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
Tag Archives: Friendship
FEEDING AMELIA
FEEDING AMELIA
I knew you’d come
was the first thing that she said
as she lay
cancer hollowed on her bed
On the second visit
Robin and I read her the poem
the one you usually get to read
only after they are dead
On the third visit
I brought mushroom soup
from the good restaurant across town
and fed it to her, spoon by gentle spoon
A last meal in three courses
FOR JEANNE
FOR JEANNE
It is April twentieth
two thousand and eight
Jeanne Guthrie died today
or stepped on a rainbow
as Kinky would say
The e-mail said
they took her off life support
Hell, she was life support
as everyone who knew her knew
for all family, friends, poets
and strays of every cry and hue
Yes, I loved her, as so many loved her
Texas sized heart and humor too
And must admit I loved
how much she loved
one line of my poetry
It is the line in “Winter in The Barn”
where; Kittens wait by a tin plate
to put their morning moustache on
She said it was her favourite line
in this whole wide world
I wonder if she will take it
with her into the next
Or will it remain in the book
Just another book
in a big box of books
packed off to Goodwill
The milk drying
ONE FIFTY AND COUNTING
ONE FIFTY AND COUNTING
In the dream
Hal and I are sitting on the curb
at the corner of Time and Wisdom
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 would we owe
If they charged for the wisdom
the national debt would seem low
150th BIRTHDAY LIMERICK
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
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
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
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
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
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