Shut up the Skies - with audio

 audio link

Where are the mighty men of old
Who shut up the skies so that the rains cannot come
The strong ones who burst the locks and chains
Of gloom in the hidden places
Who will heal the eyes of the feeble
That they may once again look upon fair Helena
What physician can heal the sick at heart
I hide away like Job from the stormy seas
Deep in the belly of the ship
For it comes upon me like the Dark clouds
Without reason or explanation, a howling wind
Slapping at the face of thankfulness
Blotting out the Sun of all that is precious and dear
Where shall one go to get away
What potion is there that will relieve meaningless anguish
Floods and channels without foundation
Whose hollow speeches threaten to carry off our very soul
So I leapt into the jaws of the great sea creature
There I sank ever downward toward my rest
Yet the thing of sadness followed me there
So I wept even while under the shroud of sleep
There did I toil on pillow and shake inside
I came to the surface of the waters many times
Only to drop once again like a struggling stone
The hail fell and the torrent poured
Filling up the earth's mouth till it was sated
Only then did this one rise again well enough
Rehearsing for another day
When Perfect Strength shall set us free
And nary a dark day ever dawn

The Blues and Autumn - with audio

audio link

Autumn came, and with it came the blues
Money trouble arrived with the cold wind
Finances blew away like the turning leaves
My mind and heart became grey with the skies
Mice and traps share my attic space
They conspire with sour stomach and restless shades
To keep me awake at 3 bells
So I take a pepcid and shuffle out of the bedroom
Then down the dark hall to the kitchen
There I have a tea and read the scriptures
These become my blanket and I pray
I pray for life, for family, the sick, government and religious leaders
I pray for people to turn toward G-d and
To remember compassion once again

Sigh, - ...sleep will come again friend
Like magic, the Fall brings back old voices, new fears
The cold doesn't wait for night, it comes by afternoon
It makes me thankful that there is greater reason for hope
Than what my eyes see, my ears hear and my hands can grasp
The feelings puff up my insides and threaten my eyes with tears
Thank God they don't come to fill up my furrowed brow
Like irrigation canals crossing this fallow field
Still that child who longs for the family time and tide of youth
Can find solace in the white and quiet of the biting snow moon
In that place, people and time are slowed -
Down to frozen crystalline stillness

Warmth then can return to inhabit the heart
Like cognac after a winter's embrace or handshake
Perhaps just a smile from a stranger, a kiss from a friend
Or a whiskey poured down the throat whilst fishing on an ice lake
My father's voice comes back to me, now like a flake of falling snow
Always carry a little change in your pocket for the stranger
A little compassion, a little compassion

The past and the present come together in Autumn
Do we cry for the present, are we sentimental about the past?
Or do they come to prepare, to make us mindful of the unseen, pristine,
Glowing diamond ship moving on oceans black?
There to fly the longest journey 'cross silent starlit sky
Sleep will come again my friend, sleep will come
In winter's brightest solitary night
Toward Affection's ultimate day.

Thoughts of You - with audio

audio link

Jasmine petals
Thoughts of you

Midnight dew
Days renew
Thoughts of you
Thoughts of you

Midday waves
Crashing down
Leaves of brown
Hot cracked summer ground
Thoughts of you

Lonely rose
Fragrance spend
Bee upon the diadem
Thoughts of you
Thoughts of you

Sounds of traffic
Rolling by
Heart that tracks
Across the sky
Thoughts of you

Sighs and Smiles
Days pretend
To forget
A tender hand
Thoughts of you
Thoughts of you

Nights shine dull
Moon in vain
Sleep undone
Rise again
To thoughts of you

Tasteless food
Careless wind
Seasons end
Then begin
Without you

Stark space
Empty chair
Cool dry
Autumn air

Little wings
Flutter by
Voices sing
Away on high

Soaring through
Blue expanse
Seeking there
Love's advance
Tumbling clouds...
and you perchance

