Upside Down
27 May 2021

Today.

My world seems upside down.
Like being on the wrong side of town.
I can find my way home, but not in a dream.

Stopping for ice cream and peace.
Deep breaths thru my skin to my soul.
Noises, sounds, smells - strange, hold me.
Hold me.

My world is upside down.

Philosophy
21 May 2021

Meaning of life, the great mystery,
Taking some time on it, over my cup of tea.
Plato, Socrates, Heidegger, Kant,
Renee said think on it, maybe I am.
Mornings always the best time for me,
Making sense of things as I try to ***,
Wondering why some men are bigger than me.
Their ideas seem to fill up the room.
Some of them make most women swoon.
Buddha got the answer sitting under a tree,
Letting go of things would set me free.
I live on the edge, I try to unwind.
Can I burn calories just using my mind?
I would love to ponder and get the scoop,
Sorry my friends, can’t wait for answers, I have to ****.
Tomorrow perhaps the answers I’ll see,
Again, at the windows, drinking my tea.
Who’s that out there, standing under my tree?
One walking his dog, same questions as me.

Logistics of Social Cost
Thoughts of my morning.
24 May 2021

It costs so little to set aside the commodities of prejudice and prejudgment.
Yet we all carry the burden and the expense of their weight.
They are a specific inheritance from suppliers, including our ancestors and history, that we need not treasure. They are not ours. They are weapons developed by others. We have all felt their pain, seen their power, triaged the damage to our common good, counted the increasing prevalence of use today.
Moments of reflection on how we negatively assess the actions of others using those stereo judges, would save us from distributing hurt, anger, and pain to others. Who sent us our pain? Why did we buy it? We can be more diligent with the “goods” we sell and keep on our self shelf.
Who stole our laughter, our peace, our humanity, our care, our tolerance, our forgiveness, our respect, our acceptance of difference? Traded them for anxiety and fear?
This is the time and opportunity to examine our values and to share love and respect. We have the tools. They are also commodities. They are being misused.
Let’s spend less on protection and more on prevention.
If you’re not sure how, follow a child or a puppy.
Such a low cost for such an amazing reward.
Love you.
Not hard to say.

Uncertain certainty

17 May 2021

Twisting left and right for place to stand,
When certain worlds seem shifting sand.
Truths soft in hardened hands,
Confusion near in distant lands.
Mortals search for friends and foe,
Which is witch no one knows.
Standing tall  falls, strong winds blow.
Opinion fast while facts stay slow.
Times fade as history passed,
Distortions brighten every class.
Keepers in that ivory  tower,
Waivers sweet our fruit to sour.
Careful in this war of strife,
Risky now our paths of life.
Honest used to be our goal,
Uncertain now certain takes its toll.

Wonder who
16 May 2021

When I read my poetry I wonder,
Who wrote those lines?
Not who I am now, I have changed,
Every day.
Who am I?

14 May 2021

Some mornings empty,
Your soul and music fills you.
Make today your day.

Opening
12 May 2021

A piece of paper torn,
An ancient book in reindeer cover.
The forest bush with wet bark worn.
Stains of morning rain.

A baby’s warmth in loving home,
Rabbit’s twitching as foxes hover.
Clumped grass.by untethered stone.
The smoke of oak.

A mother’s glance, touch of new love,
Clouds in  big sky  Saskatchewan.
The crystal blue water of mountain flood.
Dreaming meaning.

Finding sparrow’s feather flown,
Pearled wave on island sand.
Purple skies of sunset storms.
Bus station.

Passion of a kiss,
Loss of a friend,
Knowing  the end of bliss.
A memory lost to time.

Pain of age,
Wasted youth.
Hurt of rage,
Forgiveness.

Quiet whisper of  wind,
Sky fired with thunder and cloud.
A Nursery book worn thin,
Prayer at bedside.

Lined and holding for monies due,
Hungered lion on flank of gnu.
Bite of  winter,
Music from an attic window.

Spider’s web covered in dew,
Honeyed pear ripe and full.
Apple fallen straight and true.
Midnight moon.

