THEY KAMA THEY SAW
All day the tourists walk
through ancient temples
of the East
Hour after streaming hour
viewing image after image
of erotic grace and coupling
Taking it in – Taking it in
By evening statues carved of stone
have become soft flesh in them
With the women
the transformation is total
with the men – almost
LIVING ALOHA
On Kauai an average house
costs half a million or more
And half the people and more
still work for a minimum wage
Around a grass shack tenement
broken handles of tired tools
lie buried in lava gravel
and broken hands that held them
hot a cut-rate mainland beer
The wind from the ocean stirs
creaking limbs on a dry lanai
Orchid’s breath still whispering
songs of an old deep joy
NEW ORLEANS 2005
Nobody wants to leave Shangri La
When the Chinese invaded Tibet
they sent the Dalai Lama
and a ream of Rimpoches
rolling down from the
High Himalayas
and out across the world
And the world is better for it
Nobody wants to leave the city
where all the rivers lead
From the Missouri Breaks in Montana
through Minneapolis and Memphis
the gold and good earth
of America’s heart
all heads for the delta
and gathers in Basin Street
and sings
Hurricane Katrina reversed the flow
pushed it back up the river
and across the land
and America may be the better for it
MARX AND GOD IN NEW ORLEANS
The people of New Orleans are still singing
If religion is indeed the opiate of the people
seldom was it more needed and more used
than last September down in New Orleans
And yet strangely and much I suspect
to the relief of the administration
the God of the people of New Orleans
is not a God of revenge
The God of the people of New Orleans
is a God of mysterious intent
not blamed for those who die
but praised by those who live
Theirs is the God that rocks you to sleep
in the belly of the slave ship
surrounded by water
The God that rocks you to sleep
in the hold of the Superdome
surrounded by water
LEAVING TOWN
With the last house at your back
and the last dog in the last yard
tired of barking
Still standing and still staring
at a line posing as horizon
The warmth and wounds of love
drying in the wind
Knowing that the world
is indeed flat
That you are only one
step from the edge
And that you will
fall off
DREAM CATCHER
(for Maia)
Boogie man boogie man get out of my dream
Boogie man boogie man can’t make me scream
Cause I’ve got a dream catcher over my bed
I’ve got a dream catcher right over my head
Now only sweet dreams can make it through
and boogie man boogie man that ain’t you
Boogie man boogie man get out of my dream
Boogie man boogie man can’t make me scream
You were feeding on my fears all night long
that’s what was making you big and strong
Now dream catcher and me have got you beat
so you have to eat at Susie’s down the street
Boogie man boogie man get out of my dream
Boogie man boogie man can’t make me scream
A KINDER GENTLER GOD
As we look around the world today we see
with God as our father in trouble all are we
Fathers as you know, often have a tendency
towards discipline, judgement and wrath
while grandparents almost always
take a wiser, gentler path
There may be much to learn
as we choose, or create our deity
from the Blackfoot, Sioux and Cree
who still gather at Grandfather’s knee
APRIL 2ND 2005
The pope died today
I heard about it on the radio
on the way to the Bahai reading
The pope died today and the pope was a poet
I know because I have one of his books
Anyway, the pope died today
and the pope was a poet
He was a good and a wise man too
who apologized to the Gypsy and the Jew
But I know he would
because the pope was a poet
And he was working yet
to get the big banks to forgive
the third world’s crippling debt
But that was no surprise
because the pope was a poet
And now as cardinals
in solemn gaggles gather
to spread portfolios for a look
I hope they look for a poetry book
MRE
(with Poe apology)
Quoth the Evangelist
mount up and ride
to hell with those
not on our side
Quoth the Relater
who are we with, who’s with us
we can’t leave anyone off the bus
Quoth the Maven
I need info, tell me more
Quoth the Evangelist
we can’t wait for you to stew
there are worlds to sae
and things to do
Quoth the Relater
alright, alright, I’ll go with you
but only if we save the people too
Quoth the Maven, mind the store
Quoth the Maven, mind the store
Based on three core types in
“The Human Fabric” by Bijoy Goswami
IQ
The front of your brain may have an IQ
of two hundred and twenty two
And you wonder why it isn’t there
whenever there’s a scare
But just try to remember
as soon as you get past the fear and pain
as soon as you can remember again
The IQ of the back of your brain
is one, and the survival
of the one