Nature and The City - with audio

audio link

Listen a bird is singing
Look a sundrop in your eye
Glistening grass parting
A hawk dives
Beyond the fields a dog is barking
Thank God for that bothersome bug
Snakes and lizards in the yard
All the thriving wild and beautiful things
Are much better than the concrete coliseums
Plastic flowers, Teflon humanity, electric buzz,
Dirty streets and sooty honking incense
Which permeate everything
Everyday, when living in the big city.

Dear Miss - with audio

audio link

Dear Miss Dobee
Sweet daisy assured
We love you though
It be hard to say
Sister, friend any day

We do not use you
We would not bruise you
You are so kind
To your kinder  * (from Yiddish or German)
Do not let your heart be bitter

We all love you
Not for convenience
Though our actions may not
Show love's response
We get caught up

In busy jet streams
While running to
Chase life's dreams
You are patient
Dobee so kind

Please don't be
Of troubled mind
What can we do
Ask us please
Our words be unwise,

But will not tease
Doing our best
At your appeal
We all care for you
Some with hidden zeal.

Morning Moment - with audio

audio link

Whippoorwill wind
Pink sky in the morning
Pine tree straight and tall
Motorcycles rush by
Cold fingers
Florescent light
On the wire
Mourning doves
Tan and brown
The heater is working
The bicycle parked
A dairy truck hums loudly
Can't seem to write the correct date
Unconcerned walkers stroll to work
Wastepaper basket scrapes
Grating on the concrete floor
Telephone sits glaring
Electric reflection
The day goes on.

SMILE (show-tune:) - with audio link

audio link

When your day is dull and dreary
And your mind won't seem to clear it
Just seems everything's going totally wrong
When the boss is out and in
You've done something wrong again. Again?
Why did it all have to happen to me?

Well let me ask you just one question
Afore I tell you the solution
Lo, give you absolution
For your soul that's dark and dreary, dearie
When you got up out of bed this morning
Did you start to contemplating something?

Or did you just smile, just smile?
Do you wake up in the morning
Just sitting there frowning?
Or do you smile, just smile!

When you hop out of bed with a smile on your face
Your teeth shinning all over the place
What a fine example for the whole human race
That life ain't so bad after all!

You've got to smile through the day
Fly your colors, your own special way
Drink your coffee, crunch your toast the way,
The way you want to

Smile, no matter what the luck
Honey, there ain't no if, ands or buts
Just remember to smile,
and say: "I love you!"

Smile away, when you're on the freeway

There's a mad traffic jam, and horns are honked at you
Because when you smile it’s a free day

Smile and you show the way
Smile, even if its just to say
Hello, goodbye

You've got to smile through the day
Fly your colors your own special way
Drink your coffee, crunch your toast the way
The way you like to

Smile you're the hero,
its your epic story
Dearie, we'll all revel in the glory
When you smile, and say I love you

If you do all these things
You'll hear the birdie when he sings
Every day is like spring, you've sprung
The sun is shining brightly
The breeze is whistling lightly
Your heart is young and sprightly, you see?

When you smile where you are
You change the world
near and far
Smile, because
That's just the way you are!

You've got to smile through the day
Fly your colors your own special way
Drink your coffee, crunch your toast the way
The way you love to!

You've got to smile through the day
Fly your colors your own special way
Drink your coffee, crunch your toast the way
The way you want to!
Smile

Fall Into The Sky - with audio

audio link

The sky
An ocean
Where birds swim
Clouds play and
Man longs to be
There in spirit
In thoughts
Purest essence and
Drifting temperament
The starry sky
Humbles all
Captured onlookers
She is unfathomable,
The vast unknown
Just as the heart
Of self or another
The trees reach up
To touch her
To praise
Something unseen
Singing songs unspoken

The sky
Although High above,
Never condescends
She is the court of a king
Where the planets
Are dancing, and the
Stars' burning hunger
Keep eyes glowing
And souls warm
The unhappy hide
From her face
Afraid of what
Might be read there
A happy spirit
With raised visage
Lets loose, setting free
Balloons of laughter
Announcing the news
Of life's joyous breath
Given and taken
Between the heavens above
And the spinning shores below

Such are observations
Of a child
All who look
Upon her beauty
Fall into the sky
At a glance.