Glasses
10 May 2021

I need new glasses.
Old news badly broken.
Who can fix that?

Entrapment
5 May 2021

Caught between myself and myself.
My freedom nerve suppressed.
Challenge is to stay well,
While not party dressed.
One of me says a fool,
The other buys the rules.
Only time will tell.
Is this heaven, or hell?

3 May 2021

Butcher, baker, candle maker, all glathered in a room,
Course time was late, earlier than noon.
No one had expected, what was yet to come.
Nothing to anticipate, recipe, or drum.
Butcher brought knifes, sticks and stone,
Baker broken spoon.
Candle wax, soap, and smoke were discord strewn.
No gold or silver ever found a place,
No one bowed their head, prayed holy grace.
Didn’t need a face.
What was put together would never last,
Was just a clump of things,
Older than the past.
Thought best lived with teeth and ***.
In the corner an old *** from witches brewed.
Threw all the pieces in for naught they knew.
Stuck out every way, never seemed a seam.
Kind of thing built by motley dream.
Wondered whether should be free,
This bit of dross poetry,
Looked a lot like me.

Essence of Gods
2 May 2021

Eyes of your children hold the essence,
Of the Gods you deny.
Gentle, sweet, unbroken trust,,
Waiting to hide in the dusts,
Of life of your pride.
Gift of youth soon lost as you wander,
Paths long waiting for your eyes.
Hold them close and strong.
Soon they will be gone.

Quiet Morning
29 april 2021

Reflections on the sea of responsibility,
Realize the deficiencies of mood and logic.
Decisions selfish and unrewarding, impromptu,
Bring the prize of self defeat, pain and endless regret.
Burdens of debt in the baskets of life.
Unbalanced on the heads of the lost.
Struggling to find the way.
Conscience stirs then looks away, but all pay the price.
Lonely game hide and go seek in the stilled rising sunlight.
How to make call, “:You’re Out”?

Spring Rains.
28 April 2021

April flood, earth bloom, spring clean. Tao.
From earth to the streets,
Winter leaves,  fills the trees.
Yellows, reds, greens primary, air fresh, scented new.
Squares on the walk rechalked each year.
Skates track the tar, paint the youth.
Arms entwine, ivory vines, warmed sun near.
BBQ kitchen centre, wicker chairs, dusty awning, railed brass..
Popcorn melody, grahams in chocolate sizzling over smoking ash.
Avian song parts the traffic din low……
My heart opens each window.
Welcome  now.

I Chew on Your Bones
26 April 2021

Little meat in my stew, so many of you wry.
Pasty meal, “why try?”
Stories of past victory lie with Valkyrie,
Oars, thrusting seas consummating,
Roaring as blood floods rock cliffs and coast.
Raspberry jam on toast wet with sweat.
Odin sleeps while I starve.

Up All Night
26 April 2021

Surrounded by lack of light,
Where is the boundary?
Sudden spirit in flight,
Where will I roam?
Walls have no home.
Child runs alee.
Is that the devil I see?
Who set me free?

More (Haiku)
20 April 2021

More to poetry,
Than the words spoken,
Not necessary.

Snow
21 April 2021
Crystal on green glass.
Patterned reminder of life infinite.
Who should deem prettiest?

Truth
19 April 2021

To read, is not to learn.
To cry, is not to suffer.
To love, a fantasy.
To pray, is not ecstasy.
To search, is not to find.
To give, is not to be kind.
To take, not greed.
To do well, is not to win.
Who can speak the truth?

Sleep
18 April 2021

You are asleep.
Your dreams are sweet and true.
Life has blessed you.

Meadow
17 April 2021

In the quiet meadow lay a tiny child.
Murmuring softly, left here in the wild.
She has no name, no one to call her own.
Here in the meadow, she has her only home.
Shadowed by the brush and grass,
Life will never last..

Somewhere in the valley, stands a mother free,
Her child has passed, buried by that tree.
Emptied by pain and loss, we all can bemoan.
Such a hunger, when you are alone.

