occupies

a dander-up-the-nose clue:
all is well in the world of
my cat, even if it is not.
stretched across the step,
no concern for footfalls.

she occupies that step
more than I have any chair.
I’m working on that.
her half closed eyes say
no contest.

trying

trying to like what we do
is almost like doing what we like.
both a bit short
in the saddle.

locale of possibility

ok to stub your mind on life.
but let any discomfort therefrom
pique your attention to the
moment just before.
that is the locale of all possibility.

vistas

we think we have vistas
before us, yet all look through
peepholes into the universe.
some just happen to notice
the peepholes.

candor

much better than mine,
I borrow your words.
perhaps they’ll sound
with more candor,
and shake things up
around here.
often, life is has muy
clever ways of
camouflaging staleness.

elements

a dog’s smile,
the bark of a baby,
genuine elements
of this small town,
appreciated with
a second take.

pretending

it’s been said to us in many forms, ‘the most important
thing ever is what you are doing right now.’
even if you are pretending or
particularly, if you are pretending.

spigot

spigot still on.
handle broken.
laying on
wet ground.

exit sign

dim exit sign on ballroom wall.
how transparent this glass door–
this stepping in and out of the universal
amid more nervous systems blithely dancing,
never noticing the faint beacon.

notions

stuff floats in notions.
a cosmic soup–
create your own ladle

(one with holes to drain
off the notions).

like a spider net-less

this well is much deeper
than I suspected.
like a spider net-less, I fall slowly,
knowing any time I could
be blown against the wall,
and have to crawl out.

spooked

five spooked deer
all running
because
the next one is.

squirrel gifts

stuck to my shoe,
notes explaining everything.
but unable to dodge
squirrel gifts,
raining from above.

waffle house philosopher

the truth is out there–
another waffle house
philosopher,
life held together by
syrup.

hot 24/7

deli griddles, hot
24/7 whether used or not.
an apparent efficiency
to just being on.

hints

I would hang them on trees,
gently mocking my squirrels,
yet as much as is tried, these
hints are not separated at birth.
their delivery incomplete,
conjoined, and carried with.

perhaps a few of the most worn
are pulled from me as I stop
by Goodwill.

run quickly

run quickly into your mind.
all about you here is foolishness
and misdirection.
enjoy your shelter, but
take it apart before the storm.
(remember, those neat tools you were given
were meant to assist in the destruction of an
edifice, not to maintain one).

front end

understand
most things
happen sooner
or later
without your
permission.
agree on the
front end.
there may be
something in
it left for profit.

big kahuna

wax your boards,
the big kahuna is
splashing your way.

deadline

he always had a deadline,
determined by his own
type of clock.

fence

eleven years ago this backyard fence was built,
(result of a breaking down
of other fences).
today these few lines picket
their way across my page
showing how porous
the current division in this yard.

picket fence, however, far more useful.

otherwise

we stand up in the river
just so we know that
the river moves.
otherwise we can not
separate enough from
the water to understand
we are not apart.

piles of wraps

fedora on a hat,
on a cap,
on a shelf.
piles of wraps
for a head
not in sight.

blur of catness

blur of catness,
bird airs it out.

grass springs back

where does all meaning arise?
today, grass springs back,
behind my steps.

sudden quiet

sixty pounds of
sudden quiet.
dog, up to something.

overload

complementary newspapers
thrown onto driveway.
house under attack.

how little glimpsed

you must have these letters to read,
yet how little glimpsed before
being devoured by words.

hmmm…are letters even allowed in our fleeting, voracious minds?

grasp the inverse

the special favor of the ‘dominant eye task’:
most only look through it;
few are those who can grasp the inverse and
release the obverse.
(he says he would rather do it than describe it.)

the correct procedure

the correct procedure
first extracts the correctness.

spatters

who painted over my morning mirror?
where are the familiar hints?
still, whatever image this is, it is much improved
by spatters of toothpaste.