"evacuations" poems
Writer's block again,
and from return; my heart descends.
A knock, at the door?
What are they here for?
Hiding in the floors, the deaths
of my enemies,
a funeral of my thoughts,
and they were meant to stay away.
Yet you wished them here,
just so you can write them.
And they want you near,
so you can recite them.
Insightful, isn't it?
You need to invite them in,
and this time; they'll only stay
for the titles and poetry, no.
You're much too confident
that you can kick them out,
you need them;
and they want you.
Next evacuation;
hopefully you'll choose
yourself,
but we know you never
do-
Jul 22, 2018
Jul 22, 2018 at 11:21 PM UTC
A morning philosophical conversation
approached the hard euthanasia question..
A saddened room as several with tears
recounted their special tragedies..
their own close life endings..
Other reflections revolved around
considerations of laws and rights..
troubled preferences for dark
decisions made now...
An afternoon wildfire with exploding fury
a sudden jump of canyon walls
raged into a city surprised..
Mass evacuations.. decisions right now..
demands of how to choose life..
Still many transfixed by the terrible beauty..
orange..billowing.. burning.. chaos...
Assessments reach both forward and back..
questions of rehearsals for future nows..
inadequacies of many decisions past..
Somehow in our heat today.. a continuing
blaze not yet contained..
new awareness..an urgent plea..
to experience life's beauty and
constricting pain.. already enclosed
in an expectant now...
Jun 28, 2012
Jun 28, 2012 at 1:56 PM UTC
35,088 feet over Nebraska,
(Nebraska-imagining me climbing a ladder, me upwards, Jacob’s angels coming down, off to a high school All Saints wrestling match in a cornfield town)
a place not on my bucket list, just a blue bias of an eastern stater’s unknowns, a sure sign of how much he doesn’t know
reading Patti’s slender volume “Devotion”
slender like her body, some would call it a wiry woman's
sparse but directed, connective, word-worshipping,
old familiar strangers she delivers to you that you have never met, her phraseology striking me and strikingly beautiful simultaneous
scan it and understanding instantaneous
she asking,
why do we write?
her answers are fine copper wire threaded
into a coil and I close it quick cause the loving ****** desire to
plagiarize such an oddly gorgeous offerings is overwhelming;
I feel the wire words piercing my temple, intending to
emerge out the other side, a decorative symmetry,
I don’t own
my need to script some cursive on my smooth body parts,
on my god-given papyrus, always at the ready,
is a methadone itch, a dulling urge needy for fulfillment,
that needs satisfying but me, soundly second rate,
write like the flip side of a hit vinyl record, no one is expected to play, fulfillment meets futility
thus the title is a modification of a Patti light touch
my alchemy never made any gold and my present presence now over Iowa a reminder that my prescriptions are 1200 evacuations; they are negative commandments,
proscriptions, not prescriptions
do not write, do not wrong words with a middling diffidence,
hide your face and put her words on a shelf above your head
hard to reach, so you do not be tempted
why do we write?
“All seeking an emptiness to imbue with words.
The words that will penetrate ******
territory, crack unclaimed
combinations, articulate the infinite.” Patti Smith
disambiguation she relieves us of uncertainty
my combinations over Waterloo, Illinois
are ordinary smokestack gray, a spewing wastage,
the angels conforming that my words Cain-fail,
my confession
meets no one’s standards, not even mine
7:07pm Central Time
Mar 25, 2018
Mar 25, 2018 at 8:47 PM UTC
fires
in colorado
central blazes and
extending fingers..
manitou and other
evacuations
shelters filling
animals retreating
smoke billowing
community responding
air and ground resistance
order and chaos
finding each other..
a summer burden
dry mountains
waldo canyon
others
nine fires now
perfect fire storm
pray for rain...
Jun 24, 2012
Jun 24, 2012 at 4:28 PM UTC
you deserve better.
better than my careless, random, probing texts.
better than the pain you've felt.
i deserve better.
better than your dry, annoyed texts.
better than the emptiness you left me with.
remember when we were together? 9 long months.
i was 14, a child really. you were 17. we didn't mind.
it was after my incident, i was still healing. but you,
you affected me deeply. we didn't start slow, no, we dived in,
holding our breath, because we needed each other.
remember when we kissed for the first time? 3 days after we met.
it was past midnight, we were out exploring.
i stuck my body through the sun roof and i smiled so much it hurt in the best way.
we came back to your house, no one was home. and i looked at you,
and you laughed. then your mouth was on mine and we lay there,
hours, kissing with a passion i craved.
remember my first flashback? 2 months in.
we were in bed, cuddling with no one home. we were content.
my therapist warned me, anything could happen. i didn't even think,
and it was only your hand on my hip, pulling me tight,
and i froze like a cold hand gripped my heart.
you held me loosely while i cried, a pain i didn't know i had,
a pain i didn't know needed to be let out.
remember your truck? 3 months between us.
how the stars were amazing, so we went "exploring," we thought we were clever. we went up a mountain, holding hands while you drove.
when we parked, we climbed into the bed of the truck with blankets.
we laughed and talked and thought,
this is forever. at least i did.
remember our first sleepover? our parents gave in after 4 months.
we stayed at your house, when your mom was gone. i was naive,
yet you didn't mind. the hot tub was perfect, the wine we stole
from the hidden cupboard just right for the moment. we showered together, then climbed into bed. we learned a lot,
that warm, luxurious night.
remember my birthday? 5 months after our kiss.
there was a bad fire at home, lots of evacuations, lots of smoke and fear.
we left and went to the city to get away. we stayed together,
you and me, by ourselves. you made me special that day. you,
it was you that my world revolved around, you, you that i never wanted to leave. my birthday is one of my favorite days
of you and me.
remember when i had to go back to court? 8 months, almost done.
the day i found out, you came and picked me up. i cried.
you didn't know how to help. you held my hand. i was
helpless, ruined, depressed. we stayed together all night,
and you held me with a nervous expression on your face,
it was one of the worst memories.
9 months.
you and me.
i love you.
you loved me.
you left me
before court
on my own
betrayed.
i loved you.
Nov 19, 2014
Nov 19, 2014 at 12:40 PM UTC
while nothing is like usual no more
fires burning with evacuations
this global thing and the other things
Jul 4, 2022
Jul 4, 2022 at 1:30 AM UTC
Until this morning my daughter was safe
For so the city said
But the waters rose, slithering up her stairs
And still the city said she was safe
She was evacuated, first by canoe
Then by an air-boat
Then by a dump truck
She and another evacuee laughed in the rain:
“Now we are the people they take pictures of”
Then by a bus
To a center at Saint Martha’s Church and School
Where someone said she would be bussed again
This time to downtown Houston, for reasons
Best known to some stupid *** of a *****
Her friend’s husband with his big ol’ pickup
Worked around barriers and through high water
And they escaped up the road to Willis, Texas
Tomorrow I will be honored to shake his hand
Long ago, when she left home, I promised
That an old man and two little dachshunds
Would wait for her. I’m even older now
With grand-dachshunds – but we said we would wait
And we have
Best I can do at the moment
Tears of gratitude
Deo gratias
Aug 28, 2017
Aug 28, 2017 at 8:11 PM UTC