Today a tree , tomorrow a bluebird
Later becoming an Elm ,
a pelican out to sea
I was once tall grass
Growing tall in the gulf breeze ,
warmed in Georgia sun , my friend
was a Boxelder , we sought the
shelter of navy blue sky windows
I fell in love with a heron sailing from
east to west , my passion was to be the afternoon
moon or a magical Willow at rest
My dad was a cardinal , my mother was the nurturing waters
of Indian creeks , my siblings were the blackberries of
July , grandmother a doe , grandfather a raven
Death is merely a transition
Life is forever* ..

He corrected his children with a belt
But grew good tomatoes , cucumbers
and kale
He turned black earth in February ,
but drank himself into a stupor at night
He marked and strung perfect rows by day then
gambled all the money in his hand by evening
He was fastidious to a fault then shot hisself
in bed* ...

As silence is magnified
So sound taken for granted-
undergoes instant amplification
Every nerve tuned to 440 hertz
A note encapsulating every word
Hammering a barre chord , bringing
the world to order , defying previously established borders* ..

Thespians and publicans have something in common with me ..
I trust both of them about as far as I could throw 'em !

I hear the four o'clock bound for Columbus
It sound's like a harmonica wavering low and
running south
I can feel the ground tremble
The store windows reverberate
Every wheel churning
Every length of track burning
Hurry on down , thundering freight
through tiny towns* ...

Rain was made for me
A shower from every shaken tree
Bird bath's filled to the brim
Fledglings taking turns on a bare -
oak limb..

Rain was made for the depressed
To wash away thoughts of loneliness
Lovers neath umbrellas with a million dreams
Thoughts of dry home with
simple , romantic schemes*..

Waiting on a storm but its only rain , someone upstairs playing with my brain
We wait on the pain with our guard down struggling through the lesson it contains
Plywood cities with little toy trains
A newspaper stuck in the storm drain
A town crier bellowing the morning news
Matchbox delivery trucks ,
A mercurial dove cooing the blues
The Queens bowl of Corn Flakes with a silver
spoon , railroad tracks bound for the midnight moon
Hydrocodone Hannah and her morning town
Music deep inside with no audible sound* ...