Thursday, February 28, 2013


LINES FOR FEBRUARY 28

Aching trees
at the edge

of winter.
Sunlight

on them,
a sweetness

you cannot
taste.



Wednesday, February 27, 2013


LINES FOR FEBRUARY 27

Dried stalks

of reeds
and rushes.

Fall has
pushed them

to winter.
Winter

forgives them
their summer.



Tuesday, February 26, 2013


LINES FOR FEBRUARY 26

Great heap of
corn on the ground.

Snow on the corn.
Sky on the snow.

In the distance,
crows, wondering

what does it mean?



Monday, February 25, 2013


LINES FOR FEBRUARY 25

Low-down slough,

the cup of winter
overflowing.



Sunday, February 24, 2013


from
THE OLD POET SAYS

"Yeah, people, this is
what poets do,

whether it works
or not."

*

"If I could sing,
of what would you

make my blessing?"

*

"Did you come to
preach or teach?

Don't overstate
the obvious."




Saturday, February 23, 2013


from
THE OLD POET SAYS

"Find an
emptiness

and fill
it. There's

your poem."

*

"It doesn't matter
what I want.

What I get
is this, or

something
like it."

*

"If you
have to ask

is that
a poem,

it's not."



Friday, February 22, 2013


LINES FOR FEBRUARY 22

Bare birch,
white as

the winter wind
which chills me,

which moves it.



Thursday, February 21, 2013


LINES FOR FEBRUARY 21

Cold stone,
taste of winter.



Wednesday, February 20, 2013


LINES FOR FEBRUARY 20

The smell
of woodsmoke -

winter entering
on the wind.



Tuesday, February 19, 2013


LINES FOR FEBRUARY 19

The land
laid for

winter,
the sun

not its
summer

sheen but
redder,

like the
blood

in things.



Monday, February 18, 2013


LINES FOR FEBRUARY 18

Green chop
of water,

the edge
of winter

here, along
the shore.



Sunday, February 17, 2013


from
THE OLD POET SAYS

"Once
the poem

crawls in
your ear,

don't let it
crawl back

out."

*

"Too much
poemness

will spoil
the poem.

Better
truth than

beauty."

*

"At the edge
of poetry,

nonsense.

There's no
other way."



Saturday, February 16, 2013


from
THE OLD POET SAYS

"Work it
hard

enough
it hurts.

If you
can think

about
something

else,
you're not

doing it
right."

*

“Happiness
is not

the biggest
basket.”

*

“These lines,
those -

it's all
one poem.”



Friday, February 15, 2013


LINES FOR FEBRUARY 15

Crow beneath
the evergreen,

seeking wisdom
in winter.



Thursday, February 14, 2013


LINES FOR FEBRUARY 14

Snow, Lord,
the wind has

smeared.



Wednesday, February 13, 2013


LINES FOR FEBRUARY 13

Winter grasses.
What moves

moves them.



Tuesday, February 12, 2013


LINES FOR FEBRUARY 12

Delicious fail
of winter sky.

Blue wind in
the humming trees.

Nowhere to go,
and going fast.



Monday, February 11, 2013


LINES FOR FEBRUARY 11

Like a white
hawk flapping,

winter wind.



Sunday, February 10, 2013


from
THE OLD POET SAYS

“Oh, the fear
of not enough

when you have
too much.”

*

“Poetry is
a contact sport.

Get yourself
in shape.”

*

“Music is
a conversation

you otherwise
couldn't have.”



Saturday, February 09, 2013


from
THE OLD POET SAYS

“How much
is too much?

Any more
than enough.”

*

“I do not wish to
form the formless,

rather to be
informed by it.”

*

“Impatience
is a virtue

if waiting
is a sin.”



Friday, February 08, 2013


LINES FOR FEBRUARY 8

Corn left
to stand

in the field
through winter.

What is
lost was

already
gone.



Thursday, February 07, 2013


LINES FOR FEBRUARY 7

Dead tree,
sun, and

winter wind.
The sadness

of the saints
filling me

again.



Wednesday, February 06, 2013


LINES FOR FEBRUARY 6

A shadow
at the window.

The bare
branches of winter.



Tuesday, February 05, 2013


LINES FOR FEBRUARY 5

Winter's bareness.
Loneliness

like the wind.



Monday, February 04, 2013


LINES FOR FEBRUARY 4

Empty barn -
only winter wind

and loneliness.



Sunday, February 03, 2013


from
THE OLD POET SAYS

“If not
now,

when?

If not
this,

what?”

*

“How much of
this conversation
can I have

without you?”

*

“Too often
we stop

working it
before we

get it."



Saturday, February 02, 2013


from
THE OLD POET SAYS

“Reader,
I would

wrap this
moment

for you,
that you

could take
it home.”

*

“How is it
it happens,

this
incessant

run of
words?”

*

“Drive
the rough road;

work loose
that poem.”



Friday, February 01, 2013


LINES FOR FEBRUARY 1

Net of winter
trees

catching
evening sky.

Wind
brings the night.



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