#168 good little citizen

i wear happy clothes, stay clean-shaven

drive to work, drive home, add to my shopping list

i read the paper a few times a week

i'm involved in my community

i'm a good little citizen

but i'm angry

angry at humanity

myself included

angry for putting ourselves first

for ignoring large-scale depression

for encouraging Sprawl-Mart

and all the chains we lock on ourselves

Convenience, Luxury, Lowest Price

we know that Lowest Prices comes at highest costs

but we're contented by our distance

off-line for a week... gone travelling... juan de fuca

#167 the art of handling the aggressive talker

standing on the wharf

seaweed and saltwater

demand olfactory attention

then i see the boat

heavier than anything

i could ever budge an inch

hull aiming 12 o'clock

for the now fragile wooden dock

collision course

a wave from the steering wheel

suggests i save the disaster

and i do

not with strength

not much at least

but by deflecting the dory's momentum

and the boat

now parallel

kisses the dock

#166 moments between moments

we hiked a trail today

and one of our crew said

this is my favourite time for waterfalls

but there was no waterfall to be seen

we'd passed it several minutes before

i asked him to explain

when its not so intense on the ears

when its in the distance a bit, soothing

there are moments in life

between the big events, before and after

these moments are life, no expectations

these are the moments

that if freedom was lost tomorrow

we would spend nights dreaming of

#165 a.m. prep

my eyes want to close

unadjusted to the early hour

i force them open

guilty for not showing them more sunrises

my feet want to walk back to bed

but i shuffle them to the kitchen

to pack sandwiches and gorp for the hike

my stomach pleads for pepto-bismal

instead i feed it orange juice

my Lab wants to go

I open the door

#164 something good must come

rain covered our street last night

while i tossed and turned from my thoughts

alone in a bed for two

now, mid-morning

dips, potholes, and cracks

hold the only evidence

and soon, all will be dry

no sign of the dark and glum night

but some morning

from this rain

from one of those cracks

will spring a remarkable daisy

#163 grief details

how long after the coffin is covered

before you delete her Contact info

recycle her mail in the bin under the sink

forget her laugh

one month?

six?

a year?

when do you remove her blu-tacked photo from the wall

move her e-mails to the Trash Bin

for whom would we keep them

she's gone

wasted space

#162 baggage and trash

i still sleep on the left side, habit

stretch

trust is slow

and might never return to its former glory

rumble of the approaching garbage truck rushes me

everyone knew

i'm in time, at the curb

sky one hundred percent blue

the only sign of rain-

everything is wet

must've rained an hour before i awoke

sometimes we see a thing happened

only after it is done

standing, i watch the man empty my metal bin

then his truck drives drives, ten yards

and the scene replays

again

and again

#161 a choice

the 8-ball awaits

he stands

bent, poised

sliding the cue-stick
back-forth, back-forth

his elbow a pendulum

a decision to be made

to smash or to tap

strength and authority over opponent

or finesse and understated power

back-forth, back-forth

his eyes blink

#160 the clean-up job / the hit man needs an "s"

no matter how many times

i never like this part of the job

i cover my hand in black plastic bag

wear it like a glove

i glance

ahead

left right

hoping for no witness

then

I

bend

at the knees

and scoop

her poo

#159 goodbye teacher

he cleaned toilets and changed the world

wore simple clothes and affected world leaders

stopped the British Empire, with salt

einstein said

there will come a day when it scarce be believed

that such a man as this ever did walk upon the earth

einstein

and still we failed to learn

#158 in my head

words spiral

hail mary

slip

flip

invert

convert

the homynym track is endless

the synonym track is parallel

puns appear

double-meanings abound

but what errand did my wife suggest 

twenty minutes ago..?

i have no idea

 

#157 one writer's argument against the Law of Conservation

my world

a radius of 30 inches

my mind my hand my pen

working at fever

time 

is an empty word

a non-existent phenomenon 

during these zone moments

energy cannot be created nor destroyed?

falsehood

ideas and images and sparks 

jump and dance and explode

in my inner space

if the energy leaves in the form of heat

a mammoth hole exists above my desk

in the ozone

#156 levels of participation

to watch golf re-runs from a couch

to watch a basketball game live

to play in a softball rec league

to join a competitive hockey team

to host a marathon

these re all participation

any one only better than the others

by situation

the recovering patient

the caring father

the new community member

the introspective teen

the injured athlete

#155 haiku2

write five syllables

write seven more syllables

then finish with five

#154 haiku

body and mind balance

mind walks: apples, gravity

i stretch, write a story

#153 the writing body

 isaac (mr newton)

