I try to take it slow
I kinda meditate
Als Ick Kan
8088

Will I die pain?
Hospital or home?
Honeymoon in Paris
Honeymoon in Rome

I like those minarets
Hummus, pita bread
Everyone I love
Will one day end up dead

Why, Judi, Why?
Hum the hummingbird
Desafortunadamente
My favorite Spanish word

                     Ole!

Is it genocide in Gaza?
35000 dead
Protests at Columbia
Children to be fed

I'm Carolina blue
America gone red
I lay solo awake
She's not in my bed

I went to a wedding in Tel Aviv
One in Tokyo too
I miss the traveling
Pondicherry Zoo

Tired. Exoplanets.
Horton Hears a Who
Als Ick Kan
The best that I can do

            For me. For you.

I drive my son and his friends
To the mall
I am a taxi service
Which is ok by me

Hold on to 15!
Changes come and go
What a sight around midnight
All that Tahoe snow

I'm kinda California
A little Baltimore
The way we live now
2024

They walk around the mall
Keep them safe protected
El futuro, por favor
2073

                     She ....

Hits me like 6 bricks
Courage. Fortitude.
Even daily life
A struggle. Slowly go.

            Yo espero.

Just the little poems
Rhyme, memory
Wish I was a shaman
Wish I could set free

Vegetarian tacos
Lettuce, refried beans
Once I was a teacher
Poems for the tweens

Mr. David Markson
France, Mexico
Does she think about me?
Probably never know

Cool grey city of love
San Francisco Zen
Susan Darlene Meek
Ah! What might have been

                     3710

Contemporary America is chaos
I sleep late. Meditate.
Will I travel again?
Maybe ride a train

           brainpain

So I was an English teacher
Taught the tweens
My favorite middle school book:
Things Not Seen

I like Carl Hiaasen
My favorite of his is Flush
The Green Light!
Her blush

Katniss Everdeen
I volunteer! I volunteer!
I drive
You steer

Still love the Hobbit
The Eagle and the Child
Young minds
Curiosity running wild

           Las bibliotechas!

I was in France for one week
Eifel Tower
Sacre Couer
Chartres

Mark Rothko
Houston Chapel
David Markson
Art

The French waitress was very nice
Friendly
I like Dash Incredible
Not Napoleon Blown Apart

Sacramento, California
Mormon Mike Watson
Me and Mark Hasik
Mike farts.

So if I were a shaman
I would be a wounded healer
The sickness that I feel
Would lead to help for my tribe

But I live in 2024
I take the medicine
Don't see much hope
Sleep. Sleep. Alive.

I need Susan Meek
Not gonna happen
The United States is racist
Northbound 35

Not much in this town
Might drive to Baltimore
Edgar Allen Poet
Sweet tea I imbibe

                   Inner Harbor ...

3:21 a.m.
Can't sleep, up again
Sorrow is my friend
He's sleeping, so I'm quiet

All the King's Men
3710
Bad news again
I cannot deny it

Still feel kinda sick
Might reread Moby ****
Jesus, make it quick
I will have to try it

Terror comes and goes
Silence Overthrows
California snows
Fish: have to fry it

                Sigh ...

The despair is within me
The endless inner ache
Life is suffering
Lady of the Lake

Missing my friend Alex
Tucson, Arizona
Long ago Sacramento
Athlete Kevin Blazona

The poems are just play
Play and memory
Life, like her, is Chaos
Please protect my 3

                  We.

She's chaos
Quiet compassion
2nd Noble truth

        patientia

The difference
Between who I would like to be
And who I actually am
Painful. Painful.

Grey
Cold
Windy
Rainful

                   hope ...

I keep on keep on writing
Autobiography
My little life in rhyme
Xie xie. Xie xi ni.

Solitude is best for me
But friendship is far better
If volleyball in Dublin
You'll meet an Irish setter

John Denver was a nature mystic
I am sometimes too
Kamakura snow
Buddhamind to view

O Brother, Where Art Thou?
2222
I have known a palindrome
Meet me in St. Lou

               Please do.

Peace comes dropping slow
Doesn't last for long
E I E I O
In the Dylan song

Gratitude for ordinary
I can because I must
When my father dies
What will become of us?

Tired. Exoplanets.
He is still in school
Cordelia is quite noble
Harold Bloom a fool

3 prayers for Chicago
Poems to New York
Vegetarian fajitas
Vegetarian. No pork.

        Mork from Ork...

I admit I wanna be a rebel
But I'm a geeky shy nerd
If I could give her anything
I'd give her living word

Malahide was quaint
I rode the Dublin bus
The lights go out and lonely
Just the three of us

My son keeps me tethered
A little NBA
Vegetarian pizza
April means soon May

                hey hey!

It's good I am unknown
I couldn't handle fame
Room 137
I holler out her name

Long live Prince4ever
Come the Purple Rain
Let's Go Crazy
Kinda cool insane

It had to be poetry
I had to tell her true
Satellite High
Late 80s JMU

         Susan Meek not Sue

                   I love you.