Thoughts of you
Thoughts of you
Only you
Only thoughts
Of you

Where Fowl is Fair and a Hound's to Wonder - with audio

audio link

It’s a woman's world Cluck, cluck, cluck

It’s a woman’s world gobble gobble gobble

It’s a Woman's world chirp chirp chirp

Its for the the birds

How on earth did I wander in

How did I come to begin

I feel a little like Rin Tin Tin

Now it feels just like a sin

Bark bark, bark bark, bark bark bark

Stumbling through a hen house in the dark

It’s a woman's club cluck cluck cluck

It's a woman's club gobble gobble gobble

It’s a woman's club chirp chirp chirp

It's for the birds

Where a man‘s ascribed with voiceless guilt

Hounding the hound, like a longhair shirt

Left begging for scraps in the dirt

Like Mr. Rodgers, he eats milk toast

The members flee shadows and ghosts

Where fowl is fair, the effeminate boasts

It's a woman's klatch cluck cluck cluck

It's a woman's klatch gobble gobble gobble

It's a woman's klatch  chirp chirp chirp

It's for the birds

When chicken hawks fail the call
Shot down from clear blue skies they fall
Friendly canines stall and blunder

All chained up and torn asunder
Anything is possible in this brave new world
Where fowl is fair and a hound's to wonder

It's a woman's gaggle cluck cluck cluck

It's a woman's gaggle gobble gobble gobble

It's a woman's gaggle chirp chirp chirp

It's for the birds

How shall our friend not turn away

To live, bark and enemies slay 
To regard highly the fairer sex

Maintain his place as noble Rex
Take up the sword and save the day

Walk through the door, be on his way?
 

It's a woman's world cluck cluck cluck

It's a woman's world gobble gobble gobble

It's a woman's world chirp chirp chirp

It's for the birds

Cats meow, and horses neigh
Hens chase feed in hubbub heyday
Oh boy, Oh gee, Oh my, Oh me
Birds fly, flap, chirp and flee

Not to wonder, no reason why,
Only to pause, just to sigh
For a dog becomes a pest of a guest
When he makes his den in a bird's nest

Wag this tale - it's a woman's world Cluck cluck cluck
It's a woman's world gobble gobble gobble, 
It's a woman's world chirp chirp chirp
Woof Woof, Ruff Ruff, Bark Bark Bark
Its for the birds

Cooked Goose, Roast Duck, Barbecue Chicken?

HOT DOG!

I Was There - with audio

audio link

I was there,
But could not stay
There,
But my mind
Wandered far away

Away from the
Overtones
And undertones
Buffeted
Along the way
By grave objectives
And vapid directives
The meeting's voices
Now like vast
Distant moans
And deep within
There were groans,
A longing
To be free
Free from
Bleeding away
Bits of a soul,
Free from bitter
Carrot's lure
With each
Lopsided pledge
To taskmasters,
In each
Bloody signature
Away from this
Empty caricature
And towering
Condescension
Gone sleep-like
In a bed
Of the mind's
Wandering
Suspension

Littered
Is the landscape
With houses
Once walked through
Forgotten,
Like candy wrappers
The conversations
I once knew

Faces
Of little ones'
With questioning looks,
Then chirping
Living storybooks
Hi, hello
Fly each on high
While down below,
Friends pass by
With eyes full
Hearts of good will,
And I love you s
Spoken by and by
With sigh and laughing
I to,
Stretch up
And fill
The marshmallowed sky

Trees
In the breeze
So elegant
To behold,
Dancing, whispering
Whistling secrets
That cannot
Be told,
Caressing
And addressing
Their care
For one another,
And the flowers
Call out
A blessing

The wind's wailing
Speaks
Of a way
That waxes above
Beyond the mundane
 Earthly lays
The common train,
Marching dutifully
Till all is drained
Breath of life gone
So everyone can
See what is
Not expressed
From the poverty,
Of mindful sleepiness
Or plaintive painfulness
In a soul's distress

But, turning that
Night into day,
The universe spins
As if to say
Let you not
Be troubled,
employ your hand
To care and bread
Love one another,
Be not afraid
Little ones,
Is this not
What the messengers
That dwell
Above the stars
Have said?

