Saturday, March 31, 2012


THREE from
THE OLD POET SAYS

"Under-
standing

is not
standing

under."

*

"Our noise
covers

the world,
the void."

*

"The world's
loveliness

does not
wait for us."



Friday, March 30, 2012


LINES FOR MARCH 30

Wind – more
air there

than there was.



Thursday, March 29, 2012

IT MUST BE SPRING

It must be spring. I seem to have had poems blooming wildly of late.

Ralph Murre at Re/Verse has put up a poem from my 1981 (and long since out of print) title from saltworks press called Between Zen and Midwestern. "Simply Morning" is a love poem to our daughters.

Yesterday, Annie Wyndham at Salamander Cove reprinted one of my "Old Poet Says" poems as the last nail in another terrific series she has put up.

On the Ides of March, Jayne Jaudon Ferrer at Your Daily Poem re-presented one of my little poems under the title of "Last Year's Leaves."

All along, and most recently on February 20, Joseph Hutchison at Perpetual Bird has been pointing at my efforts, for which I am immensely grateful.

UPDATE: Joe just pointed at me again today, already. No end of wonder.

On top of all this, I'll be having a little book coming out sometime this spring or summer under the title of That Woman. It consists of 13 poems honoring the memory (I hope!) of Wisconsin's foremost poet, Lorine Niedecker. More details as this all firms up.

It must be spring!




LINES FOR MARCH 29

Pushed through,
beyond, towards,

blue sky and
a setting sun.

The storm is done.



Wednesday, March 28, 2012


LINES FOR MARCH 28

How much
lift

against
this much

rain,
if I

would fly?



Tuesday, March 27, 2012


LINES FOR MARCH 27

Splash of light
on the sandy land.

I'd wring out the clouds
if I could.

I can't.



Monday, March 26, 2012


LINES FOR MARCH 26

Hawk
with wide sky,
desperation

of something
on the ground.



Sunday, March 25, 2012


THREE from
THE OLD POET SAYS

"Why? Because
the world

is not full of long thoughts
but quick

impressions,
fleeting and

unreliable."

*

"Sometimes what's parallel,
sometimes what's perpendicular."

*

"Sometimes it's the same poem
and sometimes it's different."



Saturday, March 24, 2012


THREE from
THE OLD POET SAYS

"I don't have
much to say

and this is
a good time

to say it."

*

"A little
noise takes

a lot of
silence

to make it
right."

*

"Write your sadness on
scraps of paper and

let the wind take them."



Friday, March 23, 2012


LINES FOR MARCH 23

Rain in the mountains.
Wind on the high plains. Home is

hope with its clothes on.



Thursday, March 22, 2012


LINES FOR MARCH 22

In your kindness,
Lord, slap me

with a faceful
of rain.



Wednesday, March 21, 2012


LINES FOR MARCH 21

Spit of air,
breath,

intention.



Tuesday, March 20, 2012


LINES FOR MARCH 20

Silence
after the storm.

The wind has yielded
to the trees.



Monday, March 19, 2012


LINES FOR MARCH 19

Storm splits -
I'm driving

the crease.



Sunday, March 18, 2012


THREE from
THE OLD POET SAYS

“Do you never
see the world
the way we do?”
they asked.

“It's that we're
looking at,”
he said,
“different worlds.”

*

"Sometimes I get lost in
where I am. This mysterious

moment, the fullness of
nothing or everything

here, now."

*

"Isn't it a bit
presumptuous to
start with a whole blank

sheet of paper?"



Saturday, March 17, 2012


THREE from
THE OLD POET SAYS

"Still
the silence

speaks to
me and

still
I listen."

*

"You don't have to
do this, you know -

you could be
drinking beer."

*

"Nothing else to say?
Then speak well of silence."



Friday, March 16, 2012


LINES FOR MARCH 16

Silence
breaking like glass,

then laughter.



Thursday, March 15, 2012


LINES FOR MARCH 15

Rattle of evening
wind at the windows.

Day nearly done
and I've just begun.



Wednesday, March 14, 2012


LINES FOR MARCH 14

Perhaps I would
hurry if I were

where you are.



Tuesday, March 13, 2012


LINES FOR MARCH 13

Right Lane
Closed Ahead.

Drive it
and you drive

the wrong one.



Monday, March 12, 2012


LINES FOR MARCH 12

The barn is gone.
Now only the smell

of smoke and memory.



Sunday, March 11, 2012


THREE from
THE OLD POET SAYS

"Not the size
of the line

but its weight
which tells you

where to break
it."

*

"Poets are rich
with their words

until you give them
your money.

Then you both
have nothing."

*

"Poem
is an itch

you can't quite
scratch."



Saturday, March 10, 2012


THREE from
THE OLD POET SAYS

"You'll never
get very far
if you're always

afraid you will
run out of gas."

*

"Find what works
and work it

hard. Do not
relent. Don't

be afraid of
saying what

must be said."

*

"Ah, words!
All the words!

Let God
sort them out."



Friday, March 09, 2012


LINES FOR MARCH 9

Clouds caught
in the mountains.

We get the wind.



Thursday, March 08, 2012


LINES FOR MARCH 8

Crow tells his story.
It's a short one -

the usual,
one syllable.



Wednesday, March 07, 2012


LINES FOR MARCH 7

Low crows in fours -
wisdom comes in bunches.



Tuesday, March 06, 2012

LINES FOR MARCH 6

Wayward crow,
caw caught in wind,

sky blown blue,
and you have far to go.



Monday, March 05, 2012

LINES FOR MARCH 5

Shine of crow
high in the sky,

wings like a kite,
black and bright.



Sunday, March 04, 2012


THREE from
THE OLD POET SAYS

"You are old men
now and so you must

forgive each other."

*

"Turn the words
as you say them,

as if to lift
up our hearts."

*

"If I didn't wait,
they wouldn't come.".



Saturday, March 03, 2012


THREE from
THE OLD POET SAYS

"Where

is it?
It's just

there.

You can't
look

for it,
you can't

expect it,
it's just

there."

*

"Poetry
is not a game you play.

It's
the game you can't play."

*

"Making a poem is like
trying to cross eight lanes

of traffic with your moped
running out of gas."



Friday, March 02, 2012


LINES FOR MARCH 2

Let me take
this moment.

Ah, yes. Now
let me take

this one.

Thursday, March 01, 2012


LINES FOR MARCH 1

Dark smear with no brain
dancing on asphalt

on Sunday morning,
empty-headed and

slow-eyed, so slow-eyed,
the crow in shadow.

Why stand out of sun
pecking at nothing?

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