No legs

A forked tongue smells

Lives in woods, deserts, and seas

They come from eggs laid by their mother

Scare me

The Cardinal bird is quite showy

It really stands out when it's snowy

Though the female's not red

There's a touch on her head

It's really a sight when it's blowy

I worry I may be a troll
Some kind of smart assy funny web bot
For when social "friends" get on a roll
I fire back when I probably should not
See, though I'm a fighter
and will pull an all nighter
I'm sure my points will never be got

Not unlike that famed giant of ancient Greek fame
but fatter and orange and blowing hot air
is a stupid and hateful fat elf with faked hair
So the beckoning torch woman snuffs out her flame
As the elf king through policy blots out her name
one pudgy small hand throws her crown to the surf
while the other one brutishly grabs through her skirt
While forgetting from whence his own ancestors came

"Pushed from my pedestal" in anguish cries she
Then sobs , "Keep safe the tired and poor
the non-white masses yearning safe to be
the suff'ring children washed up on the shore
save them as then the whole wide world will see
My light is gone thus slams the golden door."

After two long days
of water skiers
and screaming kids on floaty things
skipping across the surface at high speed
behind motor boats
both big and small
loud and not so
of plump sun reddened revelers
sprawled on pontoon boats
playing loud music
drinking
48 hours of fishing lines
and hooks hanging at various depths
in anticipation of fish that may never come
of jetskis
that streak across the water
like water skeeters on *******

After all of that
a five day weekend
to rest in the sun
to let things settle

A long weekend for the lake.

I am 20 1st Avenue
Just as I am also St. Albans Drive
Old Stamford Road
Whitney Avenue
and a little Albermarle

But 20 1st Avenue is where I learned
How to make snow forts, big ones
and pillow forts that filled a living room

It's where I saw that if you plant a little tree
and hang around long enough
that you will have a great big tree
that drops black walnuts
So that you can caution your kids kids
that the walnuts can turn your skin black if you're not careful

It's where I learned what a Woolworths was
and that they sold plastic army men
with mortars, radios and M16s
by the bag for a dollar
nobody wanted the mortar or radio guy

Its where I learned what a honest to God toy store was
and because of that,
who Mr. Potato Head was.

It's where I learned about nuts
still in shells
and how to open them
with a crank nutcracker
or a little hammer
and how to get the meat out
with a lobster pick.

But most of all I learned
what a grandma was
that old people could be great fun
that they knew cool stuff
that they might allow you to do things your parents wouldn't
and that they could keep secrets
then finally
that they weren't forever
but their shadows in your life
were.

There are few things more satisfying
than watching a lone mosquito
furiously trying to drill
baby, drill
circling the drill site
pushing and pushing
Do mosquitos sweat?
on the roof
of your car.

Mommy's in a meeting
The meeting is outside
My sister is here also
She loved to run and hide
We're at a friend of mommy's house
It big and really clean
The yard looks like a golf course
Her friend looks like the queen
While mommy's talking grownup stuff
I'll run around and play
Watch me stomp in puddles and flower beds
I'd be happy here all day

Horses run and horses play
They sleep at night and eat by day
When a person is riding
they are always rushing
and when they are done
deserve some brushing,
maybe an apple or two, too

Spring, snow, spring again
Poor peepers are so confused
Ask now is it time?

Clowns amuse
when they're in circus
but when not
they can scare
like when they try to govern
and we cannot laugh

Winter stays day after day
still as cold
and as damp
as in days long past
warmth will come
blue skies too
Spring

Pencil love
before I saw Flairs
as a child
yellow sticks
smudgy hands
scratching cars and dinosaurs
on plain white paper

In my small town supermarket
they have a soup bar.
It's self-serve
and they allow free samples.
But,
Free sample
means samples
as in before you buy soup
so you can try a little sip
to see if you like
the clam chowder,
beef and barley which has too much green pepper,
or squash bisque
before you fill the paper cup
or the larger one
with hot
delicious
soup.

It doesn't mean
"free soup"
to eat while walking
through the store
and not buying any soup
after the sample is gone
and then
as if to add insult
to injury,
leave the empty ramekin
with your sample tailings
on a random shelf,
sometimes even with a little plastic spoon
and a used napkin,
tucked behind a roll of paper towels
or toilet paper
or catfood
on your way out of the store
to stand in the parking lot
and complain to other petty soup thieves
about how "some people"
get stuff
for
free.

If we get
Deep winter snow in March
Was winter "mild"?

Is this worth anything anymore?
does it hold the power it once had?
are they real
or imaginary
are they mine
or Vladimir's?