You are my music
16 April 2021

You are my music, the strength of summer storm.
Gentle song of springtime, when earth grows firm and warm.
The soft light of morning, dancing waves soft horn.
Sheep in the meadows, waiting to be born.
The miracle of love songs, from those teenage years,
Kind, loving, that rock away all tears.
The healing of young child’s dreams.
Water of fall’s clear falling stream.
Wind kind and gentle, holding life for me.
No place I’d rather be.
You are my music, unfolding of my life,
Holding you in my arms, my wife, my willing wife.
The soft sounds of twilight, pillowed at your head.
Sleep and rest, love times, spoon fed in our bed.
Awaken in the morning, you are my daily bread.
No symphony will fill me, as you do each day.
Every touch of time with you, my proper way.
I found the paths of love with you, the staff that keeps me strong.
You are my music. The Gods have heard your song.
So grateful here, where love belongs.
You are my home, my sweet one, ever on.

Login?
14 April 2021

I would love to climb Mt. Everest
Conquer storied  seas.
Login never gives peace or rest.
Seems I am never me!
Who in the world do they see?
Login never set me free.

Overwhelmed
11 April 2021

And now I find I am overwhelmed by you,
Your youth, your beauty, your life before me.
Outside my class he said, while you lay in my bed.
I crave your arms, your grace, your quiet,
And fear my times alone, when your mind and care,
Seem to be in another place.
How do you have such power as you smile?
How do you know a man so well?

Eternity’s Touch
8 April 2021

Music my one, your touch on my skin.
Heaven so close, far from love’s sins.
Songs of your heart singing our rune.
Crossed as your cello, strings finely tuned.
There on beaches, moon kiss each dune ,
We danced, filling heart’s room.
Bright as stars burning the dark,
Keeping together when some forced apart.
In fading light of the day,
Your touch forever, our music plays.

Angels
7 April 2021

How did I find an angel?
Her smile and gentle gaze.
Every day enlightened, her amazing ways.
She loves me, shows every day.
How did I find an angel?
I’m living in her grace.

Direction Haiku
5 April 2021

Direction lost.
Physicality grounded.
Merry Go Down.

Fundamentals
3 April 20214

Care for our bodies, our world, our spirit, our identity.
Fundamentals of life.
Moments, passions shared in pursuit constitute our entity.
Under morning stars, reflections of seas curling on trees budding.
We can hold our partners hand, quiet affection and appreciation.
Whole hearts fill.
It is not the hook for nourishment in a pond,
Nor a hymn sung by a choir of children,
That brings us to that quiet place.
Rather our common heritage, hearing nature speak.
Can you hear the trees humming, feel their embrace?
Smell storm winds over a desert, empty?
For me it comes with a peace that awaits hunger,
Fed only by sharing honored.
Quiet time in a noisy world distracted.
The bird still sings of life to fill.
The worm dies, the moon is cold.
Fundamentals. Partners in care.

Times
30 March 2021

When I was young, each morning filled with hope,
Skipping school, jumping rope.
Rode my bike, hide and seek, played games till pedaled weak.
Stayed outdoors, till lights came on.
Energy, dawn to dusk, dusk to dawn.
This morning from my bed, kissed my wife, on her head.
Rose for breakfast, and with those oats,
Headed bath for comfort soak.
All those games just a joke.
In my gardens where flowers grew,
Arthritis blooms, pains renew.
Bills seem bigger, challenge looms.
Wife says groom, pickup brooms.
Seems to be so many rooms.

Part, Past, Our book.
29 March 2021

Call up leather of books.
Skins thrown past each curtain.
Your soul doeth me sustain.
Meet on this stage. Look.

Surround of poem and lace,
Songs writ deep rhythm time.
Sing sweet Angel, cry “passion mine”.
We meet each day, too few.
Grace found renews our place.

Hold myths of rebirth.
Shared trust be earned.
Our parts all will learn,
Never return to earth.

Noise (Haiku)
29 March 2021

Communication.
When does it stop being noise?
When love listens.

Eccentricity
24 March 2021

Some are not compliant,
On rules others reliant.
Though tracked from their nose,
To the tip of their toes,
Who they are no one knows.

