I hear you seek to be;
To be without cant;
To be free of the weakness in yourself.

It is not enough just to be —
Hear what I say —
The acts in the shadow do not allow you to be.

You see, men who are
Make by right the claim to be
And stand in place for all to see.

As some few lead,
Most must follow.
Folly it is for you to make believe.

I see — draw the weapon,
Rail against your fate.
The quest answered thus.

Yes, ****** home knife, gun, bomb.
You have the right after all endured.
By this act you will be — infamously.


© 2016

In the summer we fished the lake
in the high country where the sky touches the land
and the water of the lake is black because of its depth
and cold because of the mountains
and the fish in it are big and fight hard
and taste wonderful when cooked over a campfire.
We slept under the stars then
and fell asleep naming the constellations,
and during the night the wolves came down to look at us.
We were not afraid of them because we were invincible
back then and the world bent to our strength.
In the morning we bathed in the lake and then fished again
and all day you could see the line zipping through the soft pure air
and the plug going through the water and the fish coming in to it
and the sound of them fighting us.
We didn’t talk then, just fought the fish
and listened to that world vanishing around us.


© 2016

He said to me he had a wife and child
and one day he just grew tired,
left them he did, but couldn't say why.
On the road he met others like me and
around campfires we looked at the stars
and laughed at the towns we had seen.

And you know we always knew our freedom would end:
age would catch us, animals eat us, the cold ****** us.
George, that was his name, said he had a plan for it
but of course it wasn't sane, though we listened to it good.

Then one day on a high bridge I saw him go,
arms and legs spread wide as if in flight,
the splash so small I thought him right,
he had suffered enough to get the end right.


© 2016

I see them pause to talk and wonder
What could be said between the ages of old and young
Of womanhood in full bloom, womanhood at near end
Except if not by word then by presence speak
Of the preciousness of life begun between their legs.
.

© 2016

With the printer's art Congress declares to reward
All citizens who watch all citizens of a certain sort
For they are said to be in the shadows of our land
Plotting terror of the most terrible sort,
To maim our babies’ precious limbs,
To spur our fear of the Other’s ambitious will.

So I have you, don’t you see,
Because your piety is suspicious to me.
Deceptively, maliciously I say you act
And call for the reward the law says you’re worth.
Oh yes, you will do. Money in the till.
Praise the law and my virtuous will.

With the charges pressed by me,
Have no doubt to trail you will go.
How proud I will be to see you stand
Before your peers sitting there in fear.
Stranger, admit I have you on the run.
Pay my price, or face my ambiguous will.



© 2016

The time is done I fear,
The time composed of all my years.
Soft paws stalk close to me.
Inevitable is its presence upon me.

I have seen it before,
Looming in full sight,
Oblivious to my terror.
Inevitable presence nosing at me.

I often thought merit given, honors achieved,
Wealth amassed would shield me from this:
Foolish that. Soft paws stalking me.
Inevitable is its presence upon me.

I see well the instruments of its will.
Strange, I find fear of it unfulfilled.
What I ran from now I accept. Let me see,
Inevitable presence, the place you have for me.

Closer still. Hesitate not now.
Soft now. Silence now. Upon your back
I go, gently. Conduct me to whatever is my end,
Merciful presence.


© 2016

We are failing
and falling
and will not
be redeemed,
Yet the Sun rises.

The Earth is warming
and slowing
and will not
be altered,
Yet the Sun rises.

The Universe is expanding
and stumbles upon itself
and will not
be appeased,
Yet the sun rises.

Because without us,
It could not be.


©  2016