Pieces of reality
Ebb away,
Though others may
Choose to stay
Shaking off
Garments of day,
Sparks released
Like mighty waves
Altogether, the
Old ones say,
We like leaves
Fly away
Off to join
Dust and dew,
Where all creation
Is made new

In the heat
Of Starlit fire,
Casting off all desire
In great light
There to sing,
There to shout,
There to praise,
In delight
Embedded in
A cloud
Of voices,
With countless
Countenances
In the heavens
To enjoy,
Announcing love,
Growing bright

I was there,
But could not stay,
What it is,
I can not say
Till the smallness
Of things and
Ambiguities gray,
Announce
Rainbow stained
Horizons,
In radiant
Display.

The Skunk - with audio

audio link

The skunk

Came by 
At 4:am

To putrefy

And stupefy
To cause my

Sleeping sky

To fall down

Utterly on me
I couldn't breath,

Because this

Country beast

Had been brought

To my city
And brother,

Oh my L-rd,

Does he smell

Even now,

So very #$%&*^
Being considerate

Of animals and

Feeling so hot
This one wishes

He could prepare

The little Pepe
A breakfast of

Black barreled 
Buckshot
 
Switching sides

Of the house

To re-route our
Sensitive snouts
Did not help
We'd been attacked 
Bushwhacked

And Bombed

By this little whelp
Though unseen and

Black as night,

He makes 
His presence

Felt alright
Oh dear G-d

Take this one 
Away!

Along with

His Offensive

Olfactory 
Quandary    
Drop him 
Along side

The fishes Beneath

The unknowing

Waves of sea
That sleep

Might once again

Wash over me
With
Morning's 
Florid

Fragrant 
Pungency

And help
Us all
Forget this

Buggers spray.

Poetry - with audio

audio link

Poetry is the innocence that lives in each of us.
It is that what makes us unique.
When we try to conform to something
Other than what we are, the poetry dies.
It is the stuff of kin and kindred,
The stories of our past and places.
The verse that springs up from inside of us
That is at once relevant, not relevant,
Romantic, silly and perhaps nonsensical or crazy.

Youth will not be conquered,
But overcomes with laughter and tears,
Joy and adventure; its tests the testy testers,
It mocks all the rules of love and life.
The jasmine blooms and so it is with the little ones.
Playing at this and that, daring to love and to win.
The clouds yield to blue skies and
The wind is content to stroke many
Ruddy cheeks and fluff flowing hair
With the purity of a brooklet traveling through
A bedroom window in the the waking of the day,
And in the waving of wildflowers afield.

Age is the platform that we arrive at
While striving for success.
It welcomes us on the bus
That may be going nowhere and
Turns many into window shoppers
Observing the ever changing scenery.
Alas, the bus always crashes in the end,
with great drama, and usually some tears.
But all at once we are free to exit the bus
And play in the spring sunshine once again.
No longer do we tire, watch TV,
Read magazines, pay taxes or need.

Love is that thing which gives life and breath
To all that lives in this pasture.
Love imbues the spirit with being and hope.
It is the glue that holds the cosmos in place
And allows for creatures to be made
From the remnants of cosmic plasma
Cataclysmic explosions light-years past

Love can be seen in the face of a child,
The jump of the sea creature,
Sought out in satin glowing sunset
Heard in the song of the gentle birds
Or in the storm that replenishes the deep
All mountains, fields, creatures and man.

Love is a warrior set about to heal, reveal,
To make new until all is well
Until the hunger of time is stilled
Before the caressing voice of eternity.

