poem of the day April 30


Headlines are daily poems

that spring  forth from newspapers

Today the old poet fox in charge of the news says

Wifes listen to to your husbands

while driving a wooden car in Nebraska 

There the Supreme court denies voting rights to those 

who remember Prince was only focused on the music

It was the Weasel shutting down the atomic smasher

At least seven killed when the building collapsed

At least twenty killed in the ongoing Baghdad bombings

But only one Teen died on the carnival ride

Yet senators seek the secret memo

as we peek into the academy of the FBI 

that found the phone of the boys who fished

in transgender bathrooms the San Fran Chief

said were racist to stage five white Trump supporters

Makes one want to be like the woman

from North Carolina who pulled out a gun 

when the waitress got the order wrong

poem of the day April 29


While walking across the stream

I came upon a heart stone

A beautiful reminder of love

living in the wild watery way

Formed by nature chance   

it was the only heart around

The rest of the rocks 

looked like heavy boulders of destiny

I thought about bringing the heart home

But then I realized the heart was stone

and happily living on the bottom of the sea

poem of the day April 28


Passive water is the lover 

of an overbearing  sun

The old love hate

dance of opposite attraction

Get too close 

you evaporate

Too far away 

you drown

but once in a while

the two come together

just right and

an Earth life child is born

poem of the day April 27


The peaches are

about to bloom

standing happy

in their row

The grass beneath

their trunks

a carpet of emerald

to the lift the spirit

from old to new

I sit full of anticipation

upon the spring green

thinking thoughts of

peach and  pie

of love and hope

for me and my

poem of the day April 26


I tripped over

the tree

I planted

but forgot along the way

I got lost in the tangle

of my own branches

while trying to 

pick fruit from another day

poem of the day April 25


In a closet

behind the door

hung an old suit

from another time 

On it was a single stain of wine

I discovered it years ago

while staying in the ancient inn

The room was above the bar

on the way from here to far

Was it there for destiny?

I tried it on

It did not fit with anything

I had ever been

So I hung it back on the rack

Closed the closet without looking back

but this day I am

wondering about the suit

and if the wine was good or bad

The lonesome stain just makes me sad

poem of the day April 24


The grass has grown

before my eyes

Green everywhere

No fence in sight

No lusting for the other side

Just an emerald sea

for me to mow

if I can get my tractor to go

poem of the day April 23


A gentle wind

catches the unfurling bud

like a spring sail

The sleeping tree shakes

awake the wooden boat

tied to the old root pier

"All hands on deck"

the trunk captain shouts

to his brave branches 

as they leave their winter dock

for another long journey

floating on vast ocean of air

poem of the day April 22


Hiding in the attic

lives the life inside the box

The personal dreams

of a lifetime

Letters

Pictures

Small mementos 

of love and hate

All mixed together

waiting in intimate darkness

for the spark of light

which only appeared yesterday 

like golden rain

to shine rainbows

on this sacred soul

poem of the day April 21


Trying to run up the slide

is a very slippery slope

You have to defy gravity

You have to fight the angle 

The angels of repose

It is a dangerous folly we leave 

mostly to the fun of kids

Yet once in a while

an old fool does a hail Mary

Braves the icy cliff of suffering

Struggles up the slick dicey dagger

and gets to the top of the hill

Where the soul is viewed 

as only a lucky fool

by those content to walk up the stairs

poem of the day April 20


The poor monkey

had a human on its back

Every time it tired to swing

across the great divide

the branch broke

Worn down by unwanted weight

All the other monkeys knew

there was nothing they could do

to save their friend from such a horrible fate

poem of the day April 19


All those eyes were formed

before the wall 

Before the beginning of the stream

Long before the whistle of dawn

An old passage within the fold

A couple of dollars

A vase of flowers

The dream hangs clear

in the mind of a child 

The spring becomes a drum

Little feet flying over the highway

bring sparkle to the diamond

Even the basement has a view

poem of the day April 18


A simple piece of wood

floated downstream

propelled by nothing

but gravity

I watched it whirl

around rocks

that were sunk in the river

from too much gravity

It made me wonder about 

Density

Intensity 

The pressure of

life in the currents

and the gravity

of sink and float

poem of the day April 17


"How long is an Earth breath"

The Space Gods asked each other

as they sat down to play yet 

another game of Pandora's box

"Let me look it up" One God said

as he reached for the directions

'It says right here on the label

Three Score and Ten" 

"OK, then the boundaries are settled" 

