For Eric
The new normal is touch & go
Short-term mentality by long-haul malaise
Hard to start over when it isn’t over
Wind whipping flagpoles to a fare-thee-well
Bumper cars pushing random limits
I see what you mean says the one in between
A festival of life and a dead ringer
Similar symptoms seen in spectacular cities
In the time before time
The incredible invisible inevitable
Was always already probable
Synchronized swimming in retrospect
Data analytic afternoons
We were warned
Time flies when you’re having chow fun
“A man is never lonesome when he’s eating”
Some situations are just that
Relations to be gotten out of
Mining new beginnings from the fading past
While directing local traffic under the hat
Alive and well after all
Re-establishing links in slo-mo
A drink with my birth sake
Dinner with the soon-to-leave-town
The all-about-memory series is coming up
Sky the color of a shirt
Be that as it may, Happy Birthday, Captain Sensible!
4/22/21
For Ahni
My gears are stripped
By holding contradictory ideas
In my head
The continuous present
And impermanence
So I have some coffee
And a hit of weed
And make some CDs
Of our last gig
For Izzy, Sandi & Sue
You are foxy
I am in a daze
The overcast light is steely
With smoke and ash
Ask me anything
My mind is open
Up to a point
At which point
I can’t talk right now
I’m gone
The phone rings
It’s you
A gift from Nick & Laura
A room is an open space
Both yours and mine
The heart of the matter
Spreads itself out
One love
And we still have time to rap
To the tune of the train
8/22/21
Regular beat of waves on beach
The long tempo
As of days, weeks, months, years
The rhythm of life
Stood up against what is not
In the fog an open question
Ants communicate by simply walking around
The slightest breeze disturbs those tiny yellow leaves
While motor sounds rise from the street
In case you were thinking of something else
Relaxed and alert
I hope these letters find you
Going about your day
In that other place
The world of our inspiration
Tired I am
And restless as the wind
That turns the page
On our morning ritual
With waves for background music
9/27/21
Generations of note takers
Document the centuries
From just offshore
To somewhere deep in the hills
A maroon den
The moon is half there
Of a Tuesday morning
The waves stroke the strings
Of that exquisite instrument
The green planet
Bee on a bud
Birds chatter
The garden is alive
An order of being
Hand sewn
Windswept pages
Enter the interim
The long swim
Between here and there
Children’s voices
Birds or words
Which was it?
Every time
The fire came on
It felt good
Wide awake
To possibility
Just within range
Or out of sight
Footsteps on gravel
9/28-29/21
Not a key change
Tempo stays the same
Same players
And yet
Something changes
The piano
Goes on forever
The rhythm section
Stays in the pocket
Time stretches out
The faces relax
The bodies move
In time with drum & bass
On the floor of being
In case you hadn’t noticed
How much goes on
When you least detect it
Variables fleshing out possibility
In the structure of life
Happening all around
Words arrive
From other languages
Repeat themselves fearlessly
An assertion of truth
Born through repetition
It’s the same all over
We recognize each other
In the community of song
Circling back
Since time immemorial
10/15/21