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 a 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
BLOOD
The drums of war are beating again
and all the brave young boys
are leaving their mothers
to go off and be men
And they all will be changed
for the better or worse
and many a blessing
lies under a curse
And if they come back at all
when they come back from war
they’ll have friends oh my friends
like they’ve not had before
Yes the friends they make here
midst the death and the fear
are friends that grow dear
and yet dearer each year
For a new family is formed
in the sand and the mud
where each man learns
blood is thicker
than blood
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
LANTANA MANNA
(for Patricia Fiske at 77)
Trees and poets
grow from the inside out
The latest lines and rings
always
the greenest and most beautiful
PINCHER CREEK ALBERTA
Mid June and Cowboy Poets back in town
voices hoarse from long winters 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
EYES OF FRIENDS
While out pursuing life’s dim ends
we often meet the eyes of friends
It’s great to feel that magnet’s pull
the hearts becoming warm and full
There may be time to stop and stare
and many years of love and care
Or maybe silent and by chance
just a brief brief moments glance
It doesn’t really matter much
the contact’s made we feel the touch
Though if we ask of hows and whys
and what’s the magic of those eyes
They do what mirrors can’t quite do
they let you see right through to you
THOUGHTS
ON
A DEBBIE MOMENT
Debbie, a great friend of mine, died too young
and in too much pain in Houston about five
years ago now
This moment just sneaked up on me
earlier this year
Can’t help wondering how many people
are having Debbie moments now in New
York and around the world from what
happened just six weeks ago
How many people in the world in the last
five years having Debbie moments from
a hole blown in their sky
COFFEE HOUSE HOUSTON
Sitting outside around the round table
Dallas and Buda and the boys
coffee cigarettes and stories
Inside of each, tables within tables
other Budas, other Dallas
votes being taken and taken again
A clear enough majority
though far from unanimous
Texas sunshine helped the swing
Fine then, another cigarette
another coffee – one more story
nobody’s in a hurry ‘round here
ROBIN
Robin is a pelican
she flies with perfect grace
swims with perfect grace
moves with perfect grace
Pelicans swim with Robin as a sister
pelicans are very old and wise
they know a pelican
can be a beautiful woman
Humans are not so wise
but there is a way to know
if a beautiful woman is a pelican
Robin is a pelican
when she opens to feed you
you can taste her heart