Autumn (ditty) - with audio

 audio link
Run on now in the wheat, oats and barley
Cold air comes, Fall color is here
My friend what do you see?
 - no time to spare...

All around the leaves are falling

Leaves are falling from the trees

Red and yellow leaves are falling

Leaves are falling down on me

 

Fall right down and touch my sweater

Twirl and flutter in wispy sound

With friends around it seems much better,

Seems much better on the ground

(chorus)

Rolling through fallen leaves

Tearing up the elbows of my flannel sleeves

Rolling through fallen leaves

Muddying up the knees in my old blue jeans

Get right up its started raining

Raining down the cold gray sky

Away from you the rain is falling

Rain keeps falling from my eye

(chorus)

The wind's blowing Autumn air

Singing meadows recall your wavy flaxen hair

The wind's blowing Autumn air

Cuddling by the fire in our favorite chair

On misty morning I'll be calling

Calling you in cold night air

In your warm heart I'll be calling

I'll be calling to you there

(chorus)

The wind's blowing Autumn air

Picking out a pumpkin at the county fair

The wind's blowing Autumn air

Kissing in the cornfield without a care 

(chorus)

The wind's blowing Autumn air

Baking bread and apple butter beyond compare

The wind's blowing Autumn air

Planting jars for the winter down our back stair

Drinking up, dancing down

Full of love songs, hearts resound...

And fresh, so fresh...

(deep breath) ... hmmm
Is the Autumn air.

Too Much Information - with audio

audio link

War in other Americas
War in the Middle East
Somewhere down south
At our abstracted backdoor
Suffering people valued least
Its all foggy in my head
A vague string of pictures
Dirty little phrases
The TV newsman said
I can't understand it
Its so very hard to grasp
Oppression in Africa
We don't expect to last
Famine in Ethiopia
Conflict in the Congo 
Destitution in Somalia
To say the least, but go on

Slavery in Sudan
War in Iraq
Protests in Irae
-->

Bury the cornucopia
War in Afghanistan

Countdown the clock
In the Arabian sea.
Somewhere over there

Broken teapots in the UK

Plastic rifles in the UN
Primitive in my memory
Crazy dying madmen
Dictators in Asia
By the Mediterranean

Nuclear Korea

World consternation

Ballisitc Baltics and Russia

Over Pakistani pacification

Chessmen in China

Thoughts of India’s decimation

 

But Here in America
In favorite magazines
The advertisement reads
Have what you dream
Can you hear the screams
Of dissidents in the pillory
Don't know the pains
Of the man in agony
Let him call upon family
Not much we can do
Got a bad economy
Work very hard
Job is all my life
I got a nice car
A house, kids and wife
We ain't got much
Sounds the common cry
Burdened with stuff n such
But we get by

See the boy
The cardboard box
He wants money
Look away now,
And the woman
Outside the window
The sign reads her plan
But I'm entertaining,
Table set, dinner in the pan
Flat screen complaining
War on the planet
War in the heavens
See a fire, fan it
Dainties on the plate
They say it's cosmic UFOS
Perhaps a Communist plot
IRS Tax NRA's IRAs
Capitalist Imperialism
Militant radicalism
Religion's special-ism

Don't bother me, I don't know
He's Just one little person
She's just Living out a scheme
Too much information
Nightmare vs dream 
Toward a quiet cluttered space
Plucking out bad verse
In a dirty little place
Unaffected, by the universe
Quiet the hands that pray
Others steal away
Broken vessels of the day
Orphans and widows
White lab-coats and waste vehicles
The dead of night speaks
A black cry of landfills
While vigilant Mercy
Contemplates a fullness of weeks
And bids the heart be still
Comforting the gentle and meek
For love lives on, but fear kills.

