Posts (page 2)

... the idea of fall weather is still flirting with us here in North Carolina... the mornings have been cool and sleepy, with clouds covering the sunrise... then by mid-morning the skies clear out and things warm up quick... you start the day in jeans and a long-sleeve shirt and end it in shorts and a bowl of ice cream... but I think some trees are already beginning to show a little bit of color, tho I keep being told it doesn't happen til much later than up North...

... last night Jon, one of the guitarists from the church band, and I played at the little coffee shop a few minutes away... the new owners there asked if we'd play for a few hours, just some background music as the customers came and went, and oddly we'd been jamming lately on some jazzy type things that were perfect for the situation... so we went in there with a few thought-out rhythm patterns to improvise over, and once we were thru them we just made up stuff on the fly, playing whatever came to our minds... it was really fun and the time (for us at least) seemed to shoot by... I wish I could say we had a crowd, but the place was very empty save for the usual regulars, and Dani, Jay and Connor who hung around til we were almost done... but we've been asked to come back and I'm looking forward to it...

... I've been writing up flash cards this morning for Connor, to help him with his reading... his interest in reading seems to be really picking up, which makes me happy as I always love to see someone get into reading... yesterday they sent home a little catalog from school, and the kids can pick and order books from it... and he had a whole list of the ones he wanted, and it made me smile... made me think of my own passion for books and remember the fun I had when getting such a catalog from school and choosing the ones I wanted most... we might not have had much when I was growing up, but my mother always bought me books since she loved reading as much as I did...

... no deep thoughts this morning... just handfuls of index cards and a big black magic marker for writing out words on the white face of each card, hoping Connor will quickly come to recognize each one like it's a good friend and another piece of a puzzle in the story of books to come...

Grazing on Air

There is a poem
floating around me
this afternoon
but I refuse to touch it,
make it sit down,
and become solid
and dumb;

I just want to leave it be
so it can carry on its work,

like the electric locust
in the grass,
the hibiscus bush
laying flowers the size
of dinner plates
out in the sun,

the hummingbird,
whose heart is soft
and tiny
like my own.

Musicians, Players

You don't sing of love
on a piano,
you pluck it out
softly
on a guitar -

Baxter Street Guitar Emporium
has been selling guitars
for over 85 years,
new and used...

love comes that way too,
in a box
shiny and whole,
or with a scratch on it.

Nature Teaches in the Softest Manner Possible

In dreadful balance
on the tip
of a tall stalk
of grass
bowing in the wind

the dragonfly
hums to itself.

Before It Is Full Dark

The setting sun
holding a tree
in its heart
like a brush

painting
little clouds
red.

... here at Jay and Danielle's house, in my bedroom there's a window that faces out on part of the field out back and between the next house... it's mostly neglected by the owners of the area, and since no one owns the lots it just goes wild... tall grasses, scattered wildflowers... home to snakes and locusts and who knows what else, tho I often wonder... in the morning I like to sit on my bed and look out over the grass, especially when there's a strong wind and it moves like waves... the past few weeks there's been some stray cats coming around while the sun is rising, looking for an easy feast of mice... they are such patient hunters, I love watching them, trying to guess when they'll pounce, since I can usually see the mice as well from where I'm sitting... later this morning there have been several goldfinches flying around the field... I love how they fly, I remember first noticing it back in New Jersey, when they would come to the apartment balcony to feed on the sunflowers... you almost think they're going to drop to the ground in mid-flight before they catch themselves again with a few beats of their wings and carry on...

... I need to get back to writing poetry... I miss it tremendously... I've let my mind get carried away with other things, mostly music these days... I find myself often with my guitar in my hands going over scales and exercises like I once did when I was in my teens... but it's a good thing, I'm feeling the old strength and skill I used to have... my speed has come back, tho' my days of shredding for crowds are probably long gone, it still feels good to know it again... even working thru the exercises slowly still brings a benefit in precision and cleanliness in picking... and here a few years ago I thought I was done playing for good...

... we have a nice set of songs for the church service this Sunday, and I'm happy to say I have 2 excellent solos in two of the songs that I'm excited about... but I need to find time again for writing... and reading, since reading poetry always inspired me best to write poetry... and I miss my books back in NJ terribly... I keep remembering different ones I kept, and then I get depressed that they're so far away and I wonder if I'll ever see them again... I know they're just material things, but they mean a lot to me... I attach memories and times to certain books, when I bought them and read them... I tried to keep hold of the ones that matter the most to me since they hold a timeline of much of my life and where I've been...

... I'm looking forward to autumn here in North Carolina as well... wondering how the trees turn down here, and does the air and sky still get that frosty, hazy look it had back in NJ on fall mornings... I saw Orion creeping up in the east the other morning too, when I was up before dawn and took the dog outside... always good to see him striding up into the sky, a companion of mine for decades now... and I'll end my rambling here, with a dark sky full of stars, a small dog snuffling in the grass, and my neck craned upward in the hopes of catching one small shooting star before the Sun takes over the new day...

Father Beach

Father Beach
stretched arms
under the bridge
and off to the rocks;
he is losing his hair
to the rhythm of time
in great green chunks,
and with many-fingered
waves he writes
his story in the sand
only to erase it
a moment later
so he can choose
better words;
he is a gifted spoiler
of the wind's free dance,
saddled like he is
to the edges of
the many great cities.

... I know it's been a long time since I've written or posted anything here but I've just kind of been caught up in the day to day routine and have let my blog go... things are still great here in North Carolina, I'm still living with Jay and Dani and Connor, and playing at the church every other weekend... we've got a full band again for this Sunday and a good list of songs, so I'm really looking forward to it...

... this week they've had some houseguests from NJ, Mike and Colleen and their son, Hunter, spending their vacation here... Mike and Jay are good friends and I know Mike also from the old hometown... so there've been daytrips and pool trips and fires in the firepit at night when the rain hasn't ended them early... we had a nice fire going last night, and the half-Moon was in the sky and a scattering of summer stars, but by 10:30 a storm rolled in quick and began raining heavily on us... so we beat a quick retreat inside and let the weather finish off the fire...

... I do have some poems to post and I will get them up there starting today... I had the place to myself for a while yesterday and sat outside for a bit and got some new ones too, which felt good after such a long spell of not writing much...

... I miss my books... tho' I'm glad for the ones I packed with me when I left NJ, but I've so many other ones I miss... reading other poetry is what usually kick-starts my own writing by getting my brain in that special frame of mind, so I miss having the whole variety of my library around me... hopefully someday I'm reunited with them all, I hate to think I'll never see them again, or any of the other things my friends are holding for me back in NJ...

Cookie's Home

Your beautiful egress
from the plane
down the steps
ticket in hand
like still
a little girl

rushing to my arms
the paper lifted
and lost
to the wind
like a drawing
you made
with crayons

of a bird
landing
on the front lawn
of our old house
with a heart
in its wings.

After Sharing Summer Stories

You told me about
the blanket you
and your sister
would take outside
with you both
in the summer
to lay on
and watch
the clouds pass
overhead

and now I want
to write about
that blanket so badly
tho I've never seen it
and I have no idea
what color it was
or how it felt
against the
back of one's neck
as a pillar of white
fluff changes
discreetly into
a pony

but I close my eyes
and I see you
the woman I love
lying there as a child
laughing with your
sibling

and I know at once
that the blanket
felt like comfort
and smelled
like home.