Let Jesus have his death
It wasn't for you or me
Huey Lewis and the News
1983

Thai food is tasty
She eludes my grasp
We walk in wild wind
Her holy hand I clasp

I'm a little bit ridiculous
A lotta bit absurd
Albert Camus at JMU
Breathe the fiery word

Lonely as the rain
Tired. Muddle through
Music in the market
San Francisco view

                Adieux.

The Buddha sits in silence
Knowing, gently knowing
Gonna see it through
2nd Noble truth

54 and falling
1987
3772
The lingering of youth

Boonsboro, Maryland
Yes, I lived in Reno
Abraham Lincoln
John Wilkes Booth

Patientia
Cracked, but still beginning
Als Ick Kan
A little sweet tooth

I memorized God's Grandeur
And Nothing Gold Can Stay
I like the Day is Done
And the little way

I'm kinda California
2 years in Taipei
Silent desperation
Is the way I pray

She lives in Denver
I just stay away
If only I could send her
Maybe in the month of May

I seek but do not find
Surely we would play
I'm the solitary kind
No nay never nay

What writers want is readers
Someone they can tell
I live alone but need her
Me, Todd Witherell

Rain in the lamplight
Lake Tahoe snow
Silence in the cemetery
On and on we go

She might think I'm crazy
Aliens within
I showed her Dr. Thomas
Thomas means the Twin

Kiss her once for me
Gently, on the mouth
Sing me something brave
From way down South

                     Ole!

In love with her since 15
But to scared to tell
I wish but wish in vain
In vain, Ishmael

Denver has the Rockies
I don't have you
Sleep well - late and long
3032

             Absurd. Camus. JMU.

I've got a best and worst self
And several in between
Picasso's Guernica
Rothko blue and green

I throw a bounce pass
I play for my team
If you truly listen
You can hear the silent scream

My son is joy to me
So are his brothers
A little moonlight
Daughters become mothers

We don't live forever
Please courage at the end
Come the eternal Silence
Silence be my friend

                   Pretend.

Women are more interesting
They really really are
Lady of the Lake
Exoplanet star

California Coast
San Francisco Zen
Un pequito fun
Gracias. Muy bien.

Seattle cedarsnow
Talented Ethan Hawke
I'd like to hold her close
Hours and hours to talk

But I live alone
Like the Chinese monks
San Diego, Sandor Marai
Embers in my trunk

               Bookstores!

I'm tired and I'm lonely
Lay in bed and rest
4044
Qualyxian the Quest

Stamps, amps, tramps
The loving little way
Camus at JMU
Me struggling in Taipei

A little basketball
Maybe a movie or 2
Vegetarian tacos
She'll know what to do

Kamakura snow
Suffering is caused by desire
Party in Tahoe
We stand round the Fire

                     Night!

Afternoon sunlight
Not too far from Baltimore
Tired. Exoplanets.
4044

Gonna see my son again
Gonna watch the NBA
Jeovanni's pizza
Hidey hidey hidey hey!

He says poetry is a bridge
A bridge between separated souls
A little traveling
A little Rock n' Roll

Gonna see my son again
Lasagna, basketball
Mr. Gorbachev
Tear down that wall!

My place is cleaner now
Thank you to my dad
Cycling by the Baltic
Best time we ever had

1 is the loneliest number
Souped up 72
Chapel of the Cross
Carolina blue

                Adieux.

Not who I am
Or who I ever was
That's what she said to me
I don't understand women
Still - xie xie ni

The United States is racist
From sea to shining sea
I sleep late and long
Baltimore: Let it be!

           Moroccan mint tea

Not in good health
My pill box is open
Sleep late and long
Lonely silent nights

Thank you. Thank you, Dad.
Slowly guacamole
My place is clean again
Gatsby's green light

                 Flight...

It's not just because I'm bipolar
She really is a wonder
Legolas the Elf
Can you hear the rolling thunder?

Lost in Translation
Found inside me
She's my infatuation
3033

                     Si.

We don't live forever
The religious right is wrong
My father and my mother
In the Springsteen song

Snow falling on cedars
She's married, Ishmael
Arigato, Rieko
From me, Todd Witherell

A gentle sunny day
I have been to Rome
And to Cambodia
Very far from home

A little miso soup
Not much else to do
My Irish eyes are green
I'm Carolina blue

                Y Tu?

I took two years of Latin
But I wasn't very good
Mr. Carl Hiaasen
In my neighborhood

Basketball at night
Post office by day
Beware the Jabberwock
My sons: callooh! callay!

Honeymoon in Rome
Didn't see the Pope
In another life
She and I elope

Toured the Vatican
We wifed stayed home to sleep
In my solitude ...
The company I keep

              beep beep

Rain in the lamplight
The park is calm and quiet
I would like to see her naked
I cannot deny it

Vienna in the snow
But only for three days
Me solo below
This life is like a Maze

Tidal pools in Monterrey
My sons still so young
A gazillion exoplanets
Aliens among?

