Friday, August 14, 2009

Fog Off the Harbor. 8/10/09

If I had no sense of direction

And no prior knowledge of where I was

I might think this was a fog was coming in off the harbor

In a place like New Jersey or Portland, Oregon.

And just beyond that building

Maybe another block down was an old shipyard,

Filled with skiffs, and wharfs, and a beaten down barge

Waiting to be used again.

The traffic might be drowning the cries of the gulls

Or they could still be asleep.

And there is a beaten down shop

Serving stale coffee

To weathered men in yellow slickers

And black stocking caps

Who remind me of The Old Man And The Sea.

Each morning I could put on my water proof shoes

And head down to the shore.

I’d collect broken glass, torn netting,

And pieces of wood

That were more like bone now

After being polished by the waves and sand.

The salt in the air would pickle my skin

And I wouldn’t know that the town I was in

Was old Omaha

So far away from the Ocean

And surrounded by land.

I would think this fog was coming in off the harbor

In a place like San Fransisco or somewhere in New England,

And I’d be a happier man.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Our anniversary picnic!

Sara and I went out for our anniversary on July 26. We drove into Iowa and headed for an afternoon at a winery. On our way we stopped and had a picnic in a small field. We had ski cheese, avocado, Jimmy John's bread, and tuna. We polished it off with some sparkling grape juice. It was an awesome picnic and a great way to celebrate our event.

I feel like summer is already threatening to leave us. I actually prefer fall, but I still find it hard to watch such a great summer go by. Such is the way of life, I guess. Enjoy the seasons and then wave as they pass you by.

Friday, June 19, 2009

Carry you.

An ocean I may be,
swelling and rolling against shores
and lands far away
calm in some lands
outraged in others
but I carry you
to cities and forests
mountains and deserts
and I will carry you
until the last drop evaporates
and all of me that remains
is salt and dust.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

rose

A rose is not a rose, it is a process of changing and evolution towards no end.

Monday, April 13, 2009

A New Perspective

Isn't it amazing that we should believe something our entire lives only to awaken one day and see the change? 
What was once so wicked is now justified, beautiful, and misunderstood.
Her anger was not of malice or sadistic pleasure, but it was a history of pain, abuse, and neglect that made her behavior seem harsh and nasty.  
I pity her.  I now believe in her cause.  I'm even angry at the one we thought was the heroine. 
Only another pawn in the wizard's game, acting without knowing the back story. 
If I can only remember to pause before I make decisions, learn to see the big picture, maybe I will not make such a blind leap and kill the Wicked Witch.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Wintery Mix

It warmed up yesterday and the cat started biting
Only to cool down today with snow, sleet, and rain (pause)
The gray skies are everything but sincere or inviting
And the scratches on my arm tell me to temp that fate (pause)
Move out West, they say
Move on out (pause)
Pack up your nap sack
With a bandana over your scalp (pause)
Walk holes into your shoes
Calluses into your heels
Stare down those thunder clouds
Pretend you don't feel (pause)
With that last lurching stretch
Step over the divide
Across the time zone
Down the other side
Leave nothing left
Nothing in question 
For no one expected
The Spanish Inquisition (pause)
Spring is on its way. (pause).

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Blazing Winter Day

Who could have thought we'd hit 60 today?
Nebraska isn't that far south.
February 4rth feels like the 5th of May.
It seems winter has run out.
We walked through Omaha's Old Market streets.
The night sped on by.
Drinking shade-grown coffee in the galleries.
Deciding which ice cream to try.
I spent the morning thinking of ideas for new songs.
Watching you slowly breathe.
At your side is where I will always belong.
So I write of you and me.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Pick up and leave

Where should we go today?
We've paid the bills and have a surplus.
We could drive till our asses hurt.
Leave endless Nebraska.
Drive across the Rockies.
Through Independence Pass.
I'll catch us dinner.
We can roast potatoes.
Sleep off the highway.
Maybe find a wild hot spring.
In the morning we'll continue westward.
Stopping for lunch in the sunlight.
Nap in the heavy shade of a tree.
Get up and do it all again.
Laughing.
Worry-free eyes.
Reach the coast.
Watch the sun set the sky on fire.
I'll catch us dinner.
Stay as long as we want.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Sewel Makes Room for Them

Sewel Makes Room for Them dies at 25 due to cardiac arrest.

