On these scribblings...
These are some of my writings. A small sum of my writings. I have been writing pretty constantly since I was Fifteen. These are just a small sample of them. The ones I have gotten entered here. I started by putting the published ones in and will fill in more. The more recent ones are being entered because, of course, they are more revelant right now.
December 21, 2021
The 1,2 Years of Covid Christmas
On our first Covid Christmas,
My true love said to me,
Let's just get through this and we'll see them next year.
On our second Covid Christmas,
My true love said to me,
Let's make sure we all got the booster and a daily test.
On our...
END!!!
November 28, 2021
The 1,2 Years of Covid Christmas
A house with people in it
Is settled
With the sounds of voices.
A house with no people in it
Groans
With the sound of emptiness.
November 19, 2021
Noise Canceling
I'm really starting to like
Noise canceling headphones
Thinking I should install a switch
Probably on my neck
To turn on noise canceling
When with some people
Hopefully
Not you
November 11, 2021
Simple Observations
The words the dog laying on my lap does not want to hear are,
“I'm getting my guitar”.
The words my wife sitting on the couch next to me does not want to hear are,
“I'm getting my banjo”.
September 30, 2021
To Our Children's Children - 2021
I'm sorry.
I tried to let them know
We tried to let them know
They would not listen
Maybe I didn't try enough
Maybe I could have done more.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
You have to live with this
You have to survive with this
No one would listen to us
Maybe we didn't try enough
Maybe we could have done more.
We're sorry.
SORRY JUST DOES NOT CUT IT!
July 20, 2021
Hmmm... A Slug
Maybe I'll come back as a slug.
Slowly travel sleep when I want.
Eat after traveling 100 yards.
Over a period of a week.
Hmmm...
But something might eat me...
Maybe I'll come back as a slug with my brain.
That way I'd be smart and watch for what eats me.
But they would eat me anyway.
I would just know it.
Hmmm...
Maybe I'll come back as a slug with my brain and a shield.
That way I would be protected.
But what if I lost my shield?
My brain didn't remember where I put it?
Hmmm...
Maybe I'll come back as a slug with my brain covered by a shield with a gun.
I'd move slow thinking about where my shield was while holding a gun.
Hmmm...
Maybe I'll just come back as a slug.
Tuck myself into a crack.
And think about it.
March 19, 2021
The Streets Of America 2021
If you're a white person
It's safe to walk the streets of America
If you're not a white person
It's not safe to walk the streets of America
If you're a black person
It's not safe to walk the streets of America
If you're a brown person
It's not safe to walk the streets of America
If you're an Asian person
It's not safe to walk the streets of America
In other words
If you're any person
It's not safe to walk the streets of America
If you walk the streets of America
You see white people
If you walk the streets of America
You see people not white
If you walk the streets of America
You see black people
If you walk the streets of America
You see brown people
If you walk the streets of America
You see Asian people
That is the streets of America
If you're any person
Is it safe to walk the streets of America?
March 12, 2021
Where That Strip Mall Stands
There's a house I once knew
It stood right there
Where that strip mall stands
There's a house where I once lived
It is underneath
Where that strip mall stands
There's a life I once knew
It lived right there
Where that strip mall stands
There's a life I once lived
In my memory
Where that strip mall stands
There's a family I know
They lived right there
Where that strip mall stands
There's a house I knew
It stood right there
Where that strip mall stands
January 20, 2021
Noon Today - January 20th, 2021 (Inauguration Day)
I've popped the champagne
I feel a weight off my chest
It happened at noon today.
I can breath again
I've a clearer head
It happened at noon today.
I've lost the anger
I've gained hope
It happened at noon today.
I've lost the fear
To wake up tomorrow
It happened at noon today.
May, 2020
Behind The Mask
Behind each mask
there is a person
Behind each death
there is a life
Behind each mask
there is a person
Behind each life
there is a death
Behind the mask
there is a person
Behind each death
there is life
there is life
April, 2020 - I was reading an article about endangered frogs on a mountain in the Sierra Nevadas and I thought, that's how I feel in these times. A frog on a moutain looking at the world.
Frog On A Mountain
feel like a frog on a mountain
looking at the world
it is there below me
and I am small above the world
feel like a frog on a mountain
looking at the world
it is there behind me
and I am lost above the world
hello
are you down there
hello
am I up here
hello
feel like a frog on a mountain
looking at the world
I do not understand it
I am small above the world
feel like a frog on a mountain
looking at the world
It is all around me
looking at the world
looking at the world
A frog on a mountain
looking at the world
November 9, 2019 - Written after hearing my Dad tell us of a dream he had while taking a nap when we were camping in the wilderness on his 83rd birthday
Falling Leaves (My Dad's Dream)
The leaves are falling again
They fall faster every year
They are falling again
I lose more every year
They fall faster every year
I turned 83 yesterday
Last night I dreamed
Things from my past
Came back to me
Moments I forgot
Were suddenly there
People I have lost
Were sitting right there
Goodbye my friends
I think about you in time
It becomes this moment
Goodbye
The leaves are falling again
They fall faster every year
They are falling again
I lose more every year
They fall faster every year
October 19, 2019
Where To Be
When you're by yourself in the wild.
