Majored in philosophy
Why, Judi, Why?
Troubled soul, Rock n' Roll
Ain't her kinda guy

Mr. David Markson
Reader. Writer. Strong.
55 and falling
Am I late along?

Encounters with Chinese Hermits
I just pass the time
All these little poems
My lonely life in rhyme

Solitude is best for me
But far better a true blue friend
The wish at times for destiny
Courage at the end

                   Politics Portends.

I'm drawn to silences
But at times I like to talk
People passing by
Take a little walk

I don't read Thomas Aquinas
I do say xie xie ni
One summer in Stockholm
Beauty Baltic Sea

Cheese and a little French bread
Nap in the afternoon
Talk to my son again
He was reading Dune

My lonely life is boring
Will I die alone?
Charlotte, North Carolina
I threw a Rolling Stone

              Roam Rome.

I wrote the letter at Mason
How could I possibly know?
Bangkok in the rain
Seattle in the snow

Life is isolation
To sleep perchance to dream
Listen to Rabbi Nahman
Hear his silent scream

Tokyo at night
Ride the Shinkansen
Tidal pools in Monterrey
San Francisco Zen

Rick Steves in Barcelona
Yes, I like to post
Halloween is coming
And the Holy Ghost

           Johnny Most!

Distant Barcelona
Santiago, Spain
O protective spirits!
Gently falls the rain

I miss Toledo, Ohio
Childhood Christmas Eve
Satellite Beach, Florida
Hutch, Mike and Steve

I like Heraclitus
Nature is a Fire
Jon Stewart is funny
George W. Liar

Cambridge University
Paradise Lost
Taught a poem a day
Poe, Longfellow, Frost

In my dreams I'm still a teacher
I instruct the class
In my dreams I still need her
Her hair, her ****, her ***

Also her curious smile
And other things I've told to shrinks
Her womanliness
The feminine mystique

Mr. David Markson
New York City alone
Charlotte, North Carolina
I threw a Rolling Stone

I've been to Los Angeles once
Been to Santa Fe
Silent in the Night
Can't find words to pray

I hope I die peacefully
Say goodbye to my sons
Ashes to the sea
Pero un pequito fun

                 lucky one

Very little influence
Almost none at all
Oxford in the twilight
River Eden, Wetheral

Why then keep writing?
The pleasure of the text
Search my memories
Haunted by my ex

Protection for my son
Sleep late and long
Viva Tel Aviv!
Paul Simon song

Train in the distance
Maybe a spaceship too
Susan Darlene Meek
Susan Meek not Sue

                3772

I'm thirsty thirsty thirsty
Can't quite drink enough
My brother just came back from Mexico
Joan Jett is tough

I keep thinkin' 'bout Reno
Sage Ridge School, big blue sky
The Old Man and the Sea
Holes, Life of Pi

The mystery of race
Science fiction stories
Hasta manyana
All your future glories

California Coast
Tidal pools in Monterrey
Tens of thousands of poems
But silent is the Way

                 y xie xie

So many American Trumpfucks
Ignorance ain't bliss
Donald Trump, J.D. Vance
My *** they can kiss

A little Mexican food
A little basketball
A little traveling
River Eden, Wetheral

              Right, y'all?!

America is racist
My sons callooh! callay!
Maybe aliens
Not much I can say

I've been to Portland, Oregon
Powell's City of Books
Even the teacher has no idea
Just how mean she looks

Postcards in the mail
Quixotic it may be
Childhood in Toledo
3333

Thank you for my brothers
Exoplanet sky
Please keep them safe
1 for Scott. 1 for Ry.

             Aye! Aye! Aye!

Reno has the big blue sky
And little Sage Ridge School
Dr. Cohen is intelligent
Harold Bloom a fool

I taught Julius Caesar
Assassination warning
Civil war ensues
Politics is storming

Latin for two years
But I wasn't very good
Rome on my honeymoon
And in my neighborhood

Shakespeare in Staunton
Exit 222
Julius Caesar on a winter's night
Dr. Cohen speaking true

                       JMU

I'm kinda California
Sacramento as a child
Santa Rosa son
Home birth, kinda wild

Moroccan mint tea
San Francisco Zen
Susan Darlene Meek:
Ah, what might have been!