Poor One - with audio

audio link

When you're a poor one
Nobody loves you
When you're a poor one
There's no one to care
When you're a poor one
Everyone is above you
When you're a poor one
You may collect welfare
When you're a poor one
To be sickly is common
When you're a poor one
Idiot's your name
When you're a poor one
You're ugly, downtrodden
When you're a poor one
 Living's your game
When you're a poor one
Your Stomach is empty
When you're a poor one
The world is but pain
When you're a poor one
You weather winds wintry
When you're a poor one
You're cold in the rain
When you're a poor one
All you know is desire
When you're a poor one
No one sees you as human
When you're a poor one
You warm by campfire
When you're a poor one
You sleep where you can
When you're a poor one
Your wealth is in heaven
When you're a poor one
You walk with cold feet
When you're a poor one
Your life is unleaven 
When you're a poor one
You hate man's conceit
When you're a poor one
Lost dogs hang around you
When you're a poor one
You give them a name
When you're a poor one
You own what is with you
When you're a poor one
You hide on a train
When you're a poor one
You steal what will feed you
When you're a poor one
You eat handout meals
When you're a poor one
G-d's always beside you
When you're a poor one
Death's kicking your heels
When you're a poor one
Life is quite lonely
When you're a poor one
You have little mirth 
When you're a poor one
There's happiness only
When you're a poor one
 Buried in earth.

Ode To Summer - audio link

audio link

This is for roses, and junipers
All things that grow

For mint and dewy clover
To days and nights going slow

Dandelions, and  Daisies
Kisses under moonlight's glow

Sun in the trees
Hot afternoons,
Sugary Ice teas

Cold lemonade
Warm friendships
In the cool of shade
For all little children
Who run in the glade

Buzzing bees
Sunflower seeds

Cows that say
Moo to passersby
Corn that cracks
In the damp blue sky

Robins and Geese
Hawks and Blue Jays

Windy flaxen grass
Oats a whistling
Old pond, green moss
Turtles and frogs listening

Rain falling fast
Crystal clear
Coming down at last
Far and near

Ice cold springs
Ringing through the forest
Tiny cricket sings
With cicadas and locusts

In ferns, under the bottlebrushes
Lay warm moose and calf
Red Foxes jump in the deep rushes
While squirrels run off to nap

Forest green, antlers crest,
Hidden creatures eyes
In hedge, hole and nest

There out to spy,
To play,
To feed,
To rest

Shorts, Fragments, and Thoughts

JOY
Joy is a bunny hopping about
Inside one's breast
Joy is bubbles of laughter
Waiting to escape a smile
Joy is light turned into breath
Shining out with each sigh
Joy is brightness unhidden
An uncontainable energy
Joy reaches beyond the stars
Unfathomed, is it's power


POTATOES AND EGGS
Potatoes and eggs (big breath in)
Sniffin in a whiff
Breathin in the goodness
Knowin I'm gonna have more
Than what the Doctor says I shouldes
Sour cream and muffin
One banana, orange juice
Down I am stuffing
Mmmmmm, mmmmm!
Yummy, yummy!
I just wanna say
Thank you mummy!

A BOOK
A book is to be read
With some tea
And some bread

Hid like a crook,
In a nook,
In a bed

With a fire nearby
A tear in your eye
Like a granny

Of wise quiet mind
Then comes slumber
Gentle and kind


THE PINE TREE AND THE LAMP POST
Tonight I chanced upon a pine tree
Chatting with a lamppost dressed in black
I'm trimmed straight and lean
The lamppost said
I'm somewhat in between
Said the pine
With that they swayed and chuckled gustily