If you do something stupid,
You die.
I said,
If you do something stupid.
You die.
When you're with others in the city.
If anyone does something stupid,
You die.
I said,
If anyone does something stupid.
You die.
Where should I be?
April 15, 2019
Without Us (Sad To Say)
I feel sorry for the animals.
I feel sorry for us.
They will survive,
without us.
Many have died.
Many will die
But they will survive,
without us.
The world will be better,
without us.
It will be better,
without us.
(Sad to say)
February 21, 2019
The Middle World (Was Already There)
From the western world
to the eastern world
there's was a middle world between
The western world
said they discovered it
but it was already in between
From the wide Atlantic
to the wider pacific
there's was a middle world between
There was nothing discovered
they were already there
living in between
There was no “new” world
just another world
in the middle between
There were people living there
day by day, year by year
living in between
The western world
and the eastern world
life in between
You can give your names
but it already had names
it was already there
You only survived the middle
because the people
Helped you survive there
The western world
conquered the middle world
from the south tip to the arctic
There was a western world
there was a eastern world
there's was a middle world between
October 31, 2018
Jamming The Machine
*rump's genius has been his willingness to say,
do and propose things so outlandish,
so unsettling in tone and substance,
so disqualifying under the old rules,
that they've caused the system to malfunction.
*rump looks at the mainstream press,
as a man holding a stack of thick cardboard sheets,
might look at an office copy machine.
He knows if he sticks enough of them through the copier at once,
the machine will jam.
August 30, 2018
Charlie Is The Man (For Charlie Jacques)
Charlie is a man
Who lives upon this land
Doing what he has to do.
No matter what needs done
Charlie is the one
That'll get it done for you.
Get it done for you.
He could be at the south pole
Or in Hudson's Bay of old
And he would get it done.
No matter how it hurt
He would do the work
till the battle was won.
The battle was won.
If you want to get anywhere
From there to here
He will take you there.
If you need to find food
he will be the one
to get it for you.
Get it for you.
If the world was to end
I'd want to be with him
Because he'd know what to do.
If the world don't end
I know I have a friend
That'll do anything for you.
Anything for you.
Charlie is the man
Who lives upon this land
Doing what he has to do.
No matter what needs done
Charlie is the one
That'll get it done for you.
Get it done for you.
Charlie is the man.
April 19, 2018
What We Had
What a beautiful world
we had
I can still see it
over the bad
what we had
What a beautiful world
we had
I want to see it
over the bad
what we had
I am lucky
I saw what we HAD
What a beautiful world
we had
I can still see it
March 13, 2018
Sitting On This Dune With Douglas Houghton
Sitting on this dune
Overlooking Lake Superior
I could be sitting in the same place
Douglas Houghton sat
Sitting on this dune
Overlooking Lake Superior
I am sitting in the same place
Douglas Houghton sat
Amazed by the beauty
Entranced in beauty
He found it hard to describe it all
I'm sitting where Douglas Houghton sat
(I found it hard to describe it all)
February 6, 2018
The Boy That Used To Be
The boy that used to be
Had dreams of tomorrow
The boy that used to be
Could do anything today
The boy that used to be
Was gonna change tomorrow
The boy that used to be
Cannot change today
The boy that used to be
is struggling for tomorrow
The boy that used to be
is trying to keep the dream
The boy that used to be
will be back to tomorrow
The boy that used to be
will hold on to the dream
The boy that used to be
will hold on to the dream
hold on to the dream...
The boy that used to be....
October 25, 2012
When Karma Hit My Dogma (I Was Left with Me)
My karma hit my dogma.
one was totaled,
other on the side of the road.
When Karma Hit My Dogma
My karma hit my dogma
one is in the scrapyard
other eaten by crow's
When Karma Hit My Dogma
My karma hit my dogma
one has been compacted
other is bones
When Karma Hit My Dogma
My karma hit my dogma
one is rusting
other bleached by the sun
When Karma Hit My Dogma
My karma hit my dogma
one is about gone
other one too
When Karma Hit My Dogma
My karma hit my dogma
one is some where
other one I knew.
When Karma Hit My Dogma
My karma hit my dogma
ran in front of karma
could not avoid dogma.
