revisiting sites

have you ever
in that oddly lit place
between wake and sleep
gone backwards
thinking over
decisions that once
caused isomniac weeks
that now appear
as they always were
ephemeral
the breathing of butterflies

the lightness of the stars

in that wakeless hour
populated by many spirits
mostly benign
as I get older
who hold up mirrors
to my future
answering my questions
with songs
in undiscovered
languages
often
leaning foward
to whisper
not to stare

mothers day

softly
birds coo
cities yawn
puddles sing
dogs croon
trees whistle
against the clock
drawn morning

Happy 88th Birthday Dan Berrigan!!!!!!!!!!

on this day in 1921, Daniel Berrigan,S.J. poet-priest peacemaker was born on the Iron Range in Minnesota, home to such great poetic minds as Bob Dylan, Bill Holm and Eugene McCarthy to mention a few. Daniel Berrigan is my candidate for the sanest man of the 20th century, for his lifelong witness against POWER, for his lightness of touch, his wonderful sense of humor, his superb[and greatly underrated]poetry. He is quite simply, the greatest man I have ever met, and has been a guiding light in my life since high school. If Pete Seeger is feted` for 90, Daniel Berrigan should be lionized. simply, a good great man. Happy Birthday Fr Dan! Many many more!

yellow paper

once
many years ago
in a state of
drunken
rapture

I wrote
a seven page
rambling letter
telling of my undying love
for you
confessing it on
crushed yellow
legal pad
indicting myself
with my signature

you had the kindness
not to mention it
until we
were dating awhile
out of typical
delicacy
and guessing
I was too
embarrassed
to bring it up
funny thing was
somehow
through the haze of booze
i remembered
not just penning it
but each word
as if it were
on a plaque
before me
and
perhaps
strangest of all
i meant
every goddamn
word

If they came for you...

My beloved wife has one test she puts in her mind for anyone she meets{she is part Romani,so it is historical} If they came to take away the Jews of your city, would you hide them or would you collaborate.Perhaps an odd litmus test,it is indeed a powerful one.Since my childhood the Shoah has haunted me,{ perhaps due to my part Polish heritage?}the overwhelming stories,the almost unspeakable scope and evil. I have read a great deal[ the great Primo Levi of blessed memory, is among the great writers in any language] and tried, in my limited way, to if not understand[it is madness and evil squared] then to simply never to go along with any form of brutality.The agony of survivors and their families is almost nihilistic in it's power ,though somehow, nihilism did not triumph.The question my wife poses might sound odd or even inappropriate,though ponder this:historically,power has always gone after a scapegoat, and Jewish people have always been marked. I hope and pray, sincerely pray, that this question is never ever needed to be asked again...

this bloody century

and now
you sail
on the waterless
sea
the blue
waveless
sea
no more
to crash upon
the blood black
rock
no more to
set your watch to the
darkness
to caution
others tracing your steps
on the slippery
dark red ice
{is it ice?}
how to navigate
without causing
death
your own
never in doubt
is courage
rarely seen
given
now

always kept
in your breast
pocket
the key to strength
the sparest
bone
a memory card
given at birth
collected
as you board
the fleeing
day

Together through life

Odd, no, how Bob Dylan has survived. In the 1980's he put out a bunch of truly mediocre music,then suddenly[methinks he either put the plug in the jug and/or stopped getting high] he puts out 4 excellent albums.Together through life is hilariously dark[the swine flu scenarios are all abound with the tex-mex flavor on this record] raucous ,hell bouncy recording. Dylan is one truly strange and unusual man, very very few people get to live life on their own terms, and have talent besides. His music is the voice of America, the truest voice since Whitman's[though his lyrics, especially the earlier ones, are more Lorca}rumbled and yawped across the rooftops. If it is not poetry per se`, it's pretty damn close. So here's to Bob Dylan, still kicking some serious ass at age 67.