Not much innocence
Left in American life

Appeals to foreign fears
And prejudices of whites

But I saw that dear deer
By the Celtic Cross last night

Like Gordie LaChance once did
Stand By Me through the strife

I'm going down swinging
Insists Brother Cornel West

The only way to go at times
To fight the hopelessness

He grew up in Sacramento
As did I for awhile

Around everyday people
Hence the generous smile

And he is quite unique
A philosopher with style!

The isolation can be intense
Like living in my own world

Will Smith in I Am Legend
Into this plague we're hurled

I like the quiet campus
Basketball brings balm

The deer rests all alone
In silent night and calm

I miss my sleeping sons
I fold my wai Thai palms

Practical worldly life
I don't do very well

I'm not a CEO
To me money is often hell

What is it I want?
Ain't no tongue can tell

Will I ever find it
In Seattle or Israel?

Last night's silent deer
Then I read Ishmael

              Voyages!

My car breaks down again
USAA on the line

I too lived in Taiwan
Like translator Red Pine

Rockets fly to space
Brings scifi thoughts to mind

If aliens we embrace
I hope they treat us kind

What do you think, dear reader
Out there we will find?

Father Andrew Greeley
My teacher (of blessed memory)
Aware of his vocation
To the Catholic priesthood:
7 years old.

Thich Nhat Hanh
(The Venerable One Action)
Tells Oprah Winfrey of his
Awareness of wanting to
To become a Zen monk:
7 years old

Lucas Graham:
Once I was 7 years old.

The melancholy awareness
Of time passing
When watching old videos

All those people
Once young
Now old, or sick, or dead

Time the Preserver
Is Time the Destroyer

Is Silence a kind Employer?