VALENTINE 09
Every Saint Valentine’s day
one should write a poem
to their beloved
Not just to remind them
how lovely they are
and your bursting desire
to show it
But also how lucky you are
to know that you know it
Tag Archives: Love
QUESTIONS FOR THE NEXT SÉANCE
QUESTIONS FOR THE NEXT SÉANCE
Dearest Mother;
Sorry to disturb you
in your well deserved bliss,
but here’s a short list
of things that I forgot to ask
And, if it isn’t too much trouble
I’d like the answers as detailed as possible
It will be understandable
if you can’t conjure up a voice,
but one rap for yes, and two for no,
on a floating table won’t quite do
However, if you can look up Samuel Morse,
(who may well be bored and available),
he can give you a quick-study course
and I will dust off my old Boy Scout manual
I believe “talk to me” In Morse still becomes:
-/•-/•-•/-•- -/— –/•
So, now that we’ve got the hang of it;
– What was the best day of your life
– What was your worst
– Your greatest triumph
– Your greatest disappointment
– What you are happiest that you did
– Saddest that you didn’t
Why exactly did my uncle shoot my dog
Whatever happened to my baseball
card collection, with the rookie
Mickey Mantle
and what is heaven like
MOTHER’S DAY
MOTHER’S DAY
Before Hallmark got ahold of it
Mother’s day was not
the second Sunday in May
Less commerce
but more meaning by far
in spring’s first crocus
in a jelly jar
HI HO HI HO
HI HO HI HO
Work
I sometimes think about it, but not too hard
Like, shouldn’t there be a different word
for doing what we love or hate, for money
Like how I got to drive big trucks at eighteen
that I dreamed about at eight
and they paid me
Like playing cowboy and riding the range
where the deer and the antelope play
and getting paid
Building buildings bigger than Lego
and getting paid
Maybe work is about being serious
but I seriously question that too
I mean, what can be more joyous and serious
than a child adding one last block to his tower
or me, as I write this poem, and look up
to see it is 1:25 in the morning
SONNET FOR THE ORDINARY
SONNET FOR THE ORDINARY
There is a loving way to make a bed
With pillows care set at the head
And a mother’s loving knead to give
Adds nourishment to help us live
We know that water crystals change
With words of love or hate about
From snowflake to a muddy mange
And we are water without doubt
A cheerful flipper at the greasy spoon
Feeds us better though the food be junk
Than Pierre at the Ritz with silver spoon
Serving Crèpes Suzette with Galic funk
And care enough within a poem
can provide another home
SECOND HONEYMOON
SECOND HONEYMOON
It is my mother’s birthday
she has barely made it to
88
Not one infinity sign but two
I see her from behind
standing again with my father at the altar
IN MEMORY STILL
IN MEMORY STILL
(or computers byte)
You keep popping up in my memory
On old disks I find love notes
still as loving as when they were entered
Faxes, letters, poems, thoughts
full of beauty full of trust
Valentine’s poems, three of them
overflowing with sensual exaltation
wisdom exchanged, depths plumbed,
promises made
Fresh and clean and bright
as the day they were written
lines that would go on forever
lines that still do go on forever
I don’t know how to tell the little ones
and zeros that we’re now apart
it might break their heart
THE MOST LOVELY HELEN
THE MOST LOVELY HELEN
Poets are not saints
but by the grace of God and nature
and the law of magnets that attract them
If you believe in heaven she will go
If you believe that we come back
next time she may be the poet
blessed with one like her
Beloved wife of master poet Herman Nelson who in his words “took one last gulp of time and sank into eternity” in 2003
HOPE FLOWERS
HOPE FLOWERS
In Bethlehem
a refugee with sadness but no hate decreed
another generation is what we need
And a school where
the children of the refugees of holocausts and
refugees of refugees can learn together
learn to look inward first
This is a most beautiful and special place
with such regard for dignity and respect
so successful in their message of love
so filled with fairness to each side
That Arafat’s Palestinians burn their busses
and Israelis torture teachers and riddle walls
While Caterpillars sent from across the sea
creep closer each day in their wonderful
mindless mechanical way
with levelling intent
To be met with Gandhi smiles
and your help, if you give it
Hope Flowers School – Bethlehem
KATHERINE
KATHERINE
Like Caesar before her
she slipped sideways into life
and then full speed forward
Wonderful combination of
vini vidi vici and coochie coochie coo
Joining a legacy of courage and beauty
Saint Katherine and Hepburn too
They may be mentioned in threes
before she’s through