THE TURKEY SHOOT
Small town Saskatchewan
raising money for the curling rink
Targets fifty feet away
and old bent-sight 22’s to shoot
The trick to bringing a turkey home
was not how well at the bullseye shot
but how fast you learned that life
is sometimes
three inches down
and two to the left of where you aim
THE FARM, THE RANCH
AND THE SWEEPING SCYTHE
Sunrise can be brilly bright
and all day long
everything out to get you
The horse can kick or fall
the bull has horns of steel
Every machine is grinding its teeth
in wait for a chance to bite
and every snowstorm
eager to find you
too far from the barn
and stiffen you like the manure-pile cat
The sunsets worth surviving for
DIA DE LOS MUERTOS FOR GRINGOS
Refused a feast
on but one day a year
they nibble at our every hour
UNO MAS PORA LOS MUERTOS
Though
the tears of the dead
be without salt
It is
likely more kind
to remember to act
in ways that bring them joy
A BEDTIME STORY WITH GOD IN IT
After the mother father God
had coupled long in the joy
of telling their he-she she-he selves
stories of suns and moons and planets and plants
and critters to scamper and fly they said why don’t we make one that can tell tales too
and make them come true
and that my dear was you
IT IS ENOUGH
It is enough
that the baby smiles
even if it’s only gas
It is enough
to know that God exists
though it take a lifetime and a minute more
It is enough
that the dog loves you
at the end of a day filled with cats
It is enough
that the rainbow
can arch your back straight again
It is enough
to watch a sunset
It is enough
that leaves fall like butterflies
It is enough
that joy exists
even when others have it all
It is enough
that the other knee feels fine
It is enough
that in dreams you can still fly
It is enough
that poetry is in the bible too
It is enough
that gifts
come in the size of gratitude
I’SE THE B’Y
(with thanks to Great Big Sea)
Where poems come from who can say
but I’se the b’y who writes them down
and I’ll take the love and blame for pay
FAITH IN THE AFTERLIFE
Burial suit
with two pairs of pants
ANOTHER NO CREMATION NOTE
Never appearing in a Shakespeare play alas
yet not wanting to give up
the outside chance
of the Yorick role
A HAIKU FOR HAWKING
Stephen Hawking dead
theories now put to the test
black hole or white light