Canto I. Long ago and far away...

Under the bridge across the Kankakee River, Grampa found me. I was busted for truancy. First grade. 1946.

Summer and after school: Paper route, neighborhood yard work, dogsbody in a drugstore, measuring houses for the county, fireman EJ&E railroad, janitor and bottling line Pabst Brewery Peoria. 1952-1962.

Fresh caught Mississippi River catfish. Muddy Yummy. Burlington, Iowa. 1959. Best ever.

In college, Fr. ***** usually confused me with my roommate, Al. Except for grades. St. Procopius College, 1958-62. Rats.

Coming home from college for Christmas. Oops, my family moved a few streets over and forgot to tell me. Peoria, 1961.

The Pabst Brewery lunchroom in Peoria, a little after dawn, my first day. A guy came in and said: "Who wants my horsecock sandwich? ****, this first beer tastes good." We never knew how many he drank. 1962.

At grad school, when we moved into the basement with the octopus furnace, Dave, my roommate, contributed a case of Chef Boyardee spaghettios and I brought 3 cases of beer, PBRs.  Supper for a month. Ames. 1962.

Sharon and I were making out in the afternoon, clothes a jumble. Walter Cronkite said, " President Kennedy has been shot…”. Ames, 1963.

I stood in line, in my shorts, waiting for the clap-check. The corporal shouted:  "All right, you *******, Uncle and the Republic of Viet Nam want your sorry *****. Drop 'em".  Des Moines. Deferred, 1964.

Married and living in student housing. Packing crate furniture. Pammel Court, 1966.

One of many undistinguished PhD theses on theoretical physics. Ames. 1967.

He electrified the room. Every woman in the room, regardless of age, wanted him, or seemed to. The atmosphere was primeval and dripping with desire. In the presence of greatness. Palo Alto, 1968.

US science jobs dried up. From a mountain-top, beery conversation, I got a research job in Germany. Boulder, 1968. Aachen, 1969.

The first time I saw automatic weapons at an airport. Geneva, 1970.

I toasted Rembrandt with sparkling wine at the Rijksmuseum. He said nothing. Amsterdam International Conference on Elementary Particles. 1971.

A little drunk, but sobering fast: the guard had Khrushchev teeth.
Midnight, alone, locked in a room at the border.
Hours later, release. East Berlin, 1973. Harrassment.

She said, "You know it's remarkable that we're not having an affair." No, it wasn't. George's wife.  Germany, 1973.

"Maybe there really are quarks, but if so, we'll never see them." Truer than I knew.  Exit to Huntsville, 1974.

On my first day at work, my first federal felony. As a joke, I impersonated an FBI agent. What the hell? Huntsville. 1974. Guess what?-- No witnesses left! 2021.

Hard work, good times, difficult times. The first years in Huntsville are not fully digested and may stay that way.

The golden Lord Buddha radiated peace with his smile. Pop, pop. Shots in the distance. Bangkok. 1992.

Accomplishment at work, discord at home. Divorce. Huntsville. 1994. I got the dogs.

New beginnings, a fresh start, true love and life-partner. Huntsville. 1995.

Canto II. In the present century...

Should be working on a proposal, but riveted to the TV. The day the towers fell and nearly 4000 people perished. September 11, 2001.

I started painting. Old barns and such. 2004.

We bet on how many dead bodies we would see. None, but lots of flip-flops and a sheep. Secrets of the Yangtze. 2004

I quietly admired a Rembrandt portrait at the Schiphol airport. Ever inscrutable, his painting had presence, even as the bomb dogs sniffed by. Beagles. 2006.

I’ve lost two close friends that I’ve known for 50-odd years. There aren’t many more. Huntsville. 2008 and 2011.

Here's some career advice: On your desk, keep a coffee cup marked, "No Whining", that side out. Third and final retirement. 2015.

I occasionally kick myself for not staying with physics—I’m jealous of friends that did. I moved on, but stayed interested. Continuing.

I’m eighty years old and walk like a duck. 2021.

Letter: "Your insurance has lapsed but for $60,000, it can be reinstated provided you are alive when we receive the premium." Life at 81. Huntsville, 2022.

Canto III: Coda

Honest distortions emerging from the distance of time. The thin comfort of fading memories. Thoughts on poor decisions and worse outcomes. Not often, but every now and then.