19 years old
Lonely JMU
Life as Absurd
Monsieur Albert Camus

Try to do my best
Be a good dad
Took the London train
Sweet Sir Galahad

Gratitude for rest
Stay inside and sleep
Try again tomorrow
Promises to keep

Call my darling son
Talk a little while
Spend some time together
Wanna see you smile

Cool now in the air
Blanket on my bed
Who will remember me
After I am dead?

                 Unsaid.

A long time with religion
Maybe a mistake
Sweet Sir Galahad
Lady of the Lake

Boredinary days
Just a little work
Jon Stewart is funny
David Brooks a patronizing ****

Didn't do much today
Just a little sick
Embers by Sandor Marai
Melville's Moby ****

No life after death
Die and disappear
Please gentleness
Courage in the Fear

          Aqui. Here.

Snippets of autobiography
Lady of the Lake
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Eliot. William Blake.

In London Turkish coffee
In Bangkok Buddhamind
I spend much time alone
I hope you treat me kind

California basketball
Coach Brian Katz
Billionaire Bruce Wayne
The man who learns from bats

Dylan at UC Berkeley
In Orlando too
Gandhi in the movie
Muslim Christian Jew

                And you?

I'm a John Denver fan
The Eagle and the Hawk
I'd like to see Susan
Sit and talk talk talk

Why write the poems?
Why, Judi, Why?
Mr. Robert Frost
I Thai Wai

Involuntary memory
Flickers of Toledo
A little Hawaiian pizza
Vegetarian burritos

Thank you, Life, for my sons
Forward, please. Ahead.
Keep them, keep them steady
Long after I am dead

                      hope...

Rain the lamplight
Vienna all in snow
Fog on the Golden Gate
Reno is aglow

I like traveling
See the foreign places
Die and disappear
Leave a few traces

Japan's Golden Temple
Lost in Translation
Sadness seeping through
Silent meditation

Tolkien in my childhood
Fellowship of the Ring
Me in Orlando
I hear Dylan sing

                 Highwater!

Encounters with Chinese Hermits
Red Pine in the mountains
A little conversation
But silent is the Way

Taipei American School
My struggle with bipolar
The chaos of my life
Still I say xie xie

I like basketball
Shooting alone for hours
She gave me Hope for the Flowers
Dawn goes down to day

Please protection for Cam
55 and falling
Try to be a good dad
Mother Mary May ...

Wicked in New York City
Saw it with my sons
No good deed
Un pequito fun

The troubled human condition
The coming tragedy
Corpse to the fire
Ashes to the sea

Magic for my son
We both like fantasy
A little Hawaiian pizza
Southern sweet tea

Springsteen in DC
I sing Born to Run
Best wishes to you, Wendy
La Florida's glowing sun

            She's the One!

I taught for two years in Reno
O, that big blue sky!
Embers and City of Ember
I like Life of Pi

Taught Old Man and the Sea
My myself and I
Coached a little basketball
Why, Judi, Why?

I no longer teach
Disability
Wash a few dishes
Moroccan mint tea

Try to be a good dad
Intense anxiety
Best time we ever had
Beauty Baltic Sea

                Si. We.

My son is gently sleeping
Let him sleep in peace
Home sick from school
I also don't feel well

Keep him, keep him resting
College on the horizon
El futuro, por favor
We are the Witherells

Protect him from the fury
A little dailiness
Quiet meditation
Dublin's Book of Kells

                    Q!

It doesn't work out right in the end
But there are times of grace
Quiet monasteries
Aliens in space?

                      Chase.