Deep in Sleep - with audio

audio link

Deep in sleep, the dog's barking sound
Came down, down down
'Til I swam through the billowy pillows
And comforting blankets up and up

When I reached the surface and opened my eyes
The lightless room unfolded before me
On with my cap and armed with my shoes
I leaned down the hallway like a rubber balloon

Out through the crashing wood and metal doors
I plunged into the cold light of the starsiand
Drank in the refreshing clean pool of ether
Who or what had disturbed the frightened beast

He came to my leg and I looked down, scratching his head
Together we went to investigate our domain
Two silent shadows glowering and hovering by the
Long wrought Iron gate, one looking over, one under

Stillness calling, silence more, and then,
Like some castle drawbridge, the opening gate screeched
And we specters floated into the alley just beyond
Blue corridor and walls, black garbage bins, left and right

Nothing there in the night, nothing wrong, or right
So we retreated into our fortress with God's blessing
Clanging shut the rolling door, I reached down again and
Scratched once more the ever grateful asking canine 

The four legged teddy bear seemed to say
Won't you stay a little longer and keep me company?
I strolled away straight and tall, having just saved us all
From dew, flora and crickets strong, happy for the moment's calm

Glad for the night's celestial heights
Warmed by the thought of sleeping family inside
Grateful for the gift of life
Swept up in the Creator's swirling dream

All Laid Out - with audio

audio link

I closed my eyes
And was all laid out
On the seaside picnic table
The warm sun shone down
On my face
Like a giant floodlight
The weight of the sky
Pressed down on my chest,
Pinned my shoulders,
And flattened me
Against the bench

Wind rushed over my body
Like ocean waves
Running to and from the shore 

Pushing my soul
Further and further
Out to sea.

Seagulls slashed out 
With shrieks 
To rebuff all invisible threats  

So I stretched out still further
To beyond the event horizon

There I wept
As I embraced those
Whom I had mostly forgotten

Faces so pure
That I wondered at
Their bright eyes
And soft complexions

Emotions flooded my soul
As I grieved
For not having seen
Their goodness
In too long a time,
While joy turned me
In riptide the other way

There we were, glimmering
Above the farthest stars
Dancing in a silent symphony

No want, no desire,
No wondering of anything
Other than the celebration shared
Raised up
Like a spray
Upon the spiral universe
In peace and stillness
Against a tidal crown of love
Then, an unseen hand
Waved a wind upon all,
'Til like sand in the Sun's warmth

We flew away
In currents and eddies
Sparkling in the light,
Each settling back
To the place
Of his or her belonging

Some to the heavenly
Waters above
And I to breathe
At the ocean's door

On the bench
By the shore,
My cheeks streamed
With salt water

My heart not knowing
How to stop

Though it be
Not right to say,
All that I am
Would rather stay
Raised above
With those I've loved,
Than here,
Laid out
In breezes,
On this day.

In memory of my Parents, David Horton and many others.

Cloudy Waves - with audio

audio link

Little soldiers pass me by
Sometimes near then far away  

Colored cotton balls parade
Then fade in shades from memory

Melting nights becoming days,
Blessed sands of cloudy waves

Coursing life, caressing stances
Long romantic loving glances

Humming home of warm exchanges
Execute perfected chances

A hello and then goodbye advances
Nested within these ancestral branches

Drumbeat strikes the pond in phases
Rippling on to other places

Rock to rainbow in mortal faces,
Shown in pages' ancient phrases

Falling through canopied heavenly plains
Raining down in cloudy waves

Beautiful hands create, purposefully alive
Drawn out, set about, thus to tame the tide

Onward launch, upon the harrowed ride,
From birth to death, on to other side

Drink up babes, of mother’s love and life,
With sunshine, groom and gentle bride

Slowly, softly goes the way of life,
Creature, toil, honey, strife

Curious angels gaze upon the spell
As we go along our dance so well,
Busy children wife and knave

Dreams wrapped up in cloudy waves

Breezes blanket the colored meadows
One by one each little poppy bellows
Blossoming bee and butterfly nectar

Exuberant kisses of blissful ardor

Laboring month of Maying lovers
Embracing happiness in one another,

Oh song of joy and sadness
To thee we are as slaves

Each cup that passes from vine to lips
Drinks up this crowd of days,

And Washes the sun and moon away,
Weeping tears of splendid lights arrayed,

Far above the cloudy waves