A Blade of Grass

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 consciousness
little voices
silenced
making room
for it
to be

Is

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

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

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

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

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?

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

The News of Late

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

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