He sat at his kitchen table, a folding card table covered in a plastic floral sheet and a small watering can filled with silk geraniums. His jeans, torn white at the tips, cradled his black tie-up boots. An eagle feather hung from his wide brimmed hat, and his long black hair, black like a raven's belly, laid across his shoulders. In 1973, he fought the trickster hiding in a bottle deeper than any warrior could swim out. Down at the bottom, he road out to the creator looking for answers.

Sewel Makes Room for Them whispers his discovered secrets on the winds that wash South Dakota, and he makes room for them.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

In my car

I write in my car because...
the scenery is always moving and for some reason that makes it easier to daydream.
the bumps in the asphalt give my words rhythm.
stoplights and traffic are boring.
I can't always wait until I get to a notebook and desktop.
I'm afraid I'll lose the words somewhere deep in my head.
sometimes thoughts hit me so hard I need to capture them.
it breaks up the drive.
I'm a safe driver, and I can handle writing and driving simultaneously.
songs on the radio can spark and emotion I don't want to go away.
I wonder how my thoughts change throughout the year.
I'm in the rain, but I'm dry.
I don't have time to write anywhere else.
It's my secret office.
I don't know what will come next.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Broken Bones

When I was younger, I saw my brother, I used to wonder
Would I grow right, in his eyes, would I falter?
So fast, it goes, before I know it.
I'm old, he's gone, I've blown it.
I can only hope he's smiling on the inside.
Through the stone, he's yielding, stirring ice
In a tumbler of bourbon, heat on the horizon.
His worry lines and serious eyes are illusions.
Back to the driveway, a blood-stained pavement.
Running for mother to show her what happened.
I never told her it was my fault, my plans.
Let it go child, its over, it happened.
My poor brother, took that one on the inside.
His gut is torn up. I see it in his eyes.
These illusions.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

The Tables are Turning

Deep down, buried in the dirt, dwells a tangled mess.
Of a past long forgotten, covered up and rotting with the rest.
We kicked it under the welcome mat, but the more we drill and dig
The more our past comes raging back, the more our backs they break.

Do you know what your world's about?  The tables are turning now.

Well why not? Pass me a shovel.  Everybody, hey, come out and help.
Start the digging, there's no trouble, until our brow start to glisten and melt.

Do you know what your life's about. The tables are turning around.

And soon young women and men, they will grow old.
They skin will be leathered, and their sight will start to go.
The things they buried will work their way on up. 
Exposed and rotting our lives it will begin to haunt.

Do you know what your world's about? The tables are turning now.

Now in our empty homes, we'll hang our dusty coats.
The day's work is done.  This disaster we've postponed. 
But soon the future, it will come, that old tax collector.
Demanding us to pay on up; the day in the sun is over.

Do you know what your world's about? The tables are turning around.
Do you know what your world's about? The tables are turning now.
The tables are turning around.

The Sleeping Zebra

Well, not so much now.
I'm afraid my typing has brought you up from the depths.
Napping in the crook of my elbow,
You've rested 
And, no doubt, you'll have the energy
To blaze through this apartment's serengeti.
So you want to play now, do you?
Well grab your mouse on a string and lets go.
I've never been a cat owner until now,
And you seem like the feline for me.

Friday, January 2, 2009

1984

consciousness equals existence so long as you control the thought process
freedom eludes those who follow the currents of their Big Brother
denial leads one headfirst into oncoming traffic
to abandon your lover in the cross hairs of your greatest fears
and finally realize, 2 + 2 = 5
or 3, or cotton ball
or whatever I tell you it =