knee-deep in forest,
a wellspring of
multi-colored liquid
joy, bubbling
in frothy
peaks
my inner eye open wide
at the sacred wonder
of it all
glory of divine
earth water fire
wind in my soul
sunlit scarlet on
leafveins in this
garden feast of the senses
If heaven were imprinted
upon the runes of my body
a soulmind, shimmering
crystals in heart
then this
is it
nothing less
than spirit
coursing through blood
in untamed rush
a wild creek
teeming with freshness
and trout
deer peeping in shyness
and I am all
      lit up from within
as the hues of life
run through me
pulsing energy
filling me up
in deepest
strokes
of
air,
of trees
of mountain
here
even the stars
seem to call out
my name
and, in ever-depth
in focus of heartwave,
I listen

I keep my inner poet
Put away.
She is dangerous.
Doesn't understand her own power.
She thinks she can fly
And she'll make you believe
That you can, too.
But her wings are paper thin.
Too fragile for flight.

Her eyes shine too much
When the poetry is flowing.
I've seen the devastation
That can follow in her wake.

Grown men don't believe
In poetry.
Get lured in by siren songs.
Feel cheated
when the music ends.

I keep her put away
And hold my gaze on my hands
In the dirt.

We are safer that way.

when it all
breaks from the pack and goes running off
she and were wolves and  squirrels
possums
armored ******
I got this pine tree
I go to sit next to and shake my head
it's next to a happy river
next to a train trestle I have
imagined jumping the tracks over and going farther
in a box car on top the diesel engine
pretending
I am the engineer
   or the fireman
     or a baseball star

let us ratchet up some rhetoric
silver tongued hup two three
as our freshman president seems to tweet

come on be all for him his
loose tongue his hiding something
his branding of himself

as power potency effectiveness
hold on
catch your breath

I am anything but for him
I think he is an American
version of the crazy North Korean

ruler **** sum ill
or whatever his name is
I will take in abeyance

the last judgment
of Donald Jong-un Strump
and be all for his impeachment

or tar and feathering
or selling him and all of his
ilk to Russia for two  

tickets to tonights
opera or ballet,
just Hope Putin

keeps his ****** shirt on!

When love comes to visit
she only stays a few days
at a time; her work in the city
is important she says, so
she brings her satchel of books

I wait at the crossroads
where the bus lets her off

Then we go to bed to dream
where she sings and hums
before morning comes

When she gets up
and pulls on her jeans
and goes out on the porch
it's so early you can see the moon
and the sun; I go to work
while she lays around
to read and do what she does

The days go so slow
and when I get home
she's baked some apples
and painted my bedroom blue

The next morning
I take her up the road
to the bus; we say so long

She never talks about her job,
so I leave her  alone.

he had the stage and a storied life
he was the thing
was the next coming a large head, too

Pride had this sister
she was fine as all ****
a butterbean ****

a face that would make
a cynic positively smile
dimpled and everything

but their mom
she was like
the Yeti Tall Foreboding
hairy

much like my eventual
Mother-in-law
and we all hung out
at keggers

in the back four and a half
acres
on Friday nights
and holidays

Pride had, this night,
a belly too full
a rip roaring thought
of swimming across the
Clinton River

it might have been a bet
a challenge from Little Roger
the troublemaker
that made Pride jump in

Or  his  big head that made
him sink right to the bottom
no problem he was only knee
deep and we rescued him

took three of us drunk fools
but we got him to the bank
and his sister all cute
in cutoff shorts so tight

said should'a let his *** drown
all i could see was her ******* her words seemed
to come from some realm
of make believe

anyways we all floated down that river
the next day on innertubes
except Little Roger
he had walked away

disappointed Pride was rescued
into a blackberry patch in the dark
and gotten bit
by a cottonmouth

I always have since wondered why
Mrs. Hairy McBoom took it so hard.

Manning up in Texas
Geldof overdose
needles at the bed stand
starlet comatose

California dreaming
killer meets demise
hurling in a taxi
puke fee on the rise

Fighting in the Gaza
Jordan's holy war
rebels on a mission
Jihad underscore

The North Korean riddle
pales in grand design
crisis on the border
planes fall from the sky

Cooking on a deadline
tempting tapenades
herbs are in the spotlight
wines that give a nod

Google maps the body
DOW at record highs
Uber comes to market
corn is on the rise

Apple on its earnings
Caterpillar dead
European sanctions
banks have **** the bed

Clippers threaten boycott
Longhorns follow purge
Lynch is out of training camp
James is on the verge

Leinart taking *** shots
coughing up a lung
lions take a licking
fans are throwing dung

Another day in Vegas
Primm from A-Z
rolling out an ankle
a flying SUV

Quiet tempting spaces
made better by design
multi color pea coat
silence fuels the mind

Stabbing in the subway
goat caught in a well
apes are selling tickets
(but leave behind a smell)

Puberty on trial
a man without a head
teachers feel alone
lets take them to the shed!

Jonah's tomb destroyed
wreckage in Mumbai
Sugar Daddy sites
Freedom 85

The immigrant debate
Russia's mounting toll
unions on a mission
heads are gonna roll

Beaches for the nudists
hotels on the cheap
the best generic brands
a list you have to keep!

Planning your estate
questions from the camp
a mansion up for sale
where once they filmed The Champ

Midwives threaten action
aboriginal act
truckers want concessions
that train has left the track

Sharks are found in Fundy
a prized but perilous catch
food we love to hate the most
an irrefutable batch

A family on the brink
I want my kids to fail!
politicians drains all hope
a ban on Israel

Follow out each headline
let the columns be your guide
all these things did happen
the day that Newhouse died