To John Ashbery The 1950s were the “unendurable age” I agree Boy, do I agree But I was too young to know How bad it was Only in looking back . . . Now here we are in another Unendurable age I’m not sure when it started Or when it will end Or if it …
A bird with my name on it
I lay down on the couch on a hot afternoon And got lost in the thought That this old world needs a make-over. Right then I had a vision: I saw Spirit reshaping everything. Whole populations were melting back into clay. I focused my vision like a microscope And saw amazing things: The fern became …
Rhubarb and the revolution followed by a comment
I stepped outside this morning and Bam! I smelled the smell of green life! (Of course it is more than a smell, But a spirit and a spell.) For a few moments The green was breathing for me. Don’t worry about breathing. Just stand here, I’ll take care of the rest. My wife asks me …
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Two realities
Bodies were lying for weeks in the streets. We couldn’t bury dead people. We tried not to watch them. It was more important to save our minds. Burying the dead equalled being killed. The shelling was non-stop. We all stayed in the basement. We cooked food on a fire. We lived off what we could …
Those were the days!: What was the cold war like? (followed by some thoughts)
What was the Cold War like? It was like falling asleep To the moaning of a phantom train Barreling through our dreams, And when we woke up It was like a cavern Where we could peer straight into hell. It was like living in an insane asylum Administered by maniacs That we would vote for, …
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Who is driving?
I was driving along on a narrow road at night And this car comes around the bend Shining its damn high beams in my face. I flash him And damned if they don’t come right at me! I veer to the right, barely missing the edge. Could happen to anyone right? But there’s more. There …
The circles of Hell
Dante’s circles of hell, that is to say, all nine or ten Have vanished with the evils of his time. But Hell itself has much enlarged since then To guarantee that eternal punishment fits the crime. In Dante’s Hell, the inner circle was the worst For that was the infernal reward for treachery Where those …
A rant followed by a big dream followed by some thoughts on psychedelics and the microbiome
I need to get something off my chest. This is a rant: It occurs to me, as I contemplate the horrors of Ukraine, that I would not wish our system on the world as alternative because our system is the most violent system in the world. It is insidiously violent when it’s not blatantly violent. …
And if you don’t love me now
I am repurposing these lyrics From Fleetwood Mack’s “The chain”. Imagining that it is Earth talking like a lover: Listen to the wind blow, watch the sun rise Running in the shadows, damn your love, damn your lies And if you don’t love me now You will never love me again I can still hear …
Yahweh was Irish
I poured myself a glass of Guinness As much to enjoy drinking it as To watch the creamy foam build on top, The black stout rise at the bottom. The process is called nitrogenation But I’m not interested in the science. I am interested in the tempest That drives the storm of malted beer down …