I WANTED MORE OF THAT

 

I WANTED MORE OF THAT

Surfer guy, riding in a storm, real flexible

gets his butt down, low centered

ocean underfoot, fiberglass plane

I could swear I caught a wave

just now

but the two times I surfed

I just flopped around

never stood up

god it was fun

I wanted more of that

DOG BREATH: 21 DAYS OF POETRY, DAY 9

OLD BOOTS

for Pete and Chester Bester

Birthdays and condolences for the loss of pets

seems to be what social networking is REALLY good for,

otherwise it’s just an awful lot of information,

and some of the smartest, kindest people I know

aren’t “on there", like my buddy Pete.

Chances are right now he's installing old windows in a new house,

caulking them in, always game for a DIY situation,

hands on, Greg Brown on the boombox,

old boots up by the fire afterwards, and a cold one.

DOG BREATH: 21 DAYS OF POETRY, DAY 6

 

PRACTICE SPACE

For this poem I will lay on my stomach

and talk into my tablet,

my right ear near the kick drum in my practice space.

What am I listening for? Drummer Matt needs to come over

and bring this kit to life. It’s got dust on it!

DOG BREATH: 21 DAYS OF POETRY, DAY 3

VOICE TO TEXT

It is now possible to write a poem

using voice dictation technology.

Here in my dumb dinghy,

I can motor at the sky with words

while I row this story to shore, 

picking up digital alerts

about developments in the Royals game.

I’m dragging a light test line behind,

and if I get a word nibble, all the better.

Hit send from this little boat,

and I can share my thoughts 

all over the world. Is this good?

Generally, it seems pretty good. 

At one point I wanted lineal feet of books—

books with my name on the spine.

Now I just want a good life

and passing remarks, and the occasional text,

shared to and from my tribe.

DOG BREATH: 21 DAYS OF POETRY, DAY 2

ARE YOU QUALIFIED

are you qualified   to write or pick up that guitar 

are you qualified   to imitate birds

are you qualified   to try, with uneven results

are you qualified   to turn into molecules someday

are you qualified   to point at the moon like Buddha

are you qualified   to be seen as good

are you qualified   to be interesting

are you qualified   to be interested

are you qualified   to take delight in a moment

are you qualified   to put it out there

are you qualified   to break out big time

are you qualified   to be indifferent for two days

are you qualified   for self-critical cutting

are you qualified   for new underwear and socks

are you qualified   for starting shit

are you qualified   for a yellow scooter

are you qualified   for faking it like everyone else

are you qualified   for standardized testing

are you qualified   for tickling carp

are you qualified   for a leap of illogic

are you qualified   for sleeping in church

are you qualified   for night sweats

are you qualified   for structural stamp of bridges

are you qualified   for home taco production

are you qualified   for ten really deep breaths

are you qualified   for a movie alone on a sunny day

are you qualified   for adventure

are you qualified   for having been born

if the answer is yes, you may also be qualified

to love your life and live this day inside a jewel of love

a fractal of being among being among being

if the answer is no, being unqualified is good practice

DOG BREATH: 21 DAYS OF POETRY, DAY 1

The Form

For some time we have lived and died by this form

but seasons are changing,

Ned is nearing retirement and less controlling now,

and one youngster put the form online 

so that it would populate to a spreadsheet.

Neeta in accounting, five years back or so,

brought Ned food when his wife died.

She supports consistent use of the form 

but will make whatever work.

The form is paper and the form is an accretion of days,

ideas, plus-minus margin and bottom line data.

The form is rolling up like an old scroll now

and our names are all on it.

What do we do today to win the day?

Do we give, or do we pretend not to need,

or do we admit to having need?

If you roll up the form like a spyglass

and look way down to the bottom of the well,

which last week opened up in the lobby floor,

smelling like minerals and damp air,

you see a cool blue star--that’s the takeaway,

the real reason we work at T & C Hinge Supply,

Incorporated.

OH HELLO 2021!

OH HELLO 2021

Oh hello 2021, nice to meet you,

I have forgotten about last year already,

some things happened and a lot was talked about--

some really lucky people complained 

and some really unlucky people didn’t complain

and that is how it often is

and I don’t want to be upset about anything,

I just want to do--and do better--

so I’ll just say hello for now,

that year--whatever it was--

is done. Let's go.

***

Starburst Cross Pattern mask at my Redbubble shop.

***

I am grateful that this was a lucky year in so many ways for me and my partner and our family and our friends.  

I channeled a lot of energy into creative pursuits, including a daily blog post starting on 12/23 of 2019 (I think?).  I missed one day due to camping brain fry in the middle of summer.  

I posted art for postcard layouts for 100 days. I posted haiku for Haiku Rock City, a 21-day side project. I started a Redubble print-on-demand shop and enjoyed the support of friends who bought journals, stickers, cards, masks, and t-shirts. All in all I let it rip--why not? Marketing isn't my strong suit but I kept my powder dry and learned a lot.

Early on, the Squids released We Live In A World That Is Out Of This World--right before all the clubs in the world closed down and none of us could play live, locally or otherwise. So I finished songs, wrote new songs, and The Squids practiced (socially distanced) regularly. We put together a live album and livestream show of about 14 NEW songs, called Serve Without Delay. That title is kind of painful because the mixes have been done for a month and we haven't figured out how to release it yet...onward!