KITTY

Pretty kitty kit cat

He’s so little and fat

He’s a pretty kit, kitty kit, kitty kit

Pretty kit kitty Cat

Pretty Kitty Kit cat

Orange and round just like that

Friendly purring on my lap

He’s a pretty kit cat

Pretty Kitty kit cat

At the window mewing this way and that

Eats his food then takes a nap

Pretty kitty kit cat

Pretty Kitty kit Cat

Long fur upon his back

His tail it swishes and swishes it swishes

He’s a pretty kit cat

See him crouching in the yard looking pouty

Spying out a lizard or a mousy for his mouthy

He’s eating grass, then goes stalking on a sortie

Finding feral felines for a garden brawling party

Pretty kitty kit cat

Chasing string and swatting a gnat

Pouncing on a cricket, stopping to chat

Pretty kitty kit cat

Pretty kitty kit cat

Stretching in the sun laying flat

Scratch his neck with head cocked back

Tell him he's a pretty kit cat, for

He’s a pretty kit, kitty kit, kitty kit,
kitty kit, kitty kit, kitty kit, kitty kit,

Pretty kit, kitty kit, pretty kit, kitty kit

Pretty kit, kit-ty cat!

PEGGY
Peggy Peggy Peggy
Lovely shining Peggy
Dancing for donuts
Smiling for reggae
Turning and twisting
Sunny and smiling
To fun just insisting
Giggly, sweet, beguiling
Jumping with bounce
I love you pretty Peggy
Every little ounce

CAW CAW MR. CROW
Caw Caw Mr. Crow
Looking for a bit of cherry,
Perhaps some bread-crust,
Special sun-arrayed foil,
Or a peanut shell
For tender morsels
Sumptuous delicacies,
And shiny relics
Such as these
You always come
In evening dress,
Black Coat and tails
Day or Night
Such stately manner
How very proper
You are sir
Caw Caw Mr. Crow
Caw Caw!

ALL THE SONGS
All the songs in the willful wind
Belong to Him Who created them
All the songs in the willful wind
Belong to him who lets them in

The melodies that play within

Hearts of loving kindness bring

Ringing joyful dances to begin

Fiery storms raining precious gems

ENCRYPTED WORDS
Encrypted words
Flew like Humming birds
In the heart of the Louvre,
Aujourd'hui et toujours mon ami
Ideas like melodies
Kisses spent in kind
Make admiring minds
Want to see
Flower and buzzing bee
La vision de l'art
Vie, amour, printemps a nouveau... ,

TRUST IN LOVE
Trust in love
Love in trust
G-d is love
Give to love
Love to give
Love and live
There is peace in love
A gentle urging to kindness


NOVEMBER SATURDAY
Looking at the windowsill
Candles fluttering warm light
There is great pleasure being inside
Thinking lazy thoughts
On this November Saturday
These rich and drifting moments
Are a gift from on high.


WRECKING BALL
I've hurt someone
Now like a wrecking ball inside me
Again and again each memory
Of the people that I've hurt
Slams and hollows this one out
Like an old abandoned building

What a conceited ass
I have become
My hands reach out
All they find is rubble
My nostrils fill with smoke and dust
Ashes and sulfur are my accusers

Tears lay choking and thrashing
Somewhere deep within
Damn the cold stillness
In the granite quarry
Of a pride cramped belly

A balloon filled with putrid air
A glove with no hand to take it
A cloud without rain

As my silence groans

In the growing darkness

Of empty words and

Broken promises

Trampled love and

Shattered relationships 

Echos, of what was,

And what might have been.

ROLLED FORTH IN PEACE

The notes
Of the rock-band
Were frayed
And clashed
Until they shook
My whole being
In seeming
Reminiscence
Of the earthquake
Earlier that day
But all the while
My heart
Like many waters
Of the oceans
Rolled forth
In peace

SLIPPING SANDS
When slipping sands all turn to stone
When all there is to know is known
By reason that we may not cherish
All in this world will perish
No stone or ground left unturned
Every life, and every home
With crackling trumpet sound
The mighty heavens shall abound
Messiah is come in Glory!



