COPPER LEFT HER LAUGH
Copper Love
LIGHT SHINING ON COPPER
I can mostly buy
the whole spiritual thing
that she is neither dead nor gone
or at a perfect time
and to a perfect place
But there is
this hole in a hug
where she used to fit
In memory of Copper Love 1947 – 2017
www.copperlove.com
PRECIOUS METALS
(for Copper Love)
You can keep your gold and silver
that divide the world in war
It is copper that connects
Cold crowns of kings and queens
behind the glass beyond the touch
copper is the human metal
it is copper that conducts
Greed and hate abide in gold
in copper there is only love
it is copper that conducts
it is copper that connects
In memory of Copper Love 1947 – 2017
www.copperlove.com
ROUND TABLES
He loved his neighbors, but not out loud
(Only by default could we tell if he was proud
men did not hug their friends or children then)
There were no women in the bar
and all the tables round and small
heavy with ashtray and pilsner draft
where they talked code till closing time
Politics of any stripe meant you are my brother
The weather, whatever the weather
meant I love you too
PATRICIA AT NINETY
Patricia Fiske
has just passed ninety
on the way to a hundred with her foot still on the gas
sometimes
with a little help
from some premium ninety octane in a glass
let’s all raise one to her today
ONE FIFTY AND COUNTING
In the dream
Hal and I are sitting on the curb
at the corner of Time and Wisdom
In the dream having a nice long chat
It is one of many dreams
with Hal and Sidra in starring roles
If they were to charge us for this time
(as they sometimes threaten to do)
I mean even at their standard rates
never mind 2.5 for nights and weekends
how many many thousands we would owe
If they charged for the wisdom
the national debt would seem low
150TH BIRTHDAY LIMERICK
The Event
In October 2007 a number of Voice Dialogue teachers and friends gathered in Boulder to celebrate Hal’s 80th birthday and Sidra’s 70th birthday. I was honoured to be asked to write a theme poem, then Larry said, “But not a Limerick”.
The Limerick
There were two therapists from Thera
Who were so wise they would scare ya
The were so darned smart
They could take you apart
And you couldn’t hide hide nor hair a ya
PATRICIA FISKE’S BIRTHDAY POEM
Thirty thousand times
the earth has spun
And eighty times
Around the sun
Sometimes the sun burns you
Sometimes you burn the sun
NEVER MORE BEAUTIFUL
(for Lee Cherry)
Visited last year and again last month
with old friend Lee in Tennessee
Ten years and more of cancer
and that Chattannooga choo choo
may be pulling out soon
The skin has become
more and more transparent
the soul more and more shining through
I expect by the next time we drop in
a floating glimpse of Alice’s cat
with a Mona Lisa grin
PINCHER CREEK ALBERTA
Mid June and Cowboy Poets back in town
voices hoarse from long winter’s silence
And a thousand and more are here to hear
for the poets have been listening all year
Listening to the cattle and the coyotes
and the Northern Lights at nights
And they have been reminded
and being reminded they remember
and remembering they come here to remind
And just listening we remember
and unwind