Thursday, September 30, 2010

LINES FOR SEPTEMBER 30

Iron sky
and a cold wind -

where
has summer gone?


Wednesday, September 29, 2010

LINES FOR SEPTEMBER 29

Crisp freshness
of morning
in autumn -

my eyes on
blue sky
and sun.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

LINES FOR SEPTEMBER 28

Is it the wind
that has taken
the autumn leaves

or have the leaves
taken the wind?


Monday, September 27, 2010

LINES FOR SEPTEMBER 27

The soybeans
have turned.

Autumn shows
some ankle.


Sunday, September 26, 2010

THREE from
THE OLD POET SAYS


“Some poets say
Turn left right here

when what they mean is
Plow on.”

*

“How to say good-
bye to a poet -

Hug your friend
and go.”

*

“Poem, a fester
that will not heal.”


Saturday, September 25, 2010

THREE from
THE OLD POET SAYS


“We've got a deal,” he said.
“I don't go to church and

God doesn't sleep in my bed.”

*

“If they
truly be
angels,

they don't
need wings.”

*

“Ah, poetry, you always
get in the way of
where I'm going.”


Friday, September 24, 2010

LINES FOR SEPTEMBER 24

Thick fog,
into which

the world
disappears,

or I do.


Thursday, September 23, 2010

LINES FOR SEPTEMBER 23

Ah, the
wisdom

of sleep, the
brightness

of morning,
rising.


Wednesday, September 22, 2010

LINES FOR SEPTEMBER 22

Ring-tailed
at the side of the road,
motionless,

eyes gone dark.


Tuesday, September 21, 2010

LINES FOR SEPTEMBER 21

Feedmill or a church
in the fog? To a good man

it doesn't matter.


Monday, September 20, 2010

LINES FOR SEPTEMBER 20

Missed your exit?
Open your heart and

any road will take you.


Sunday, September 19, 2010

THREE from
THE OLD POET SAYS


“No,” he said,
“I cannot

turn it off.
The poem

forces itself
upon me.”

*

“If there be
God, his

business
exceeds your

small-minded
insistence.

And if not,
he's not

God.”

*

“You want to
catch them
as they flit past.”


Saturday, September 18, 2010

THREE from
THE OLD POET SAYS


“Silence
is better than

nothing.”

*

“Work your words
and work them
some more.

You will not
wear them out.”

*

“If you can't
do it with just
guitar and bass,”
he said,

“it wasn't much
of a song
to start with.”


Friday, September 17, 2010

LINES FOR SEPTEMBER 17

Edge of the world
at the wall of fog.

Nowhere else to go.


Thursday, September 16, 2010

LINES FOR SEPTEMBER 16

Crow, the only
color
in this grey world.


Wednesday, September 15, 2010

LINES FOR SEPTEMBER 15

Full urgency
of the creek.

Above it,
the crow -

what does it
seek?


Tuesday, September 14, 2010

LINES FOR SEPTEMBER 14

The roundness
of the empty day -

wood lots disappearing
into fog, the crow

with nowhere to go.


Monday, September 13, 2010

LINES FOR SEPTEMBER 13

Darkness or day?
Fog so thick
I cannot say.


Sunday, September 12, 2010

THREE from
THE OLD POET SAYS


“Fifty years
a poet

before I am
comfortable

with the.”

*

“The question is,”
he said, “will I

run out of words,
or paper?”

*

“Like God, the sun
does not know

the half of it.”


Saturday, September 11, 2010

THREE from
THE OLD POET SAYS


“The poet worth
reading does not
know the answer,

but understands
the question.”

*

“The poem is what's left
when you've torn up your notes.”

*

“An answer does not
disturb the question.”


Friday, September 10, 2010

LINES FOR SEPTEMBER 10

Slow is just
fast enough.


Thursday, September 09, 2010

LINES FOR SEPTEMBER 9

I am headed west.
I think. What can you

know for certain?


Wednesday, September 08, 2010

LINES FOR SEPTEMBER 8

Swallowed into
the maw of greyness

like Jonah
in the whale,

but without hope
of redemption.

Disappointment
is an eternal condition.


Tuesday, September 07, 2010

LINES FOR SEPTEMBER 7

Emptiness
scraped even

emptier.
No one's fault

but my own.

Monday, September 06, 2010

LINES FOR SEPTEMBER 6

Upside down moon,
this
ocean-faced morning.


Sunday, September 05, 2010

THREE from
THE OLD POET SAYS


“Set aside
what you think
you know

and listen.”

*

“A proper
poem

acknowledges
the stones.”

*

“Why would I want to
wear your brand? Isn't
it bad enough that

I am myself?”



Saturday, September 04, 2010

THREE from
THE OLD POET SAYS


“Make your notes.
Make your futile
notes and pay attention.

The poem will come.”

*

“Not much time
and not much space

but lots of words
to feed the darkness.”

*

“Religious or not,
you are only a

lump of molecules
with attitude

waiting to disintegrate.”


Friday, September 03, 2010

LINES FOR SEPTEMBER 3

Dead squirrel
on the highway.

What he thought
at the end -

Uh-oh!


Thursday, September 02, 2010

LINES FOR SEPTEMBER 2

Believe
in stones.

They believe
in you.


Wednesday, September 01, 2010

LINES FOR SEPTEMBER 1

Happiness
like a sudden squall

as if her heart
dances.


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