I slept late today
Tuna salad and fries
Donald Trump goes to prison
George W. dies

                 Time flies.

Inner Harbor, Baltimore
I walk around alone
At the Reverend Doctor Billy Graham
I threw a Rolling Stone

Embers by Sandor Marai
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
A little Irish rebel
A little Rebel Yell

Mostly boring days
Mostly boring nights
Basketball alone
2 green lights

Coastal California
Santa Rosa son
As I drift toward death
Un pequito fun

        Give up your guns.

No more grandiosity
Ordinary days
No need for pity
No need for praise

I'm pretty bored and boring
Talk with my son
Memories of Taiwan
Taipei 101

             un pequito fun

She's riding on the train
English breakfast tea
Her book is lying open
Her eyes of blue can see

Her voice is gentle comfort
Her earrings dangle free
Her mind is lightly racing
Does she think of me?

                     We.

Solitude is best
But friendship is better
1987
Still cannot forget her

Beautiful sunny day
My son plays video games
Often, very often
I am obsessed with names

She's gentle, caring, pretty
A diamond in the rough
Joan Baez is ethereal
Joan Jett is tough

I'm gonna sleep late
Call my son and talk
A little basketball
A little late night walk

I've got an atheist in me
Kinda like Albert Camus
But I also seek the sacred
What would the Buddha do?

Beautiful blue sky
Spirited away
Tuna salad sandwich
Basketball to play

Women are more interesting
3710
Her voice is so comforting
San Francisco Zen

I'll die and be forgotten
Ashes to the sea
O Susan Darlene Meek!
Please fondly remember me


               xie xie ni

She meets me in DC
All dressed in black
Nixon destroyed Cambodia
George W. destroyed Iraq

Take the Metro train
We walk to the hotel
Certain childless joys
Ain't no tongue can tell

We take a bath together
Summer of 69
I buy her 3 red roses
I ask her to be mine

Alas, just fantasies
I still live alone
Imagining, O reader!
On my little black cell phone

                  Moans ...

I'm a man of contradictions
Both atheist and monk
San Francisco Zen
Embers in the trunk

Bipolar roller
Alone in the night
Batman fan
2 green lights

Kiss her once for me
Build a better school
Give up your guns
Harold Bloom a fool

              Cordelia!

I think of her, dear reader
Coffee in the rain
She touches soft her hair
I kinda go insane

Time keeps flying by
Never been to Spain
Never been to Heaven
D.C. Metro train

She meets me at the station
We walk to the hotel
Black lace falls down
Childless joys, Ishmael

I hold her in the night
Breakfast in the morn
A little Florida light
Much better than ****

      still I am forlorn

I quoted T.S. Eliot
True poetry can communicate
Before it is understood
She wrote back to me:
It doesn't need to be understood
It's a kind of shared privacy
I try to let you in, dear reader
Ride the bullet train
Follow the wandering star
Overthrow as you go

            Tidal pools. El Mar!

I'm interested in fragments
I see the broken glass
Her gentle, caring voice
The beauty of her ***

Saturated fragments
Some obscurity
Met a man in Dublin
He said meant to be

3 days in Vienna
All that lovely snow
St. Stephansdom Cathedral
Ludwig, doncha know

A gazillion exoplanets
Susan in the stars
I contemplate the distance
This love that we call ours

               Irish bars!

One must go on working
And one must have patience

                   Asians.

Palindromes are pleasing
22722
I like Stanley Yelnats
I wrote the author too

Didn't sleep that well
Maybe medieval France
In obscurity
Lord Shiva does his dance

Cliff Pickover in Taiwan
The philosophy of math
Donald J. Trump
Raging sociopath

Susan Darlene Meek
A wonder of the world
Soup: potato leek
Dragon scroll unfurled

                Patterns ...

I think of you, dear reader
Riding on the train
Little black cell phone
Playing Purple Rain

Cosmic California
I ride the Dublin bus
Phoenix, Arizona
You begin to trust

Vegetarian tacos
A lot of time alone
The movie gets made
I threw a Rolling Stone

Try to do my best
I can because I must
Moonlight shining down
Wind begins to gust

              El Futuro!

I reach out but do not reach
Little black cell phone
I'll die like all the others
Hidden and Unknown

I wish I was a shaman
But I'm born too late
I lay up on my couch
My mind might meditate

1 is the loneliest number
I like 37
To be remembered with love
The one and only heaven

             Fairchild: Kevin

Maybe a reader not yet born
Proclivities for lesbian ****
Patience please
Every Rose Has Its Thorn

           Waiting. Wishing. Why?

                  Buddhadasa Thai.

In the obscure ones I'm searching
Searching for connections
Searching my memories
Dangerous elections

A kind of self expression
Yes, I saw Nope.
American Cosmic
He meets this Francis Pope

The silence is eternal
Tokyo at night
Kiss her on her neck
Two green lights

Holler out her name
Rocky Mountain High
Something, something true
Before my time to die

            Something sky