Charleston is charming
Wind, sun, water
Talk with my sons
Hope for her daughters

Life is indeed Absurd
Still I try to do my best
She and I, silent Thai
Her hair upon my chest

Florida has the Hurricanes
Seattle has the snow
Poems that endure
But I'll never know

Touches, gentle touches
Spanish lullabies
Susan Darlene Meek:
Dark hair, blue eyes.

flawed heroes
  persistence
       hope

The transience of everything
Buddhamind in snow
My mother's sleeping grave
Toledo, Ohio

Sunlight on the water
Fog on the Golden Gate
I hope I die into it
Destiny not Fate

             prayer for Cate

I'm grateful to my wife for the traveling
But not for the verbal abuse
Rome, Bangkok, Paris
We try to break loose

Time tick tocks
It all fades away
Traces, maybe traces
Still I say xie xie

Dr. Thomas was charming and funny
I'm grateful for his care
Ugly American politics
Highwater Everywhere

55 and falling
My son is working now
I'll die and disappear
Don't know when or how

Carolina blue
A little Chapel Hill
First kiss in Florida
Oh, what a thrill!

So much time alone
So I call my son
Springsteen at Mason
Surely She's the One!

This is a short life
I miss my mother so
Keep her in your care
Toledo, Ohio

Kamakura Buddha
Kamakura snow
Konnichiwa, Rieko
Yoko yo yo yo yo!

A little conversation
Many silent nights
Music on my stereo
Sor Juana's mystic flight

Try to do my best
Just the best I can
Cell phone all alone
Solitary Man

For years I taught the tweens
One poem a day
Poe, Frost, Dickinson
Gracias xie xie

I liked being a teacher
Tried to do my best
Now it's disability
Qualyxian the Quest

I saw Seattle snow
Taipei Taiwan typhoons
Called him yesterday
My son was reading Dune

The world is kind of a madhouse
Hang on. Hold on tight.
True blue storming sky
Gatsby's sweet green light


                     Flight!

Just the little poems
Ordinary days
Gonna call my son
Basketball he plays

I slept till 2 today
Torment comes and goes
Florida has the hurricanes
Lake Tahoe has the snows

I like City of Ember
Ends with a little hope
I don't go to Mass
But I kinda like the Pope

Frederick, Maryland
Not much going on
Once I was in Stockholm
Scifi Gamla Stan

I hope I die quietly
El futuro for my sons
O ye Americans!
Please give up your guns

Hurricanes a-forming
          Evacuation
               hope

All the news is bad again
Kiss your dreams goodbye
Endless wars. Endless ******.
Exoplanet sky

I miss little Reno
Sledding in the snow
My boys still so young
Konnichiwa, Rieko

3 prayers for Chicago
1 for New York City
1 for Stockholm, Sweden
Where the women are so pretty

Tired this afternoon
Call my middle son
Wars and endless wars
Please give up your guns

         have un pequito fun

Flawed heroes
Tragedies
Wounded healers
Please. Please.

Shakespeare in Staunton
Springsteen in DC
Beloved little Reno
In Dublin meant to be

Rainy Night in Georgia
Rain in Bangkok too
3 beloved sons
Carolina blue

In my solitude
Took a little risk
Showed her the troubled side
******* times like this

                  hope!

Just to do the best I can
Not the best of someone else
Every Rose Has Its Thorn
Robert Penn Warren on my shelf

3 prayers for Susan
3 for Judi too
Georgia on my mind
Carolina blue

Adonis in Atlanta
Southern Democrat
In my solitude
Find out where I'm at

Thank you, Leonard Cohen
Ring the evening bells
Try again this morning
We are the Witherells

                    hope!

Yes, Fr. Greeley.

