes day
like marching toward an idea
an idea that me
and the sun
and the earth
for one brief moment
have reached an invisible point
a point only imagined
in my mind
a point in time
and space
when eyes blinded for want
of what feeds them
are suddenly fed

daybreak

photons flood the landscape
and my eyes
are fed!

Oh so ordinary

2011-07-12T16:46:00.001-07:00

Oh so ordinary
is a hot summer night
when the whirl of a fan
is music in the dark
accompanying
croaking frogs
in the distance
oh so ordinary
is waking to a glowing
herald of break of day
and the frogs
now deep asleep
and quiet
oh so ordinary
an electric coffee pot
percolating
as a toilet is flushed
and a faucet lets go
cool morning water
oh so ordinary
a day goes by
in a rush
while someone
in a market
stacks oranges
and red apples
and peaches
and apricots
in perfect rows
oh so ordinary
that someone
pushes the wheelchairs
and lines them in
a large room
perfect rows
and there they sit
oh so ordinary
memories of
a seasick morning
on a day called D-Day
and another of
a train station farewell
and that was that
he never returned
and another
of sawing two by fours
under a cloudless blue sky
in a backyard
of a tiny two bedroom house
in East L.A.
and another of
a wedding day in 1942
with just a week
before that train farewell
and I still feel the rice
a handful my brother threw
as if it were yesterday
and another of
peeling an orange
near a stream
in the mountains
in that beautiful place that
just right now
I don't seem
to recall
but I can still
taste
that orange.

Time and Place

2011-07-12T16:30:00.001-07:00

How unwieldy
time and place
never together
but for a blink of an eye
to grasp time
this very moment
in Ireland and Brazil
and inside an atom
and across the starry sky
this very moment
takes hands larger
then the entire universe
yet place
this place
without moment
is but a way station
for a gathering of atoms
like a pew in
St. Catherine
in Ventry
where countless souls
in this very place
over time
live the same space
yet only
one
at a time.

Who we are

2011-07-09T16:30:00.000-07:00

We name
the unnameable
we describe
the indescribable
we apply attributes
to that which attributes
cannot be applied
so that our minds
can create words
like heart
soul
love
to imagine
who
we
are.

Vexing Word

2011-07-03T18:58:00.001-07:00

Vexing words
with hammer in one hand
and tongs in the other
gripping another vexing word
another of those misformed words
that needs but the smite of my hammer
to enform it to its should be shape
and smite I do
and to my amazement
that thought to be iron-like word
that word that in my mind had but one shape
yielded to my smite
not like red-hot iron
but like clay
willing
if not eager
to mold to my mind
or to any mind
and assume a new guise
for that was its soul
to mean whatever like-minded minds
wanted it to mean
and always ready to change
from this to that
and not from hammer beats
but from minds
minds that are ever reshaping the world
with its words.

Chance

2011-06-30T21:32:00.000-07:00

Chances are
but an idea
in minds
that design a world
of befores
and afters
when the universe knows not
past or future
always
right
now
memory less
foresight less
chance less
when all
just is
and we think
it could have been
it might be
just because
our minds
think
it so.

Be Careful 2

2011-06-22T12:13:00.001-07:00

Be careful
when you enter
through a door
that changes the way
you see the world
in ways that never
your mind thought
in the black and white
days of your upbringing.

Be careful
when the nonsense
suddenly makes sense
and the world springs
to life before your very
fingertips
and you and that
and here and there
and it and it
are one
and life
too.

Be careful

2011-06-21T14:32:00.001-07:00

Be careful
the knife is sharp
be careful
electricity will shock
be careful
words are dynamite
when pieced together
just so
be careful
when light and dark
feel the same
when solid and space
look the same
when motion and rest
are but blinks of my eyes
or yours
between birth
and death
when knowing and the known
are one
and the same
be careful
when good
and evil
are but part of one
be careful
when you and life
and self and others
and this and that
a mockingbird
a Jaguar XKE
Alpha Centauri
sweet basil
and my nose
are what matters
between the just now
and my
and your
very next thought.
Be careful.

Ever changing

2011-06-15T16:48:00.001-07:00

Change is in the air
where every molecule
itches
for change
my mind a swirl
of ever change
the now always
the was
seeking
the will be
and in the midst
of the ever twirl
you ask
where I stand?
and all I can say
is
does time
stand still?

