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
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
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
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
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