Sick and Suffering
  2nd Noble Truth
     Compassion

Silence
Meditation
Compassion
Do the best I can

Silence
Meditation
Compassion
I wish I was her man

Lonely
Sad
Suffering
Un pequito fun

Lonely
Tired
Solitude
Gratefully, my son

David Markson
New York City
Reader
Solo Night

Mexico
Spain
Selah. Selah.
Outta Sight

Als Ick Kan
Writer
Melville
Joan of Arc

America
George W.
Ignorance
Coming Dark

2nd Noble Truth
Compassion
Slowly
Step by step

Best I can
Compassion
Forward
A little pep

Silence
Meditation
Movies
A little song

Call my son
A little fun
Compassion
Late along?

Weak resistance
Green Arrow
St. Paul
Stinging Thorn

Steps forward
Day by Day
No triumph
No scorn

     Reborn.

Napping in the afternoon
Call from my beloved son
He was born in Taiwan
Near Taipei 101

He's working now. Gratitude.
Make a little money
Ben Shapiro is a racist
Jon Stewart is very funny

I need to clean. Try again.
I sense the fall of night
Childhood in Ohio
My Mr. Spock kite

Poetry. Poetry.
My little life in rhyme
Keep him in the Way
Cranberry juice with lime

              day by day

Nevada at times is desolate
No cars around
American politics
More lost than found

Movies have been companions
Blade runner 2049
First saw it in Bangkok
World of strange design

Get an injection today
Keep me moving ahead
Time tick tocks
Soon I too am dead

Yo soy un isolato
To sleep perchance to dream
Gonna see Macbeth
I play for my team

              silent scream

There is no hope in Jerusalem
War. Endless war.
1 Thai curry
2 Thai ******

I keep writing the poems
Why, Judi, Why?
Some good thing to do
Before my time to die

Chicago in the winter
Seattle in the snow
Me inside her body
Hidey hidey hidey **!

I like monasteries
Silent in the night
1 cemetery
2 green lights

              Well, alright!

Oxford in the twilight
I took the London train
Tolkien in my childhood
I showed her Purple Rain

Jerusalem was brown
Tel Aviv was blue
Cliff Pickover's Twitter account
3772

Springsteen in Oakland
Dylan in DC
Stockholm for the summer
In Dublin meant to be

No woman near
In my solitude
Loved ones dear
Silence, gratitude.

Sage Ridge School in Reno
Singing Johnny Cash
Who will remember me
When I turn to ash?

37 years
Since I started JMU
Philosophy and religion
Impractical it's true

Thai Emerald Buddha
Temple of the Dawn
3 dear deer
1 gentle fawn

There's no lasting peace
Fatherhood is joy
Tragedy in Greece
Please protect my boys

                  Ahoy!

Tears, idle tears
Some divine despair
Politics is madness
Highwater Everywhere

It's good to sleep in peace
Wake and kiss her hair
Heraclitus, Ancient Greece
County fair! County fair!

San Francisco, California
Fog upon the bridge
My son in therapy
Strawberries in the fridge

Keep him right on track
Basketball to play
Video games at night
Friendship in the day

              Say hey!

I've been to New York City
Been to London too
Been to Paris, France
Ever ancient, Ever new

My town is very small
Nothing too profound
Simon and Garfunkel
Yes, I like the sound

Solitude is best for me
But friendship is far better
1987
Still I can't forget her

Hope springs eternal
So does despair
Such a beautiful sight
Her flowing long brown hair

                     La Florida!

I like Robert Frost
He wrote Fire and Ice
In my solitude
I try once or twice

I'm fond of little Reno
Black smoke in the sky
Coastal California
Might reread Life of Pi

Much time alone
No woman near
Susan Darlene Meek
I whisper in your ear

Exoplanets spin
Aliens await?
Let us not talk falsely now
The hour is getting late

                     Watchtower!

**** women
I just can't resist
History is a Nightmare
We need a plot twist

Tidal pools in Monterrey
Grey sky on the sand
Me in Lake Tahoe
Bob Dylan and his band

Good sleep is best
Dreaming of the deep
Fatherhood is gratitude
Promises to keep

The Middle East is forever war
There is no thriving hope
3710
Is there a female Pope?

                       forward!

Said Diane Ackerman