The biggest

2011-06-15T16:46:00.001-07:00

How big is big
when the biggest of the big
in the whole wide universe
is but invisible to my eye
the cesium atom
the big guy
we think the biggest
and to think the entire universe
has nothing bigger
with all else
cobbled together
atoms upon atoms
a shoe
a mountain
Jupiter
a galaxy
bits upon bits
yet not a bit
larger than
the mighty cesium
measuring in at
273 trillionths of a meter
give or take
an inch or two!

To Be

2011-06-01T16:57:00.001-07:00

spirit, wind, breath
and sketchy vagueness
rushing into creation
spoken into existence
breath of life
filling me
awakens
what will be
for all
dreams and visions
set loose
can you see?
listen up!
I tell the truth
in conscience
little voices
silenced
making room
for it
to be

Is

2011-05-29T18:11:00.001-07:00

What is, is
is there regardless
if I'm here
it is
just because
and needs not
my affirmation
or even
my word
that attempts
to make real
in my mind
what is already
real
yet I must admit
the real inside
my head
is but a construct
known
only to me
in order that
I may try
to convince you
that it is
as real
as that
which is.

Voice and voiceless

2011-05-09T06:24:00.001-07:00

With voice
that is heard
that has paused many
to dwell upon each word
understanding thoughts
your thoughts
sometimes dismiss
those without voice
with but wind
and rock
and river murmur
constant companions
the voiceless
cry
for words.

From this to that

2011-04-29T13:19:00.001-07:00

Like a question mark
my small hands grasp
and twisted round
and round until
the wire clothes hanger
came undone
sprang to life anew
two marshmallows pierced
and thrust into
the open fire.

Either Or

2011-04-26T06:54:00.001-07:00

Either or
is at the core
always frames
and makes a game
of this for that
or I'll take back
what once was me
and set it free
and let the mind
be not contrived
and stuck in time
as some incline
to do
when drawing lines
that divide
either
from the more.

Midday Dreams

2011-04-05T08:26:00.000-07:00

As the world slows
to the beat of my being
the hard and sharp
edged and cold touch of reality
slips away oh so slow
that even I
dissolve in the warmth of
mind alone
in the fading light as eyes
shut and all that is left
for me to play
memories
faded and broken
and hastily pieced back
together.

What is This?

2011-03-31T15:33:00.001-07:00

What is interesting
is that a human
can believe this,
live this,
and when dying
still hold
to this.

The News of Late

2011-03-31T15:26:00.000-07:00

The newspaper arrived
at the crack of dawn
and to my surprise
a fish inside
a red herring it was
and all because
the news of late
has grate my soul
and taken its toll
that all I want
is to distract
from all the crap
that fills the air
without a care
except I dare
to eat raw
while still fresh
red herring sushi
served atop
the funny
papers.

Carbon

2011-03-23T05:47:00.000-07:00

We are carbon copies
with elements intact
built to make another
to be almost exact.

Adam's First Day

2011-03-15T12:11:00.001-07:00

Tick tock
what a shock
this morn I rise
and to my surprise
I see
really
I see
for the first time
the world to me
is more than this
and more than that
for now
just now
it is me that I see
and I do it
with eyes
shut tight.

Light

2011-03-15T12:09:00.000-07:00

The moment
when light turns to dark
inside our brain
imagined light
then comes to life.

"Photons can also be absorbed by nuclei, atoms or molecules, provoking transitions between their energy levels. A classic example is the molecular transition of retinal C20H28O, which is responsible for vision, as discovered in 1958 by Nobel laureate biochemist George Wald and co-workers. The absorption provokes a cis-trans isomerization that, in combination with other such transitions, is transduced into nerve impulses."

Nature is nature

2011-03-15T12:07:00.000-07:00

Nature is nature
naturally so
laws and forces
is all it knows
without mind or heart
save for our part
it unwinds cause and effect
with horrific affects
yet minds and hearts
that beat think cruel
when in fact we know
that it is but true
nature is nature
naturally
it
is
so.

Hunters and gatherers

2011-03-15T12:06:00.000-07:00

With twine we bind
all that we find
to later dine
on our banquet
of memories.

Inquiry Full

2011-03-11T17:46:00.000-08:00

What is this
that some refute
as matter less
worthy not
of mere dispute
yet puzzle is
for some to bear
and seem to care
what it is
is matter full
and ultimately
answer less
but truth be told
question full.

Inside, Outside

2011-03-08T12:17:00.000-08:00

Does the world construct us?
Or do we construct the world?
Indeed,
the world constructs us,
and
we construct this world,
two different worlds,
one all,
the other residing
inside like brains
constructed alike
to believe alike
in their construction
of what fits right
to seem right
to make them believe
it is right.

