#521 like a horse and carriage

goodnight to the man with the naked finger

goodnight from an older man with everything your young running shoes ran from

goodnight to independent decisions, unlimited

goodnight to no expectations but your own

goodnight to shaggy t-shirts and to sleeping off saturday morning hangovers

sleep well

i'll take my finger and its weight

i'll wear my wallabees and chuckle inside at your laughs

i'll say hello to decisions shared

to the suggestion box who sees the best man inside my sensible coat

and goodbye to weekly benders

#519 why are you here?

i saw her in a bathing suit, and the thoughts started

i should have stopped them there, i know

but thoughts are mine, and thoughts are harmless

but they grew and grew in my head

like vetch and weeds in the neighbour's garden

and my thoughts took over my head

like the vetch and the weeds

they grew bigger, stronger, choking out the good ones

and instead of weeding out the garden

i pretended to love the weeds

i called their ugliness, beauty

called the perverse thorns, flowers

and that is why i am here

#517 family

i am a tree-top

owing everything i am to my roots

yet, i grow away from them

the more i strive for my sun

the more the distance grows

my roots strive below the surface, for me

and i inch away

my achievements hybrid-cross with feelings of guilt, betrayal

for without my roots

i would fall and i would rot

#516 wasted years?

and she left home

to meet the world

to find herself

and to find her place in that world

she taught overseas for two years

partied hard for a year

travelled for another year

and on the far end of our blue globe

she met someone

from the next town over from her folks

they returned, and married

they enjoyed their life all the more

knowing what lie beyond their fence

#511 Donald-the-Bishop

the boy he is forgotten, the man stands 6 feet 9

scale's numbers jump to one-forty-kg, lines up t'the needle ev'ry time

with arms that could spell wiry, describe their agile owner to the world

and a cut below his good eye, that makes for a many story

let me name our black-jeaned hero, introducing Donald-the-Bishop

inches from pro-league contracts, but something changed (in) his mind

schwarzennagger still owes him, he'll prove 50 push-up at one time

for which he'll make you choose, "with the left or with the right?"

ripped off, by hollywood; beaten down, by all that's good

Donald-the-Bishop, we sure could use you now

i was there that tuesday, outside Mrs. Lee's

Donald with the devil in him, requiring four rcmp's

they all hit the concrete sidewalk, a uniform gripped in donald's headlock

five red faces from the effort, 7 long minutes this spectacle did consume

but Donald-the-Bishop... landed in the backseat, of the good ol' white-and-blue

this be just one quick sketch, one of the many many

there's Marigold-John Donnie-the Dyke and the Wookies, but they earn a song all their own

same for Mr. Underduck, and Captain Shaky too

but before we proceed farther, let's tip one cold one back

to the four respected officers, and The Bishop jeaned in black

Donald-the-Bishop, we sure could use you now

Donald-the-Bishop... we sure could use you now!

#502 a flower in a vase on a coffee table

she stares at the square vase

sitting with her legs crossed

unfolds her hands

manipulated to be "Beautiful"

cut

stored in a fridge

paid for

wrapped

delivered

arranged in its vase on a coffee table

Beauty

manufactured for $29.95

she stares at the vase

like a man staring at a mirror, the first day of his mid-life crisis

sighs a mental sigh

refolds her hands on her lap