was garden-walking

an apple fell

a catalyst 

for the theory of gravity

elite athletes 

visualize 

perform mental relaxation techniques

i write

and i stretch

i juggle 

i run

i eat apples

i walk

hoping to find My poem

#152 introspection

grey

raining

no cars travel to my ears today

just the plip-plip-plop

of drops drop-dropping

on metal roof and eavestrough

a day that begs you to  stay inside

to be inside

to look inside

#151 how progress has altered my day

wake up 

check my e-mail

lounge 

watch tv

check my e-mail

surf the web

check my e-mail

lounge

microwave lunch

check my e-mail

#150 the bravado of the male

as i near the tree

he shouts and screams

to convince me 

he's of colossal size and reputation

the nearer i get

the louder he gets

bullying me out of his territory

this happens everyday

as i pass by his home

the bravado of the red squirrel

#149 the measure of a boy (*accepted in "message in a bottle")

the boy strides outdoors in rubber boots

fishing rod in hand

it might not be far

but it's out of his mother's calling range

forbidden just last summer

his boots squeak-clunk down the trail

through still evergreens to the silent lake

he attaches a worm and casts

no people talking

no tv

no brothers

just the lake

later

on the picnic table in front of the house

he measures his one catch

it passes the halfway of the ruler

will be shorter after he cuts and guts

fish don't look so alive until you stare at their eyes

inside his chest, he is proud

mother watches out the window

nervous about the steak-knife

she bends to a lower cupboard and then brandishes a frying pan

happy to see her boy

enjoying something

#148 looking down on her overturned 4-runner

sirens wailing in drivers' ears

vehicles pulling onto shoulder

the jaws of life arrive on scene

but the jaws of death just left

is there some new understanding

some knowledge of the bad things in this world

the medic moves from joanne 

nothing left to do there

to her daughter

so much blood

but

the medic is relieved

all mother's blood

#147 monday morning, sunday long-run

hips swollen

quads screaming

stairs taking forever

even my arms hurt

why do my arms hurt?

i'm glad today is a rest day

not sure i could tie my runners

#146 sometimes

better teams lose

good people are pricks

jerks do nice things

rain is relief

#145 a nation asleep

the people's voice

the people's parade

undesired by those in power

montreal

seattle

then nothing

why?

someone

take back our streets

#144 learning the process

poetry is a habit

a poem is a plant that grows

from a lot of decomposing matter

poems and poetry are what happen 

when someone thinking

holds a pen

a poetry book then

ample unseen rot

#143 tenth anniversary

her ring has lost shine

but gained meaning

if she lost nine years ago

replacement would be an option

now

though the shine is gone

so many everydays 

and stand-out memories attached

sleeping in Saturday

skydiving

the ring goes to the right of the sink now

automatic 

without thought

the ring has lots its shine

but is part of her now

#142 the beast about to strike

king of pop

to butt of all jokes

then death

now social hero again

we all know he was odd

struggled with his childhood

even up to his death

what was he

singer

entertainer

icon

pedophile

father

son

chameleon

all these and more

he had a dark side

a private side

a result 

in part

of being a consumer product

a commodity

and whose fault is that?

the consumer.

you

me

and it will happen again

#141 us and nature

square buildings

boxy cars

straight lines and right angles

round trees

unsymmetric beauty

fluid lines and curvy angles

#140 float like a butterfly

from clay he grew

his words and fists mesmorized all

once so fast

now so slow

an honourable reminder of mortality

he lived

his life burst at the seams

he stung and was stung

but learned through it all

and now he's in a long battle

which he will surely lose

but their is a victory

in losing against impossible odds

if you are graceful 

and honourable

#139 pizza and poetry

first, mix all the ingredients together

get some words on paper

then place it, center of the pan

re-read it

play with the dough in your hands

switch things around

work the ball from the center out

add sentences, change words

when the pan is covered take another look

when the poem feels done take another look

fix thin parts

tweak

put it in the oven

let the page sit for a while

enjoy

share

#138 cycling to break the cycle

at home

alone on the couch

small fears grow big

upcoming appointments and assignments and commitments

the air

only goes as far
as my throat

and before i slip too far

down that dark mineshaft

i stand up

open the door

step outside

unlock my bike

unlock the grip that was on me

#137 a word on the street

spare some change?

a hoarse whisper

from the smelly guy 

sitting indin-style on the grimy sidewalk

huddled under a stained sleeping bag

a father of three

a schizophrenic

a self-medicator

he hears get a job and bum

several times a day

before sleeping in the Royal Bank ATM room

with empty pockets

i shake my head

sorry man

and i hope that soon

the world can spare some change 

#136 big family supper table

one on couch for TV

one at badminton practice

one reading upstairs

one helping prep

one at work

two playing outside

but then

they all join

round the rectangle

one family

#135 women's weekend

dog underfoot

cold beer in hand

quiet

except for the tv commentator's voice

this is the life he thinks but man

i miss her