Something and Nothing

2011-03-08T12:15:00.000-08:00

Do the structures
of nature
exist independent
of minds that
understand the
structures
in thoughts
constructed in
abstract language
inside minds
that create
blueprints of
it all
so that without
a mind
even 2 plus 2
would never
equal
a single
thing?

Spirit

2011-02-26T22:41:00.000-08:00

Spirit
wind
breath
and sketchy vagueness
rushing
to creation
spoken into existence
breath of life
filling me?
Ah ha!
awakens
what will be
in me
dreams and visions
set loose
can you see?
Listen up!
I tell the truth
aware of
that little voice
inside my head
now silenced
making room
for it
to be.

What's new under the sun?

2011-02-24T12:03:00.001-08:00

What's new under the sun
besides atoms arranged
and thoughts in minds
with imaginations
that rearrange
to make things
like spears and arrows
and wheels and bridges
computers too
but in the end
they were always here
the atoms
and laws of nature
building blocks
just waiting
to be
rearranged.

Real?

2011-02-22T13:53:00.000-08:00

What is my
real world
the imaginations
in my head
or the horizon
my eyes squint
to see
maybe memories
constructed from
things that once
touched my hands
or thoughts
that forever are
just beyond
my
grasp?

It's about Time

2011-02-21T11:16:00.001-08:00

Time is a funny thing
when we think it
a clock
ticking
or a world spinning
or a sun rising
or a night falling
or a breath in
or a breath out
or a memory of
yesterday
or thoughts
of tomorrow too
or waiting in darkness
for the mind to still
and then sleep
when time
becomes a dream
that isn't
real.

The illusion of change

2011-02-17T10:30:00.001-08:00

What is change
but the ever present
moment
when memory
is exchanged for
look
listen
feel
smell
I can almost
taste it
Right now!

Shaping young minds

2011-02-17T10:28:00.000-08:00

Just as evolution seeks
the least resistant path
in a lazy man sort of way
so too some take that path
to shape young minds
and reign in imagination
with thoughts fantastic
in order to control
and make life easy
for lazy teachers
who have nothing
to give
but their own fears
that long ago
were shaped
by lazy
fearful souls.

Turning Egyptian

2011-02-13T11:25:00.001-08:00

Is making a revolution
more ambitious than
building a pyramid
by hand
and is using words
to draw
eighty million
fanciful demands
of freedom
and peace
and
democracy
as hard as
using mathematics
to stack limestone
blocks until
they reach
the sky?

2011-02-12T11:24:00.001-08:00

Why is my grasp
so weak
I want to grab
hold tight
to that which
my mind
delights
but can it be
that all I see
is a world
set-apart
without heart
for want
of a mind
to set
it free?

The Mystery

2011-02-12T11:21:00.000-08:00

Can it be
if I can't see
or even hear
or think I'm near
yet mystery
I call God
invokes in me
to set free
that piece of me
called mystery.

Nurturing my religious imagination

2011-02-07T16:27:00.000-08:00

I had a thought
nurturing
my
religious
imagination
and it arose like an
early morning mist
over an imagined
field of sun-ripened
wheat that filled
my vision to
infinity
rustling warmth
of waking earth
and far away
crows
and above
blue sky.

I do, I do

2011-02-07T16:26:00.000-08:00

I do what I want
I do
even if you think
me a fool
for in the end
we all pretend
and matters not
if I get caught
because I want
to do
what I want
I do.

The past few days

2011-02-02T13:28:00.000-08:00

Heaven

I imagine
is it real
is it here
or nowhere
to be
is it I
and it
and one and one
making we
together imagining
or
just me?

-----
I watched the news today

Egypt in chaos
the tweet did say
with cries in the air
another did dare
dreams running wild
I imagined to care
tear soaked prayers
from gas in the air
for want of little
I wondered who cared
until breaking news
made real
those who dared.

-----
In the beginning

Inside the tiny thimble be
all the universe including
you and me
yet the matter then at hand
was not the final plan
for need be time
and a place
for stars to race
birds to fly
and a porch
for you
and I.

-----
The word

I thought a thought
and then another
that the first
only there
to provide support
and in short
God the name
it unknown
but to me
a simply word
it a key
unlocks the door
and I explore
the other side
that does resides
inside
my head.

