Copyright

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Kids Don't Float

kids don't float
we bear them up with
love, with
blood and bone and hope -
and hope that it's enough.

we bleed tears and sweat
money
and hope that it's enough

we pray to the saints and angels,
lest they forget to pray for us -
we cannot pray enough

kids don't float
they are borne upon
the breath of god

The die was cast be
fore we dreamed the sea and light
ness beyond bearing

The Worst of It

You come wheeling into the trailer,
a hailed-out Bar Queen
in full sail.

Mascara-stained eyes in
a stranger's clothes. I don't
want to know where you've been.

I still see you in a green
and yellow print dress, like
a daisy all sunkissed and pure.

Daughter, you break my heart.

We break upon our love,
we break upon our own hardened shells.
We break. We break.
I cannot hold you close enough.

Ghost Trees - Fox Island

Ghost trees: witnesses
to the earth's breaking bones
Resurrection Bay

Seward - the Ceaseless Sea

Wave dancing porpoise
cutting graceful arcs along
the foaming boat wake

Sea otters sliding
slick shiny sinuously
slipping seaward

Thanks for sharing your
dysfunction and personal
pain. It was absorbing.

Gone Fishin'

The Ballad of Resurrection Bay

'Twas a dark and rainy morning,
Eric of Higby at the wheel.
We cruised onto the Bay, determined to stay
and fish for the wedding-day meal.

The cod they were a-runnin'
the halibut wily and deep.
Porpoise jumping beside, 'twas a hell of a ride -
the fish were five hundred feet deep.

The poles they were a-bending;
We cranked the lines in tight.
Our shoulders were aching, fish there for the taking,
testing our mien and our might.

'Twas a fine Alaska morning,
light rain and a little chop.
by mid-day we'd filled, a few hours we'd killed,
so we headed on back to J Dock.

The bride stumbled into the cabin
and laid her pretty head down.
The bridesmaid she found her, put an arm around her.
The groom cried "Another round!"

The Huntress pulled into the harbor.
We'd conquered the fishies this day.
We were brave and true, the intrepid few -
To the fish! To the crew! To the Bay!

View from the Wedding

Things I Learned in Alaska

Things I Learned in Alaska

You can't have too many minutes on your phone.
Things can always get worse.
But they get better.
Titanium sets off the TSA alarm.
Older women with bath salts get patted down.
Bring your cane and board early.
Gate N is not that close - pee on the plane.
There really are moose in the streets of Anchorage.

Nanking Cherries

Spring Haiku to the Garden

The cat just crapped in
my freshly turned flower bed.
Spring has arrived.

Showing Your Hand

Destiny reveals Herself
in a hand of cards
carelessly shuffled
by the Gods

Whaddya Want, Whaddya Need?

I want to make love
again
before I die.

but I
don't want the mess
I don't want the fuss
I don't want to spend time
thinking 'bout "Us."

I don't want to get laid,
don't want to get paid.
Don't want to admit
I might be afraid.

But someday...it's not
asking so much.

All I need is a partner in crime.

Voices

I hear it in your voice:
that catch -
a hesitancy defining
our tentative touch,

our delicate dance
around the
past,
around our hearts.

I hear it in your voice,
not yearning
but hopeful

Maybe things are good
now for you
better now
for a while

almost
normal.

Old Friends, New Choices

I love you, dear,
dearly. Vaguely -
but still:
it's love on the half shell,
yours for the taking.

I love you, my friend,
over the years, over the miles
I smile to hear your voice;
smile to think that
maybe someday

we'll make a new choice -
or just be too old to fight what
we might have had,
and embrace an old friend.

In a New York Minute

I'd be a fool for you
in a New York minute,
in the wink of an eye

I'd be a fool for you
if you even try,
just give me half a chance

But then again,
I've done that.
It wasn't so much fun
that I'd take another run
at it.

Who's fooling who?

Patron Saint of the Ordinary

Nothing much happened
today. Quite uneventful:
Simple perfection.

May Day