each of us separate in our beliefs
and all the bridges are burning

(In no particular order.)

Amy

Bronchitis was in the air.
Amy smiled and frowned at the same time.
Her thoughts were absurd and circuitous.
She kind of liked it that way.

Trapped in a Hole

It was not the best way to do things,
but I didn't have much of a choice.

Perfect Motion

Her smile is not friendly
Her eyes are not kind
Her steps hold purpose
Her life is a line
Parallel and next to mine

Giants

Bleary eyed from making long marches through the clouds

Hype

Too much is golden
All fails to compare
Show me your treasure
It is not there

Celluloid

the great fat king lumbered toward the stage
it was the same as yesterday
he called those who came
they sampled his wares
forgot their cares
and lived hefty ever after

The Bucket

time stands still
  in the bucket I carry

roses sweet smell of roses
my girl walking beside me
her hair flying in the wind
her voice lifting me higher

tonight I believe in the love
  that I grasp
with clumsy fingers
tonight the sky is filled
  with stars

the earth
  has but one
she walks beside me
stopping time
  in the bucket I carry

The Price of Greatness

The Minotaur is amazing, Cornelius.
Yes, but he has a lot of trouble finding hats.

It Used to Be

It used to be straight
  The way we walked
Our eyes on where we went
  Not where we stepped

It used to be knowing
  And colorful, not gray
But possible and alive
  No one had to tell us

It used to men, women
  Standing and counted
Laying foundations
  And things unseen

It used to be quiet
  Thoughtful
People hearing
  Not this or that

It used to be real
  Not a package
Not a product
  But thick and heavy

It used to be deep breaths
  Flying monkeys
Love stories
  No object

It used to be all these things
  And more
It used to be
  America

War

the hill was not earth but
  men who laid there
who died to feed the god
  of war
their glory will be
  forever after
but they wish for one more
  summer day
filled with life, love
  and laughter

Ignorance of Night

under the earth
hidden from sight
covered with fear
afraid of the light
laid a troll
did not know
about the night

The Glass Woman Breaks

her surface was smooth and radiant
her inside was turbulent, a tornado
her eyes were fiery and alive
her hair was wild gold
they shot her anyway

The Hermit Tree

the tree
in the middle of nowhere
is gnarled and bent
but it can see things others can't
its brethren
huddled for safety
grow strong and straight
but they never see the sunrise
they never feel the wind or the rain
touch just their own soul as no other
they become one of many
the world is just as well with one of them
as it is with them all

Boreland

instructions
written in zeros and ones
swirl around the universe
without end

Yellow

the color of old sunshine on water

Normal

I don't want to be normal
if it means
what it means
today
to you

for normal
is just another way of you
trying to tell me
what to do
when I can figure that out for myself
and
I will

Water Skiing Naked

scrolling across the water
neon blue and brilliant orange
a boat
a hope
and a dope
on a rope

Death

slowly the lid shuts on the dead

it's cold in the shaft that takes us to the next world
the journey seems longer than it is
because we walk along
alone

Patriotism

it's un-American
Express
to be debtless today
you must consume
more than you are able
to care for
or even
care for

Standards and Values

men are not men today as before
women are less, great no more
our country, our god has taken our lives
I don't know how; I don't know why
can you not think; can you not see
who should decide who you should be
if not you then who my friend
answer right or this is the end
of you, of me, of all that we see
of now, of then, of all we could be

TV

a culture, built 30 minutes at a time
with a depth of 3 inches
and a new coat of paint
every day

The Universal Man

the universal man
thinks all thoughts
says all words
does all things
none remember

Imagine the Appropriate Title

I'm haunted
I'm tortured
I'm scared
I don't believe
I have no faith
In anyone or anything
I don't want to be good
People hold it against me like a knife
Or pull that fact like a string
To make me go this way or that
Or maybe just eat me whole
Because they know they could
And I would let them
Because I am so good
To them but not to me
I abandoned who I was
To who they wanted me to be
I was true to them
But not to myself

People

the pretty ones are only to look at

Maggots

dark and brooding
forward and moving

Packets of Moments

packets of moments I keep in my pockets
for those times when out of rhyme
when I start and stumble and grasp and fumble
at meaning and measure and magic and time

Story Time

young ones
  growing old
listening to old ones
  growing young

A Recipe for Disaster/Modern Life

memorize
  the spontaneous
grasp
  the incomprehensible
smile
  like a melon
talk
  without saying
see
  without believing
believe
  without seeing

Fall

Leaves, twirling in the wind
Spiraling to their end

Forgotten Repeats

repetition surprises me
because it happens
again and again

Life

I think this a grand game people play
but it would be even better
if everyone acknowledged it as such

Reflections

it's hard to see yourself when you are alone
the mirrors with faces are far away
they can't help you decide who you are
you must do that for yourself
that's why people like being with people
it's too hard pretending you exist
by and of yourself

