POEM - Our Love Has The Merritt

For months I have pined
Captivated
Despite the deadly chasm
Thwarting us ever meeting
I yearn deeply to close the gap
Bridge the divide
Design a uniting arch
There is architecture in my heart
But I am bound
To this plaza of convenience
That does no service for me
Only leaves me empty
Deflated and out of fuel
As each day we part
I to the North
You southbound
But I know not how far
And I fear I never will
And it is a scenic parkway
Riding home on Route 15
But the scenery seems washed out
Bland and colorless
Without you around

Oh my service plaza lady
So fetching in your blue polo
The one that matches mine
Going through the same motions
Somehow so elegant and comely
Hoisting laden trash bags
Or spraying down the walk
In quiet desperation I wait
Hoping you have noticed me
A victim of geography
The Merritt is an unforgiving divide
A few short feet between
Yet a world apart
Will I chance a dash when traffic lulls
Abandon my post
Risk reprimand
Brave becoming a freeway casualty
No guarantee of success
I think it would be worth it
Just to hear your voice
To tell you how I feel
Overcome my station
Change the direction
Of the road I'm stuck upon

POEM - Falling Into Thoughts

The attraction was the waterfall
That's where the arrows pointed
The reason for me to make the journey
The signage staggered along the path
A welcome bit of learning
This path was also used for education
A good variety of local flora
Labeled in detail
With interesting bias for flavor
Some frustrated or future ad exec
Offering tantalizing teasers
Fun facts and tidbits
Almost conspiratorial
"Did you hear about the mock strawberry?
     It has an ugly brown fruit.
         Thus the "mock" appellation, don't ya know . . . "
"Or this annoying little gem
   It has nasty thorns
      It will tear up your jeans
           And your skin!!
               We should all collectively avoid and shun it . . ."
Amused and informed so I persisted
Found the birch tree with propaganda in place
Make birch beer from the sap
Use to be the flavoring source of wintergreen
Now replaced by something artificial
Couldn't figure if that was good or bad
Tried to smell it in the small branches
Like it suggested
Guess this wasn't one of the good ones
The extended brown plank walkway
Across the marshy interlude
Caused me to pause
Capture the moment in pictures
Sure there was some metaphor
In the encroaching greenery
And the peaceful lighting
Of the contrasting straight way
Where once was impassible marshy uncertainty
Images captured and journey resumed
I heard the gurgling falls drawing closer
The helpful informational interludes had ceased
As if this was beyond snarky explanations
There was something too serene
Too generous about the water
Endlessly cascading
Calming noises and cool water
It settled my heavy breathing
The previous incline forgotten
I extended both hands
Placed them flat against the rocks
Water flowed
And something not insignificant
Pleased my deeper soul
I let the moment happen
Let the healing occur
Walked back lighter
Detoured away from the nature trail signs
Staying in the moment
Thoughts falling
Emotions in pools
Mottled sun dancing in gentle breeze
Warming the docile black snake
Must be deep in thought
Not a flicker of recognition
As I step past
Following my own path

POEM - Camp Cacophony

Lights out but nothing changes
Little conversations hum
The pleasant rhythm
Of conversations
In other rooms
Punctuated intermittently
By exploding declarations
Of disbelief
Or cheering support
Perhaps a belly busting guffaw
And what moments are left
When perhaps silence may
In some way return
The forest fills the space
Creaking frog thrums
Rustling leaf trembles
Chirping nervous cricket song
A hoot and a holler
Smother the silence of nature
Dispell any myth
Of the serenity that exists
Outside the realms
Of what is called civilization
But then the games resume
Capture the Flag
Or some other ritual
An initiation
Participated in for ages
And the noise of free range boys
Is a marvel unrivaled
And the ceaseless endurance
Making a ruckus
Deep into the sanctuary of night
Puts perpetual motion to shame
Causes reason to give up the ghost

POEM - Lead Dog Truths

Last night rain
Left morning clean and clear
A slight chill enough
To soften yesterday's heat
Almost forget the swelter
Hopeful promise for relief
Just enough encouragement
To get me on a morning hike

The old bridge suggested history
An odd stone battlement
Piled on a peaked Gothic arch
Straddling a boulder laden stream
Like a misplaced cathedral window
Living water flowing through
The rest of the forest silent
Deep in reverent observations

I spent my moment of silence
But soon was drawn on
By the path beyond
Promise of something more
Maybe other misplaced monuments
Were waiting to be found
What I found was a mountain
Going ever up
And I the first intruder
At least on this new day
The lead dog
Whose scenery will always change
First along the path
Blazing the way
Until . . . thwat!

What they don't tell in the saying
About being the lead dog
The down side
The drawback
Though your scenery does change
You also get the pleasure
Of eating all the spider webs
Hung with dew
Strewn across the path
By ambitious arachnid
Hoping for small insects
Bombarded this morning
By hulking behemoth
Their long night of work
Obliterated across my face
Engulfing my arms by degrees
Until I am unsure
If it is the incline
Or the webbing
Inhibiting my ascent
Purloining my homecoming
Teaching me an important truth
Second place is ok too

POEM - Three Legged Dog

An array of porcelain appendages
Scattered on the bathroom floor
Below the window ledge
Where once they were perched
Formerly attached
To the miniature beagle figurine
Caused more thoughts than usual
More than its diminutive size
Would seem to warrant
The little glass dog was not perfect
Somewhere it had lost a leg
A damaged imperfect proxy
Representing your real friend
The one who grew old
Until he was just too miserable
And you had to make that terrible choice
That many have made
Just as miserable
Just as awful
Now at rest
Below the dogwood tree
I thought of this
And then I thought
I guess you can it seems
Knock over a three legged dog
But I will collect the pieces
Glue them together
Place him back on the ledge
Lecture the cats
Tell then to leave him be

POEM - Skate, Graduate, Skate

JoJo Bean the roller derby fiend
Spinning round and round the roller rink
Rolling away all her worries
In only a few hours
In only a few minutes
In only a second
All of it was over
A stroll across the stage
One last task to complete
And it was a done deal
No more classes
No more school
No more teachers and their rules
Only the summer ahead
Set off by a party
A collection of acquaintances
A menagerie of associates
Some Kuiper belt-esque bodies
Orbiting loosely
Around her gravitational pull
She is the current center
Of a temporary universe
Kept in motion
By the power of commemoration
The collective commencement
That brings semi-strangers
To a lonely skating rink
In a quiet sleepy town
Joyously willing
To pay tribute
To the queen of the moment
Skate on young scholar
These are the salad days
Don't worry for tomorrow
Consider not the rarity
Just skate on sweet child
To the rhythm devine
Chasing the glowing glitter
Of the illuminated disco ball