A Renga Written in New York

Yellow and green
Leathery leaves
On the balding tree

A man drinks his coffee
He has a hard hat in his hand

Bright trees line
The dirty street
Graced by morning shine

There are no news reporters here
And those walking blind to time

Planets painted
On the wall
And the word, imagination

Those that painted are now tall
Drinking coffee, reading news

Lines Written

Any where over the rainbow
My wordless brain’s flying
And I want you all to hear
My voiceless essay cry

And I’m resting on a crescent planet
Sing you all to wake
I’m slipping into sleep briefly
To escape into the desert

Well you try and try not to try
So walk up on a track with a pack
And flick your clock hands to the side
And bite down on your weed

Oh lost and nameless Shaganah
Oh dazzled dreamer dude
Walk and disappear into
A star that burns for you

I fell in love today, one and a half times
I fell in love with a moment and a vibe
And I almost died from my stupidity
And I felt my age unrealized

So please help me- but can I help?
Can I do anything for God?
He works all day and comes home
To dishes piled up in the sink

And he cries in the kitchen
And I watch football
And I touch him in bed
And he fakes an orgasm

This morning I felt as though I weren't even me
as though I had washed up at sea
and I remembered my dreams
and I had slept half the day away

So I debated what to do
it being noon
so I walked to the next town
to the cafe I love
where jazz music plays
and the place was quite empty
I had a muffin and coffee
and I rewrote a beginning

Why Do You Paint?

Why is it I talk?

And it you draw?

Why is it I write?

As it you paint?

Hey I make concepts

I am talking about justice

I can’t see you preaching

On concepts soberly

Why is it I talk?

And it you draw?

Do you make concepts?

Say God made you?

And God made me?

You are a shape

I am a shape

"Town" inspired by Louis Armstrong's "Tenderly"

What’s in that trumpet is

Birds on a wire

A whole day with everybody

Outside, there are

Dreams that extend down a

Marble hall that has no end

There is joy in slowly buttoning

One’s shirt for the day

There’s unity with that dust

That hangs in the room

Friends with light

There are hundreds of mystic words

Waiting to be shared

By neighbors

There is the dawning of a shadow

Overcoming the town

One can walk far into the street

Without intending to come back

There are falling flags

Finally, the ghost of love has returned

Now, no words are spoken

Now, shadows are girlfriends

And uncles are telephone wires

In a trumpet

One follows Satchmo

Beautiful Woman

Where are you and how do I

Track you beautiful woman?

I search the woods and the

Cities and I get in trouble

I swim the rivers at night

And lurk under the bridges

Beautiful woman, your soul

Is a college library

Beautiful woman your

Heart is a festival

Beautiful woman your

Humor is the galaxy

Fire and rocks and

Rare waters!

Oh, I tread through cemeteries

And wear disguises and

Go undercover and once even

As a doctor another time

As a character in a monster

Suit on a TV show

But you weren’t in that

Episode and I did re-

Search about you and

Learned astrology to try

To see when I could catch

Up with you in the future

God I’m over you on the

Himalayas as I find

Myself but your just

Down the slope

I’ve found nirvana

But I can smell the

Incense of your sweet

Voice I continue

When I find you we’ll both

Be old and I won’t need

You and we’ll have stories

To shower each other with

But you get married and

Have him by you and I’m

Destroyed by bear claws

And various diseases

I’ve become the sea

And you a star

I roar to you at night

And you sparkle for me

I love you and I’m salty

And deep and you are

Mighty and mysterious

And far away

I am still on my way

Because you are a concept

And existence is black and white

And half of it is you

The Old Wind

Father Wind

Takes no part

Makes no comment

Clean, pure, timeless

Empty, attached to the

Growing universe

I hear it from the highway

I feel it on my body

I hear it move the trees

I hear a dog’s metal collar

And rush of cars

And the lazy trees

I live in a physical world

Where fathers drink

And push you down

I live in a big argument

I wish to be like the wind

And have no opinion!

I want to be pure

And thoughtless

And a cool hero

I want to not be afraid

And walk this Earth

Making good things happen

I want to read the Zen lit

And laugh and take no

Part in a critique of trees

I want to talk about truth,

Technology and reality

Carry in the 21^st century

I want to sing about nature

And heaven that I imagine

And how I love others

I want to be a part of nature

I want to be the old wind

Not even identified.