The Miracle

2011-01-28T17:52:00.000-08:00

I looked and looked
and always mistook
what my eyes had seen
for the essences of being
the particulars found
would always astound
but the one that confound
was the miracle found
I see that
I see
and it is me
that I be
my
self
I
found.

2 for 1

2011-01-27T16:01:00.000-08:00

Nature

Here and now do I care that fish swim and birds fly
and will I cry in that blink of the eye when they die?
For all that dwell around the sphere in space and time
are but here for me to know not why
yet here I am hidden where it all constructs
inside the skull
the tiny sphere
where I see all the world just for me
and I care
but why?

Soul

It's all atoms and the void
was the introit
entered the white-clad priest
but doesn't God love us
the followers cried
Democritus has spoken
the priest but replied
are not we special
came one lone cry
all an illusion
created from matter
that is your confusion
and the priest turned away
but I think thoughts
the lone voice sighed
and
not
thoughts
think
me.

Considering the Garden of Eden -- again

2011-01-23T07:42:00.000-08:00

Earth? Earth mother? Sophia? What have you created? Considering the Garden of Eden story, I was thinking that this would be the time and place when dualism was born. For better or worse. Of course everyone seems to latch onto the idea of Original Sin and won't let go, the believers spin and weave in attempts to make sense of the idea, while nonbelievers point to the unreasonable idea that a god would take the misdeed of an innocent and make the innocent guilty, and further, punish the guilty, and atop that, punish all humankind forever more. I think both sides fail to grasp the symbolism of this story. First of all, without humans, not only does the concept of good and evil not make sense, but in all of nature it is absent. In all of nature (apart from humans) only “good” and “nothingness” exists. Bad doesn’'t exist, for everything in nature seeks to exploit it’s own potential to live and replicate. That either happens or doesn’'t happen. You might think of all nature as one big organism that exists, and exists only because each part that makes up the “all-nature” live and die to provide another part of “all-nature” with energy to do the same. Nothing is “bad” because in “all-nature” adaptation to prevent extinction is the only goal (if "goal" exists without humans) and total extinction would be the only "“bad”" possible. Yet again, even extinction couldn’'t be “bad” in a humanless and Godless “all-nature,” for in such a universe, everything just is. Or just isn’'t. No matter. For to matter requires intelligence to create the idea of mattering and not mattering.

I think the Garden of Eden, this metaphor, explains the need for intelligence, for awareness, for self awareness, before the ideas (and concepts) of good and bad/evil can exist. Adam (aka mankind) before gaining knowledge of self awareness (or if you prefer, evolution before the brain/mind developed self awareness) was as innocent as a tiger pouncing upon a lamb and ripping it to shreds for a meal. Without self-awareness, “pre-humans” did whatever was required in order to live another day and replicate. After self-awareness (Original Sin) humans became aware of their every action and the consequences of these actions and further became aware that life and replication at whatever cost was no longer possible, for the new brain/mind was not only aware of each action, the consequences of the action, but also if the action had a good or bad value. And for the first time "“bad”" had a meaning other than failure to survive, the human brain/mind continued to develop this concept of “bad” until it became a powerful force that identifies all that would or could harm the individual, the family, the group, the environment around the group, and today the entire earth. These are things that no other life/creature can think, humans not only think, but can act upon these abstract thoughts. And so in the story Adam and Eve with full self awareness watched as their sons fought and one became a murderer and the other a victim of murder. Good and evil sprang to life as if it were an entity, a concept so powerful that not one human evermore can return to that Garden of Eden, that ignorant state of innocence where good and bad have no meaning. Or so it seems to me.

Dividing Rhyme from Reason

2011-01-18T16:18:00.001-08:00

Hammer came first
a fist are you
to pound anew
and pliers too
now a tool
like thumb and finger
but then the saw
not tooth nor nail
can excel
when mind did combine
back with forth
to forever divide
rhyme from reason.

Red tomato in hand

2011-01-14T09:25:00.000-08:00

A tomato in hand
to be or not to be
did I hear that right?
I bite the firm fruit
the skin explodes
seeds and juice
half in mouth
and soon lick seedy pulp
from my salty palm
the garden overgrown
in the summer heat
the last red bite
and I wondered
how Shakespeare could
have had such lofty thoughts
yet never once
did he hold
a red tomato
in hand.

Should have

2011-01-13T06:46:00.000-08:00

We mourn
most
those little girls
so full of hope
and life
and even beauty
as rose buds
yet to blossom
but now gone
open petals
sweet scent
in the summer sun
but our imagination
of what
should have
become.