They act in oddest ways,
Some up at night, not in days.
They live trip of the edge,
Bets that few want to hedge.
Computer, camera, watch them roam,
What will they next call home?

Always lifting the ante,
Sometimes plain, others fancy.
Often go to a dance,
Anyone has a chance,
Love, laughter, and prance.
Their spirits are their worth,
High though still on earth.

Some people just shake their heads,
Choose to lie in their beds,
With ones that they truly wed.
Normalcy never alone,
Living life on their phone.
"Eccentric", they dare bemoan.

When your humor has left,
Eccentrics see why the theft.

Insanity
24 March 2021

A world of insanity reins,
For some, no constraint.
Thriving the Crazies,
Live in the hazies.

Appreciation
22 March 2021

These are the sweetest times.
Stepping into a new spring.
Your arms mid-day lifting me,
To greet and celebrate our love.
We age as we grow, time slows.
Pains of life awaken our gifts.
Each day more precious.
Each kiss, hug, moment too short.
Each more tender, more sweet.
It is the first taste of maple. Our table with the Gods,
The strength and courage you hold,
That continues our promise unbroken.
Good morning, full of love’s promise.

Admiration,respect,appreciation eternal.
You are my strength, my life, my spring.

DAWN   2021-03-20

The mornings lie quiet, barely awake,
Cool calm air slides in over my deck.
A dove struts across bragging her break,
Of gray-white breaths welcome here.
A squirrel visits chewing full neck,
Sweet cones no cream sparkles left,
On rime holding taste of pine speck.
Gentle beams caress the yawn of dawn.
She stirs to kiss me and drape across
Velvet still hanging over the edge of her calm.
Morning in my soul pulling away the moss.
Rise gentle she wisps whispers my quaking brow.
Tomorrow again and again you will know,
Me. Ever new, ever old, ever on your soul.

B. T. Whittaker

19 March 2021

".....ations" stress,
All of your mind and body.
Some worth waiting for.

Drawn
18 March 2021

Cold sand, rock, unwind the darkened skies.
Passion’s tidal rhythms broken.
No place to hide. You lie still, nearby.
Moonlit shadows were burning fire,
Tokens pull me to your sea.
I am unquenched.
Paper-torn bordered fence.
Passports tossed.
Clock bells ring a broken pier.
I pause my poems to hear its warning.
Dark ship of hell docking.
The fog clears.
Laced lines of tears drawn.
Too soon, dawn does not come.

Rest
17 March 2021

You are the warm blanket, peace as I rest.
The strength of Olympic pillars in my dreams.
The power of love with which I fly.
On the feathered mattress of temporary,
You give me eternity, strength, courage that survives.
Grateful, I rest.

Enlightenment, Courage
4 March 2021

In extraordinary times,
Cherishing the ordinary.

Tuning
February 2021

My piano is out of tune.!
February.

Early Morning
28 February 2021

Start of another day, end of a month,
Quiet. Still no-one on the street.
This is my time of rest.
You are always in my thoughts.
Comfort, fun, surprises, peace.
Always loving you.
This new year is a blessing.
Grateful for you, your care and love,
The excitement of you!
Always loving you.

This Morning
25 February 2021

This morning got up aching for you.
Last night our love was so true.
My dreams heart felt I knew,
Last night our love was renewed.
This morning brings another day.
Time for you to stay.
Coming to stir you and play.
Love you to wake up that way.
Those hours we spend in our bed,
Have truly stirred up my head.
Love got up aching for you.
Each morning true sweet for you.

Flatulence
Haiku
20 February 2021

Foul wind here too long.
No place for you to belong.
Sing your song elsewhere.

(Covid remembrance)

Wishes Lost
20 February 2021.

Time the greatest mystery.
Riddle history lost.
Why so quickly past?
Times of trouble noted.
Pain, suffering promoted.
Now wishes unfulfilled,
I bade the time to ****.
History be what I will.

15 February 2021

“Cold outside” I said.
“Don’t think get out of bed.”
“These old legs filled with lead.”
Bedside, held my hand, gently smiled.