(Begun May 2016)

på et øde sted
som ej er kendt af
mange

der brænder to triste hjerter
en tankestreg forbinder dem
men tager ej hinanden til sig

og mørket ligger som et tæppe
varmer triste hjerter
på en kold og blæsende
juli nat

"de mennesker du har mistet
bær' en del af dem i dig
og sørg over
tabet
af dem
for hele dem
betyder noget
for hele dig"

og sorgen var bundet
som en knude
en bristende én
som et for løst bundet snørebånd
og selvom ordene flød fra ligeså triste munde
saltede af fortids minder
var kun stilheden nødvendig
for at forstå
....
at her kunne triste hjerter
mødes
og føle i fællesskab
og alt ville være helt ok

i nattens sidste time
brændte et let kys
på mundvigen

givet i hemmelighed
taget imod med en åbenhed
som hele verden
ville kunne se fra stjernernes
lys i mørket

tankestregen forbandt dem ej
men de åbne sår helede sammen
den nat i en omfavnelse

fra to triste hjerter

Den dag var det som om, at selv himlens blå bebrejdede min eksistens.
Regnen faldt anderledes. Det hele var anderledes.
Dem. Jeg. Hvem?
Jeg tror, at jeg bevægede mig -
Sørgede for ikke at se mig tilbage. Ej heller frem.
Forpustet, forkommen, forladt. Blå.
begyndte jeg at se monstre i spejlet
i stedet for under sengen som ja, dengang.
Fortroligheder var gemt i gulvsprækkerne, hvilke der viskede historier til væggene om stort og blåt.
Om hvordan længere ud, ikke var langt nok.
Om at der kun var mig, og at ej heller det var nok.
Om at blive afhængig, og hvordan organer skæres.
Om hvordan to fingre i halsen og et sind i krig kan romantiseres.
Om at samvittigheden bliver for ivrig.
At vi skal knuselske alt blåt,
at det aldrig bliver blåt nok,
at vi en dag nok skal blive væk.

Vi kysser mors mund fra barnsben af
Krammer far før forlader
Synger for broder før han tager kampen
mod den verden
vi alle ønsker reddet
Vi er ikke sammen
Vi er kun alene
Fra barnsben af med moders kindkys
Til nu, på egne ben, tippende på kanten

Jeg stræber så hårdt efter at være det, jeg tror jeg vil, men hvad er det egentlig jeg vil? Vil jeg det som andre vil have at jeg skal, eller bruger jeg alt min tid på at prøve at skille mig ud, at jeg ender i bunken med alle de andre hipstere.

We travel carrying our words.
We arrive at the ocean.
With our words we are able to speak
of the sounds of thunderous waves.
We speak of how majestic it is,
of the ocean power that gifts us songs.
We sing of our respect
and call it our relative.

Translated into English from O’odham by the poet.

’U’a g T-ñi’okı˘

T-ñi’okı˘ ’att ’an o ’u’akc o hihi
Am ka:ck wui dada.
S-ap ‘am o ’a: mo has ma:s g kiod.
mat ’am ’ed.a betank ’i-gei.
’Am o ’a: mo he’es ’i-ge’ej,
mo hascu wud.  i:da gewkdagaj
mac ’ab amjed.  behě g ñe’i.
Hemhoa s-ap ‘am o ’a: mac si has elid, mo d.  ’i:mig.

*** er så yndig med de markerede kindben og
hendes læber er rosarøde i efterårets bløde tryk
man kan næsten skræmmes, når man er observant
men så løber *** der - nede ved stranden og vinden
slår sand op ad hendes smalle ben og nederdelen
flagrer op ad låret, men for første gang skænker ***
det ej en tanke
*** lader sin hud være der, bare for en kort stund i
det øjeblik, *** har kreeret til sig selv
mine øjne brænder, mine negle sitrer *** er smuk lige
dér, når jeg fanger hende i en rus af lykkefølelse
dråber af sved baner vej langs tindingerne
nuancer af rød pryder det barnagtige, porcelænfine ansigt
så griner ***; helt nede fra maven, og lader sin soprane
melodi af stemmebånd svøbe ud og over læberne
helt ustandseligt
dér elskede jeg hende utvivlsomt, ustoppeligt og aldeles
uendeligt, for dér var *** menneske ligesom jeg selv

Letter to Cinderella (and her Texas Fairytales)

~for EJ Love~


now lookee here, girl,
slow down pardner,
blanket love-spells need to be addressed,
especially if a return requested back to
the great state of big ole Texas

as I am loved in Texas, I’m well aware
how hard it is to find love in wide open spaces,
more trucks and cows than people,
which is NYC in reverse,
both hard places in different ways
to make angelic fairies appear,
released intact from busted soap bubbles

so here’s my idée fixe,
to the reading, less,
to the writing, more,
command thyself to march towards
the seventeenths poem, and many more
to arrive at the promised
hallelujah

take the formless visions, potions,
drifting in you, figure them into words,
shaped with passion and cunning, twitching in
a creme of teasing, a dollop of wanting,
a whimsy, sense of humor, stir with another’s pinky finger,
bigger than the ineffable lone star of lonely,
an eye tear for flavor, a salty secreted ingredient,
that needs, requires another’s hand to wipe away

and a flashing neon sign:
Texas Red Amber,  Chops, and
real good loving desired!

only good loving people,
steady on their feet,
need apply, poets favored,
but a certain kind of cowboy,
ok as well

what be my expertises in matters these,
why I am your chastened, mean no more,
sweet sister who see your spells flying by,
who writes to you with newly learned humility

Lad nu blot dit øje sig lukke
Ingensinde må du lade dig såre
Da som han ej gjorde sig dig fortjent
Thi han fortjener ej heller din tåre