FRAGRANT INCENSE
Tired shadows fled away
From the flowering pink Dawn
Dust spores collided and collected
Landing with a deafening silence
On the Venetian blinds and bookshelves
Sunlight broke in through the window pane
To offer a warm coat and a cheery smile
The room glowed as if suddenly alive
Awash in yellow and refracted colors of the rainbow
My soul felt like hot maple syrup
As I read God's words eternal
Outside the wind mocked and howled
Inside a spirit gave thanks and sang praises
Rising slowly upward like a fragrant incense


GYPSY
Gypsy Horse
Shiny silk auburn
Sleek liquid marble
Passing thunder on the earth
Born of a grace and wildness
Pensive, restless, rippling dignity

TINY DANCER
There came a tiny dancer
A twinkling in my eye
Kind words were sent a prancing
More comely by and by
The air was light and fancy
Fair music was her hair
Fierce winds her fanfare coming
Her farewell sweet breezes were



QUIPS and TIPS

OCEAN AND FLOWER
Even the mightiest ocean
Soothes the ear and
Humbly licks the shore

Every Orchid
No matter how beautiful
Starts in the dirt

PASSIONATE INTENTIONS
A good thought is a fair and noble flight
But a good action is virtue
Emotions not expressed in day to day life
Are often expressed in dreams
Don't hold back your emotions and
You will sleep better at night

Passion is most well expressed
When love for another is given action
Self love, on the other hand
Is only a dim reflection of this
Like the Sun and the moon
Both are necessary


WHAT WHISPERS THE WIND
What whispers the wind
To leaves that tremble
What says the rock
As waters fall

Beauty whispers the wind
Gushing, rushing, sparkling
Beauty, sounds the stone.

NEW BEGINNING
A new beginning,
When one is finished
Takes faith
Continuing on
Requires Hope
These allow the flower
To stand again
After the storm
And lasting fruit
Falls from the tree
Of Love

RIPPLE
A planet cannot change orbit
Without effecting the universe
Even though at first
the change remains unseen

THE COCK CROWS
The cock crows
Nudged by the unseen
So that the world
Might know
That all
Have been cared for
During the night


DESIRE ASK ASCEND
Food loses its flavor
When there is no one
To share it with

As stones are for skipping
So words are for winning
The heart of a lovesick soul

The biggest mountains
Are climbed one step
At a time



EPIGRAM TRIO
The man undressed
Is distressed

Teachers seldom do
What they teach others to

(ON COMPUTERS)
The green grass won't grow
Where the green glass glows 

PLUS ONE
Life is a serial to be consumed. 


REFLECT AND REMEMBER
The greatest plagues
Attack not the body
But the mind

Memory is a dancer
Just beyond my reach
So it is I am learning to dance


LIFE AND LIVING
Death comes soon enough
No need to lie and wait
One block falls another is set in its place
A baby is born an old man dies

Swimming in the tides
Is not a task of leisure
It is however one way
of telling the live fish
from the dead

STAGECOACH
Discipline is a carriage
For a noble heart

Courage is grease
For the axle of calm

Love is the driver
Guiding and encouraging

Faith is the passenger
Borne the bumpy ride

Hope is the horse
Pulling us forward

Inspiration is the Creator's hand
Providing water, food, rest and strength.


THE ANIMALS
The fox once caught
Will try to convince
His captor that he
Is the one ensnared

A pig for a sty
A ring for his nose
A laborer wallowing
In food and mud
A slaughter

The old bear
Will not leave the trash
Unless shot
He dies a slow
Ugly death
Yet allow him to live
Again and Again
To the trash he goes
Close by the house
Until one day
A life is taken

A lions life
Is a lonely one

LIFE AND LOVE
Life an love are free
What we do with them
May cost us our time
Patience and many other's help

ON WRITING
Writing is a type of mania
But without those less desirable
side affects of other self indulgent
behaviors. It helps one to shed the
straight jacket and washes cool
The burning fires of the soul -
Refreshing ever those musty places
once trapped deep within -
Those subterranean soundings.