Slowly the box was opened to let the chaos begin

poem of the day April 16


We have our dogs

Our companions

Man's best friend

A special bond

beyond barks

wagging tails

half eaten shoes

and messy trails

An unconditional love

in a world full of hate

Always sad when one returns to fate

Rest in Peace Mr. Beil

poem of the day April 15


The next time you

are swamped by the

tide of life

Remember

it is just

some sweet water

all souls swim in

Remember

the greatest mountain

in the world 

is happy to be underwater

Has not even poked

out of the abyss

and therefore 

is not floating

in some rudderless boat

poem of the day April 14


I was looking

at all the cuts

The tough ones

hard to chew 

but full of flavor

The tender ones

melt in your mouth

but have no taste

There were too many choices

As I was was standing there

going insane with decision

I spotted Goldilocks

come out of the confusion

and grab a cut without looking

It was then I realized

that I needed to spend

more time with the bears

poem of the day April 13


If you look

there is always laughter

A light natural 

expanding bubble

of emotion found

within us all

Pockets of laughter

exist even in

the most inhospitable

of places

Death Row

War Zones

Famine lands 

Depression

It is a human candle

A universal gas

able to temporarily lighten

the load of human suffering

poem of the day April 12


I was back

at the track

Back sitting 

in the grandstand

It had been over twenty years

since I had last watched

the hundred yard dash

It seemed like yesterday

The uniforms were still 

blue and gold

Excitement  still

hung in the air

The young faces

at the starting gate

were full of the same

High School hope

It made me wonder

about the march of years

About early dreams of a lifetime

It made me wonder

How past faces

had fared since 

running through the door

poem of the day April 11


I was wondering

about idea tides

that come and go

with the rise and fall

of thoughts

Long waves of emotion

slapping at the shore of humanity

The pressure often

revolving in the misguided

mind of a charismatic boat

lost at sea

poem of the day April 10


The dream ended

with the flock of geese

flying somewhere

toward the break of day

The dawn crack

between the worlds

opening the valley

behind the eyes

with song

Everything was so simple

Free of clutter

Free of worry

Free of everything

but omnipresent song

so encompassing 

I could not tell if

the sounds were

from me

or for me

poem of the day April 9


"What you see

depends on the view"

said Point of View

many miles from you

"All I see is a ball

of glue that sticks to

my soul like frost

sticks to blue" 

"Now I see a river

between two hues

Neither is cold

Neither is blue"

Point said to you

as you moved to

the point where 

Point viewed the view

But try as you might

to spot Point's view

you were unable to

see through the veil of your view

poem of the day April 8

The world has enough

to be full of plenty

yet everything is

owned by twenty

Does it matter

who sat in the chair?

who got the bigger piece?

who got the most money?

I suppose it does

in musical chairs

when the greedy play

each other for

the golden throne

dressed in absurdity

Where there is no room

for poor singers

from the crowd

unless they are pets

of the twenty with plenty

poem of the day April 7


Merle died

and I am thinking

How things change

by time and destiny 

I am sure 

they now smoke 

marijuana in Muskogee

I am not so sure 

about LSD

Hippies don't drink 

White Lightening

as a habit

but they make 

hash with Everclear on TV

For those born before

the baby boomers

like my parents who 

could not be here today

For them I have to say

living in the sixties

is such a long, 

long world 

away from today

poem of the day April 6

Out the window 

in the shadow

cold snow clings to 

the tops of branches

like frozen white caterpillars

still hibernating in

the last throngs of winter

All around I hear

the sound of melting snow

The dripping cascade fills

the silence 

with the thunder of

warm spring sun

The fragile white veil

so precariously perched

in the shrinking shadow

reminds me that

change is only a matter

of degree

poem of the day April 5

A few inches of snow

and the green is gone

No more flowers

Everything is covered

by bright stark white 

Winter has returned

sticking to my boots

like frozen fairies

With them I walk the wet

slippery paths

through gardens

that only yesterday 

were basking in the spring sun

but are now consumed with 

very real cold

poem of the day April 4


A mountain can grow

almost anywhere

like a ladder

Like a movement

springing out toward

a future somewhere

above the clouds

Somewhere high with

the hope of change

All that is needed

are two hands willing

to build a foundation

over long grooved valleys

stained by ideas

of their own making

As the tide rises

from the ashes below

it is important to

keep emotions in check

Otherwise mountain

becomes volcano

poem of the day April 4


"The better part

of a patter

is the hug

that follows

the clatter"

said chatter

to the hatter

"Oh my what

a lovely matter"

called  hatter

back to chatter

Both wanting

the hug from their latter

poem of the day April 2


A swollen bud breaks

on the branch of magnolia

full of perfume essence

Lingering drifts catch the wind

Above two hawks circle

each other searching for love

on this sunless day

A hint of green emerges

from the clouded meadow

High tide rising to cover

last year's hay

I see a blue bird

on a nearby post

It reads my mind

and asks

"How much color  can you see 

on a day full of grey"

poem of the day April 1


Way of wings

make us sing

the vibration ping

of sentient things

We walk that hall

before the call

of sky long birds

from other walls

The paint of time

has changed the mind

as wind born chimes

begin their rhyme

The old bridge

of sand trap trim

often buckles

from within

Clue in true

to all things new

The journey is

the path way through