Mediocrity

fear of the middle
rising to the top
kept us from becoming
the cream of the crop

Standards

my ruler is straight
but the marks are not equal
so everything I measure
is not as big as it might be
had I a regular inch

Reality

too much of nothing
not enough of something
and no way to discover
what's in my pockets

Happiness

happiness is like
the last scoop of ice cream
dropped on the floor
so you have an excuse
to go get more

Windmills

making wind
measuring time

January 1st and the Rest of Time

It started at the beginning like everything else
Nothing seemed too surprising until we came along
We began asking questions, lots of questions
Some of the questions had no meaning
Others didn't have the right number of vowels
Finally, we started to figure it out, a little and then, a lot
Knowledge tumbled down on us
It wasn't exactly that easy, but it came
We had the light
Some of us used it to search further
Others went back to the time before the light
They couldn't understand the grammar or the things that led to the light
They wanted everything simple, explained
In the end, it was these people who were simple
They wanted a big family, someone to take care of them
Soon, a bunch of "fathers" showed up
They got control of the machinery and wrecked the whole thing

We still have the light
But we no longer like it
It shows us too much of ourselves
Some, who can be, are ashamed
But most want all to play in the mud
The keepers of the light have become targets
Soon, everything will fall apart

Refrigerators

cold and calculated

Wasted Days

sadness
when a wasted day is done
is greatest
when you have no more days to come

Insomnia

stormy is the silence
that fills my head tonight
sleep, a visitor
not welcomed in my bed

The Beast

chains held the beast in place
the beast held the crowd in awe

The Universe

circles in circles
in still more circles
and something called butter

Spit Language

as a means of expression
I think slobber is fine
it tells you a lot about a person
when they choose to drool

Circus People

jumping
I'm tired of jumping
put down your hoops
I'm tired of jumping

Daily the Demons

Demons, in the morning
  wake me from my bed
Demons, in the afternoon
  race through my head
Demons, in the evening
  come to say hello
Demons, in the night
  frighten me so

Starting to End

time ribbons
flying in the wind
tying in knots
beginning to fray

Wasted Wisdom

I tell my daughter what I know
she doesn't listen
instead, she spends her time
tripping along the way

The Prospector

sifting through the rocks
looking for some gold
finding nothing there
walk on down the road

Dolts

Dolts live on the dusty plain.
They recite the rules.
They walk the paths.
Are you a dolt?

Fowl Permutations

duck duck goose
duck goose duck
goose duck duck

Words

few words live in the forest
less in the sky

Adding, a Game We All Play

total and sum
are one and the same
game
we play with numbers
though
they don't seem to care
but still
it is useful
for us
who do
and
we do
or at least
I have heard
that we did
but make no mistake about it
total and sum
mean something
or
they don't

Final Form

The thing was fluid and ever changing
  in the beginning
The thing grew hard and rigid
  as time passed
The thing was concrete
  in the end
The thing was a tombstone
  forever after

That Which Humans Do

Learning is like hiding in the corner to see what happens
Forgetting is like cleaning a jar with a sledge hammer
Remembering is like using a vending machine
Talking is like shuffling papers
Dreaming is like shaping clouds
Believing is like seeing the wind
Creating is like mixing sand
Hating is like kicking the dog
Loving is like blocking the sun
Growing is like reaching for the top shelf
Listening is like ducking the windmill
Fearing is like facing the end

Magnus Opus

That's the way it is they say
No reasons necessary
No alternatives possible

Clever

Some people are clever
Some people are not
Some people just like to say clever
  a lot

Images and Less

A moss covered pond
Goldfish on bicycles
A really loud snail

Looking for Answers

transmissions
from the end of time
received and processed
origin unknown

Pitching

high and hard
curved and soft
in and down
up and out

Jokes

humor is best used as a weapon
to kill time
and friendships

Murder

a frenzied look
a down turned head
a careless word
a man struck dead

Pancakes

stack
stack
stack
stack
you have a stack

The Danger

the fun has died
I killed it with too much thought
and not enough ignorance
of the illusions
  that support us all

Candy and Man's Best Friend

my dog is dead
I killed him with a jelly bean
the black ones are little pieces of evil
straight from Satan's heart

Tanglewood

my greatest gift is a mind
  filled with tanglewood

and a saw
  to cut and clear

and the ability
  to stack it all in neat little rows

The Hole in Our Heads

don't listen to the silence
you might hear the other world
the one beyond the here and now
it's there and then
after what we call when

I'm not sure what it's like
this place behind the stars
but believe me when I tell you
it's not yours or ours

it could be a hiding place
for those things we cannot know
concepts too complex
for a human mind to hold

or it could be a bunch of thoughts
man has dared to dream
that the universe has caught
to add to her scheme

whatever this place is
we won't find it in our time
it's just a blind spot
for all of humankind

Abstractions, Floating Gently

A chain of solid vapor
My mind, a fruit salad

The Myopic Anthropic

I see well enough to know I see.
If we weren't here, where would we be?