“Babe I feel depressed a while.”
“This is not my normal style.”
“I feel old, my life held cheap.”
So did I careless speak.
She held my hand, kissed my cheek.

She looked at me, “I Love You”.
“Darling lucky man, you are true.”
“Hold me, I need your hand.”
“Time to stand, you are my man.”
Hugged me, “Count our blessings.”
“Our love will stand life’s wrestling.”

Funny when times are tougher,
We forget that others suffer.
Lighthouse spouse in times of trouble.
Carries her load, my fog, my struggle.
Her pain and tears are my testing.
Make space, count her blessings.

YHOS
12 February 2021
This morning at 4 A.M. I thought of you and simply saying “hello XXXX”, remembering you are also an early riser.

Yet I knew I needed a word for a person I loved, respected, and admired,  a word that also emcompassed someone,  words that respected a young heart in an individual coping with our challenging times, age, tradition and cultures. So much uncertainty, yet these individuals hold strong. These individuals are exemplars of respect, stability and strength in their actions and yet, quiet lives. They have seen it all and are grateful. There are more than are often noted.

I was unable. It is the distinction of vitality and life experience for which I search. “hello Friend” does not seem adequate. I had accepted “young heart”, but also needed ageless. There are amazing young people with old souls. “Young hearts, old souls”, is now my choice. I suspect somewhere there is a single word. I am looking.

So, this morning “Hello young heart, old soul, XXXXX”. Just wanted to wish you a happy and safe day. Next time, “YHOS”. Sorry this is a little late.

Ease me into the daylight
11 February 2021

When February comes, it comes at war.

Days strive lighter, nights grow colder. Each at challenge paces  - ready already to fire -February pawns and Kings! The other pieces have fallen.

My extra blanket seems poor armor, as do the now naked trees, my quivering knees, world of snow and ice - what options, where is certainty?

I need to hold on. Some are laughing, but I am not. Who holds the die? Media? AI?

Anticipation is not today; it is not yet come. Even the earth needs to tilt again to a kinder place, and the anticipation makes me dizzy. Yet spinning the circus wheel threatens only but another toss into chaos and confusion today.

The Rook, the Bishop, Queen are off the board. The game is almost played.

Today’s paper renews my view. Boiling and bubbling that stew of staff-dead worlds we ‘*****’ ourselves to avoid. Where is mine? Who holds my manhood?

Factories steaming into the night. Workers walking head low. Asking where is our’s.

Up and down, round and round. Struggle-hungry for a quiet warm home.

Ease me into the daylight. I am trying not to blink.
Tis’ not my favorite, this famous February of 2021.

Soft
10 February 2021

In my arms. I feel the swell.
The tides of love over the cold.
The press of life, passion.
Touching. Our dance.
Rhythm infinite, kisses unending.
Smooth, sweet like apple wine.
Knowing the ends of time, space.
Sensing all that, your gift, your grace.
Bending in the winds.
Embracing.
Soft as silk.

Heavy
10 February 2021

Weights of the world shouldered some days,
Pain, sorrow, unkindness, full play.
Friends far away caught in a crowd,
Voices lost to others too loud.
Needing that gentle hand and touch,
Sharing the struggle that became too much.
Age and time take huge toll,
Heavy on even an angel’s soul.
Finding the strength to carry on,
Looking for light, tomorrow’s dawn,
You are the strength that I need,
That last found gentle sweet seed.
Valentine’s day, love's in your deeds.

Sleep
Political Sympathies
4 February 4, 2021

Retired I have few urgent issues.
Of course, health always brings tissues.
Without help you understand,
Could use another hand.
Hiring would cost a grand,
Will I win with a stand?
Wouldn’t that be grand,
I think I hear a band!
What a great man.

There are times a plan must be laid.,
Agreement on games to be played,
Chasing for parts that are  late,
I try to be calm as I wait,
Are cookies left on that plate?
Wondering what is the date?
Seems this is my fate.

In the middle there is some tension.
Did I read any of the instruction?
The scratch on my thumbs,
Might seem minor to some,
But now I am numb,
Some think I am dumb,
No wonder it’s  not done.

Sleep is out of the question..