Entries

…for Curtis

a gate and a door the latter more
formal, sturdy
needs a knock or a key
while a gate
is an open invitation if less than
waist high
of course there are Dutch doors
useful for
comedic purposes in old movies
gates leak
secrets stifle speculation unlike doors
that police
are always breaking down to find
a body or surprise a felon
ranches are great for gates that open onto large
fenced pastures
(who can forget Steve McQueen riding
a motorcycle desperately
from fence to fence in the
Great Escape?)
what a delightful feeling to hop
a fence (gate without hinges)
gates are warm receptive doors defensive
formidable
please, don’t get me started on windows

Prankster

Time
fills all chasms even
the Grand Chasm
Balloons are full of time that
can squeak out a music to rival
that of Ornette Coleman
Minds are full of time ignored
Time blows clouds flirtatiously
across a sky content to be
simply day and night
Time creates its own vacuum
Time twists hearts into romantic
confusion leads lovers to
moments of timeless expectation
Airlines ignore time as often
as they can
Ice is water’s slow time
Why count minutes
Birthdays celebrate indenture
The past accumulates the future
lies as a hidden burden
A clock face never shaves
Malice intensifies
War compresses time
Peace time is so relaxed as to be
inadvertent    I look at my hands
to see if time is on them
Time is the ultimate prankster
just when you think you have it
mastered it runs out on you

Slamming Open the Door, a review

It is the never to be imagined
the unthinkable
a distance that expands but never
changes
(I too have daughters, one a nurse.)
the briskness of verse faces the abruptness
of loss
a weight undeserved presses on the chest
memories on paper   now none are trivial
each pulled from a jewel box examined
and replaced
examined and replaced in no particular
order
black ribbons dance in the wind sewn into tears
temerity of catharsis
any question except Why is inconsequential
and why
is denied a satisfactory answer
blind to all    deaf to all    touch
nothing
taste What    a mixture of ashes and roses