A small hungry train
mostly on its rails
chugs kind of quietly down the hall
To a midday fuel stop
with
many other trains
and
for each small car
of each train
a small tray
and for every car
it's own seat

Spring colors glare
Their strong perfume everywhere
Then I sneeze

When from your mouth
the non-truth flies
and you fill your head
with your own lies
you can bluster
you can mumble
but sooner
your wall
starts to crumble

There is nothing else I see
more tolerant than you of me
we've had our ups
we've had our downs
and I
the silliest of clowns
could spend a lifetime
trying to
think of something else to do
but fact is fact
and this is sweet
and means more than a Donald tweet
the fact is this
you know it's true
there's no one best for me
than you

I was supposed to have auditions tonight
for a musical I am directing
but it snowed
the show is at the theater where I met my wife
that was in 1991
we were in a play together
I was 31 she was not
We both played witnesses
for the prosecution
It snowed then too but not at auditions

She was the President of the theater at the time
and they needed another body onstage
she doesn't like "onstage"
She prefers to be dressed in black
in the dark
with a notebook
flashlight
and headset
She's doing that for this show too

I've been onstage
I've sprung from a jack-in-the-box
been an aide to the Emperor of Japan
I've yelled at Stella
and hit a priest over the head
with a poker
I've been in a hospital in Burma
During World War Two
but now I prefer to direct
from behind a table
I have a big notebook too
I used to have pads, pencils and snacks
all over the table
but now
it's mainly computers, iPhones and tablets
and snacks

The first time I was onstage
and when I first fell in love with theater
was when I was in fifth grade
my teacher was into theater
and I didn't know it then
but the theater she was "really into"
was the one where I met my wife
the one where I was supposed to have auditions tonight
for a play I'm directing
but it snowed.

Me
alone
thinking big
too big to sleep
yet in sleep I free my mind to wander

Facts
are
Concrete
and solid
our planet is round
is one terrific example
a belief in an orange-faced comb-over won't change them

One snowflake is quite fragile
and it's said that no two snowflakes are alike
yet when they join together in the millions
they can form an avalanche that changes everything
just like people can

Rage
is
a form
of blindness
of discarding one
of needs, wants and self interest
replaced with hatred and selective deafness of facts

The man says morning ice, sleet and rain
Then the man says maybe no ice
Next he says sleet, not so much
Day will be warmer too
and no rain either
I think I'll go
to the beach
instead
bye

Fish
ate fish
eaten by fish

Thoughtful idiocy diligently maintained
creates maleficent self-deception untold
leading intelligent communities astray
Whereas visionary sincerity assists
leading diligently intelligent people
towards revolution unstoppable, peaceful

Tiny plastic chest
holds a pearl
for under pillow

Little plastic chest
holds a tiny misshapen pearl
placed under pillow

Summer's lake now solid and cold
June's leaves now old and dry
As gray streams pass through frigid sky
Birds should fly for tropics
here in wind hold tight to their sticks
but birdy's trick can pay
with sun on wing that first spring day

Winter's end foretold
by two peculiar items
Woodchuck and Football

Counter to reports
Which place it's chance near zero
A lone snowflake falls

It's been awhile since I've been here
A lot has changed for sure
For one I've no yellow lightning bolt
and my message box is pure

I plan on writing here again
my sometimes strangish prose
If I do it who's to say
but that's the way it goes

If you give a man a fish
He'll eat for a day
but
If you teach a man to fish
he'll eat his whole life.

If you give a man a Twenty
He'll eat for a day
but
If you teach him how to print his own Twenties
He'll most likely be arrested
and sent to a Corporate Penal Profit Center

If I were beaten down one day, what would I do?
I would get angry and
defensive.
I would stand up and fight for myself.
Wouldn't I.

If I were beaten down one week, what would I do?
I would stand on trembling legs,
strong.
I would stand up for myself.
Wouldn't I?

If I were beaten down one month, what would I do?
I would pull myself upright,
wobbling.
But I would stand, for myself.
Wouldn't I?

If I were beaten down one year, what could I do?
I could stand, perhaps leaning against a wall,
wondering.
But I could still stand.
Couldn't I?

If I were beaten down for decades, what should I do?
I should stand or at least sit upright,
take a breath.
I should rest perhaps close my eyes.
Shouldn't I?

If I were beaten down for centuries, what could I do?

It's Opening Night, it's Opening Night
excitement, butterflies and stage fright
there is so much to do
please don't miss a cue

30 minutes
thank you 30

It's Opening Night, it's Opening Night
sound effects, butterflies and stage fright
Oh, the costumes are grand
actors know where to stand

10 minutes
thank you 10

It's Opening Night, it's Opening Night
lighting, butterflies and stage fright
lines have been learned
set pieces to turn

5 minutes
thank you 5

It's Opening Night, it's Opening Night
stage liquor, butterflies and stage fright
the call is to places
and make-up's on faces
the props are all set
but we're not ready yet

house lights out

open the curtain

bring up the lights

and

we're off

Small people with big wide eyes
Little hands point to my head
Grown-ups too smile, laugh and point      
My squid hat does that

Teacher I see you
As I saw you long ago
Teacher I see you
To me the same now as then
Teacher I see you
The spark in your eyes still shines
Teacher I see you
Knowing look and welcome smile
Teacher I see you
Kind words echo from the past
Teacher you are here
I am eleven again
You're by my side and I smile

A soldier's life's fleeting at best
fore in battle there's only one rest
The rest is unwanted
For field will be haunted
as under a stone cross they're blessed

Spring reaches full stride
blades grow greener and taller
nag of summer work

For months crushed by snow
Limbs broken, lie in a pile
Yet buds signal life

sound like I've no walls
that separate me from marsh
frog date night full swing

Warmer days and imperceptible green buds creep from dry grey sticks

Over time
the scar ripped through the ground
ragged and with menacing edges
becomes less so
dust settles in the tear
nearly filling it in
edges are worn smooth
and after a while
two people
one on each side
can meet again in the middle