Tucson

2011-01-13T06:44:00.000-08:00

In the blink of an eye
this can sudden
become that
good disappear
and reappear
as black
as that midnight stare
now awake
to the glare
of daylight
for all to bear
witness to
the destruction
caused
by
a
single
sick
mind.

Language

2011-01-05T19:15:00.000-08:00

With eyes closed
I create a sightless world
of slippery words too
hard to hold for but
an eternal moment
in time that suddenly
vanishes in that dark
place where thoughts
are constructed from
the countless observations
that the Me failed to see
and the I too busy to grasp
the enormity of what was
to be
invisible worlds coming
together with 26 wiggles
of the index finger
on the smooth sands of time
symbols that we create
for only ourselves
in order that we
may make sense of
non-sense
that is the stuff
that makes
us think
we are
alive.

Happy New Year

2011-01-01T18:37:00.000-08:00

Three hundred
sixty five spins
one revolution
a year
two spheres
life bound
together
whirling round
our
tiny
minds.

The unthinkable

2011-01-01T18:35:00.000-08:00

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.

What matters?

2010-12-25T07:34:00.000-08:00

Matter matters
is the patter
that rains down
on our crowns
but concealed
waiting
to be revealed
came down
and appealed
to our
better
nature.

Considering the Garden of Eden -- again

2010-12-21T17:43:00.000-08:00

Earth? Earth mother? Sophia? What have you created? Considering the Garden of Eden story, I was thinking that this would be the time and place when dualism was born. For better or worse. Of course everyone seems to latch onto the idea of Original Sin and won’'t let go, the believers spin and weave in attempts to make sense of the idea, while nonbelievers point to the unreasonable idea that a god would take the misdeed of an innocent and make the innocent guilty, and further, punish the guilty, and atop that, punish all humankind forever more. I think both sides fail to grasp the symbolism of this story. First of all, without humans, not only does the concept of good and evil not make sense, but in all of nature it is absent. In all of nature (apart from humans) only “good” and “nothingness” exists. Bad doesn’'t exist, for everything in nature seeks to exploit it’s own potential to live and replicate. That either happens or doesn’'t happen. You might think of all nature as one big organism that exists, and exists only because each part that makes up the “all-nature” live and die to provide another part of “all-nature” with energy to do the same. Nothing is “bad” because in “all-nature” adaptation to prevent extinction is the only goal (if "goal" exists without humans) and total extinction would be the only "“bad”" possible. Yet again, even extinction couldn’'t be “bad” in a humanless and Godless “all-nature,” for in such a universe, everything just is. Or just isn’'t. No matter. For to matter requires intelligence to create the idea of mattering and not mattering.

I think the Garden of Eden, this metaphor, explains the need for intelligence, for awareness, for self awareness, before the ideas (and concepts) of good and bad/evil can exist. Adam (aka mankind) before gaining knowledge of self awareness (or if you prefer, evolution before the brain/mind developed self awareness) was as innocent as a tiger pouncing upon a lamb and ripping it to shreds for a meal. Without self-awareness, “pre-humans” did whatever was required in order to live another day and replicate. After self-awareness (Original Sin) humans became aware of their every action and the consequences of these actions and further became aware that life and replication at whatever cost was no longer possible, for the new brain/mind was not only aware of each action, the consequences of the action, but also if the action had a good or bad value. And for the first time "“bad”" had a meaning other than failure to survive, the human brain/mind continued to develop this concept of “bad” until it became a powerful force that identifies all that would or could harm the individual, the family, the group, the environment around the group, and today the entire earth. These are things that no other life/creature can think, humans not only think, but can act upon these abstract thoughts. And so in the story Adam and Eve with full self awareness watched as their sons fought and one became a murderer and the other a victim of murder. Good and evil sprang to life as if it were an entity, a concept so powerful that not one human evermore can return to that Garden of Eden, that ignorant state of innocence where good and bad have no meaning. Or so it seems to me.

Ommmmmm...

The eclipse of night

2010-12-21T17:40:00.001-08:00

Bedtime stories
are the quarry
woven tales
knots and twists
that repel
wakeful minds
too confined
and resigned
to
everyday
thoughts.

But chasing shadows
in the night
like a dream
oh so bright
slowly dim
as the flight
of fancy
gives way
to tangerines
and dusky oranges
that make
for juicy
daybreak
tales.

One and All

2010-12-05T21:14:00.001-08:00

Intertwined
we are
even when afar
we are
you and I
we are
but one
we are
when
life
unites us
and you
and I
become.