When Karma Hit My Dogma
When Karma Hit My Dogma
I was left with me.
I was left with me.
August 8, 1987
Cinema Blue
it's dark
and the smoke rises above
like dark clouds
waiting to rain
And a sharp light
pierces a naked woman
like darkness
filled with pain
And eyes glow
with red blood
from piercing
with a sharp light
Into the dark cloudy sky
with no stars
Into the dark smoky night
with no stars
Cinema Blue
your name fits you
Published 1988 by American Poetry Association in "1988 American Poetry Anthology”
March 10, 1987
Street People
street people
street people
everyone turns their head
to stare out of the corner
of their ego
curious
street people
street people
everyone gives you pity
makes them feel good
that's all
superior
Published 1988 by American Poetry Association in "1988 American Poetry Anthology”
January 20, 1987
The Traveler
The traveler
travels
just a mark in the phone book
for a little while
Better write it in pencil
Better get your eraser
he's gone again
The traveler
travels
just a breeze in the wind
from another time
Better take a picture
Better save the moment
he's gone again
Published 1988 by American Poetry Association in "1988 American Poetry Anthology”
1986
Ode To The Ten Speed Gang
The bikes are in the basement
with flat tires
and broken chains
The riders are gone forever
I mourn the loss
the ten speed gang
When hills could not stop them
overgrown trails
or pouring rain
Life has found it easy
to flatten the tires
and break the chain
And still they think of riding
of bumpy trails
and big ol' logs
But the bike is just a monument
to the ten speed gang
now all gone
Published 1987 by Quill Books in "Chasing Rainbows”
Published 1988 by American Poetry Association in "1988 American Poetry Anthology”
Februay, 1984
Dawn
Dawn, the day is breaking
I hold it in the palm of my hand
Wondering what I should do with it
The fog is lying low
Expecting to rise with the sun
Now painting the horizon of my life
A confused gathering of clouds
To be sorted out
As the day progresses
They will be sorted out
Only to be confused again
There might even be a storm
But whatever the day brings
I will be a part of it
It was made for me
Published 1985 by Quill Books in "In Quiet Places”
August, 1983
For Martin Luther King Jr. and all that he believed in. On the 20th anniversary of the march on Washington.
Hand In Hand
Hand in hand
No more black and white
Colored pictures
All of the colors fill a space
An important space
Hand in hand
They are the picture
Isn't it beautiful?
All of the color?
The beautiful scenery?
And love
Everywhere
Everyone
Hand in hand
Published 1984 by Potpourri International in "New Dreams"
August, 1983
As Each Of Us Do
The water flows by
A shimmering mirror
Flowing reflection of life
Making its' way to an end
Only to begin again
And on the way shimmering
As each of us do
A mule deer and a fawn
cross the river
It is cold to them sometimes also
But they make it to the other side
To ramble off into the world
As each of us do
And the river flows by
Old but always new
Always changing its' path
Speeding up and slowing down
Rippling, reflecting
Moving around the rocks
But always flowing to the sea
As each of us do
A coyote ambles across upstream
Walking quickly
A destination and determination
in mind
He is soon out of sight
As each of us are
A butterfly flies low
among the flowers
Chooses the one he desires
Flies up towards the heavens
As each of us do
The water flows by
A shimmering mirror
Flowing reflection of life
Making its' way to an end
Only to begin again
And on the way shimmering
As each of us do
Published 1986 by Quill Books in "Impressions”
October, 1982
The Outsiders
in the crowd
the crowded world
we are pushed along
the central crowd
flows
some
the outsiders
on the outside
looking for an arm
to hold
to keep from the exit doors
on the side
Published 1984 by Quill Books in "Moments, Moods and Memories"
Published 1983 by World of Poetry in "Poems of the Western World"
August, 1981
On Politics
When dancing with Republicans and Liberals
I choose the center of the floor.
When spying on them it matters little what material
is used to make the door.
Published 1985 by Quill Books in "In Quiet Places”
June, 1979
The Mobil Oil Sign's Off
The surf pound continuously.
Beating like a clock through the years.
And the swords are being drawn,
by the Mobil Oil sign.
At the foot of their biggest wells.
The swords are being drawn.
All gone.
Now swallowed by the sword swallower.
All gone.
In the outer crescent of the circle,
he now stands in,
all is engulfed in flames.
Kneeling bitterly to the powerful king.
The name Answern is given to him.
By us.
He leads his great people.
Around the big-top.
He leads his great people.
His hat shimmers in the bright light.
Commands his people to sleep tonight.
All will sleep well tonight.
Answern has turned out the lights.
The Mobil Oil sign's off.
Published 1982 by Ashland Publishing in "Great American Poems"
Published 1983 by World of Poetry in "Today's Greatest Poems"
