253/365 - Mow

 

As I lie

here staring

at the ceiling

I can't imagine

how much

worse

I'd be feeling - if

instead of getting

that 

shot

I'd actually gotten

the flu

or COVID

Would I be lying

here

in bed?

No 

I'd probably be dead

instead

252/365 - (Wild) Hare

 

Its best not to think

(and I don't)

perhaps I should

but the thoughts

are dull static

anyway

The ones that should be

considerations

drowned out

by the shouting

JUMP

JUMP

it will all

be oaky

251/365 - Unsound

 

Do you ever get a line

from a poem

stuck in your head?

Like the lyrics

to a song

but a poem instead?

How about a random phrase

just going 'round and 'round

not a melody

not a song

just verbs, adjectives, and nouns

But the most

annoying of all

is when you're on

a conference call

and the neighbor's

gardener shows up

with his gas-powered

leaf-blower

and runs amok

250/365 - Wink

 

I have something important

to tell you

can you keep a secret

It's something I've told no one

so I really need

you to keep it

Okay

Here it goes

and I swear

It's true

There is something

stuck in my eye

no I'm not

winking at you

249/365 - Salvage

 

Some people may say

I have a problem

letting things go

I say

the ten year old seeds

I found in my freezer

sure bloomed

into pretty flowers

and those bricks

I got off the internet

(that had once been

the foundation

of an old Victorian)

will make a lovely

garden path

someday

248/365 - Hospitality

 

There are people

that provide

and then there are those

who take away

A bench offered

to whoever may

come by

or a bench

with hostile architecture

to refuse

those who need

a comfortable place

to lay

in a world

that can be so unkind

make a choice

to brighten someone's day

247/365 - Piggish

 

There was a moderately full container

of cat treats sitting

way up high

But when we returned

form brunch this morning

it was empty on the ground

I can't help but wonder why

It certainly has nothing

to do with the cat

(the one with the crazed

look in his eye)

246/365 - Cuddy

 

I'm the cute one

you can tell

and he's the one

who doesn't think too well

I've seen him do

some silly things

but that's probably because

of his lack of brains

It's okay though

we're still friends

as long as he doesn't

take my favorite napping spot again

245/365 - Paroxysm

 

Fall

down to the ground

splat!

-NO-

crumble!

crunch!

die!

don't grow!

that time has withered

and waned

and faded away

a sudden 

defenestration

of summer

that I'll be raking up

until spring

244/365 - Amaranthine

 

I think my neighbor

hates me now

I don't mean to make her mad

but something I did 

the other day

made her feel like she'd been had

It started with

a white silk flower

and a forgotten

pot of dirt

One was found

in a parking lot

the other was

on my neighbor's porch

I put the flower

in the pot

(I don't really know why)

A week later

I caught her watering it

she called me over

and when I said "hi"

she gushed

for a full five minutes

about how it just grew

one day

so I told her

what I did

and now she's quite 

angry

243/365 - Level-headed

 

Maybe

having it all together

isn't all

it's cracked up to be

Maybe

life's supposed to be

nonsensical

Maybe

it's okay if it's messy

I'll just keep

reminding myself

I don't have to hold it

all up myself

when a little help

is all I need

241/365 - (egg)Centric

 

Surrounded

forces of normalcy

squeezing

in on me

trying to get

me to be

just like them

but I thought

in this world

we were meant to be

free

Is it wrong

to be different?

Is it wrong

to make

my own destiny?

Is it wrong

to let me own world

revolve around

me?

241/365 - Toast

 

To decisions being made

good or bad

at least they're done

How they will turn out?

Finding out will be fun

To chances being taken

rip off that band-aid

take that leap

the scariest dreams

are the ones I seek

To changes coming 

They do

whether or not

I want them to

might as well

have a say

if I want them

to work out my way

240/365 - Monument

 

The last monument 

to summer

sits on a shelf

in the bathroom

in front of a picture

of Puerto Vallarta

where I hope to sail

someday

The last monuments

to summer

are drying in a bucket

in my garage

instead of following

the sun

on it's long lazy arc

across the deep blue sky

The last monument

to summer

is filling up 

the green wastebin

and I look at the stems

brittle and brown

and the seeds

drying

and the last smiling flower

promising

long summers to come

I'm waiting

239/365 - Gambado

 

And then its Friday

and the weight is lifted

you begin to fly

the weight has shifted

a hop, skip, jump

into the air

ever higher

without a care

floating up

above the ground

until Monday comes

crashing down

238/365 - Maltreat

 

There is a noise

it puts fear in my heart

the jingle bell

it's about to start

I can hear it

somewhere

several rooms away

but it's coming closer

it is time to play

a fortissimo

fur and feathers

hunter and prey

237/365 - Economist

 

It isn't actually

a splurge, you see

buying take-out sushi

when they give you

all this stuff for free

and I know I'll have a use for it

someday

eventually

236/365 - Involute

 

Its so lovely out

its so fall out

I think that's what bothers

me most

that the long hot afternoons

aren't summer afternoons

lazing into

hot summer nights

they're fall afternoons

tinged in pumpkin spice

and caramel apple delight

It wasn't this way

when I was a kid

I'm sure I've said it before

who knew the Bay

has so many variations

and I'd crave

what I can't have 

anymore

But either way the leaves

will be coming off the trees

and once the branches

are bare

the rain will pour

winter, spring

then summer once more

235/365 - Besetting

 

Soft and squishy

calls to me

I can't resist

the fuzzy belly

even though

I know

what comes next

scratchy

pokey

claws and teeth

encapsulating

a fury-vice

is not so nice

234/365 - Heartbroken

 

There once was a man with a boat

who liked to go out and float

until his radio was lost

and they made fun of his post

the shame nearly made his heart broke

233/365 - Reactionary

 

This is the neighborhood patrol

ears cocked just so

because he has to know

who's on the street today

Someone talking too loud?

Kids at play?

Leash-less dogs?

With jingly tags?

The muffler-less car

on one of their ear-splitting jags?

Don't worry

he'll bark

he'll let everyone know

it's a thankless job

being neighborhood patrol

232/365 - Hoe

 

The furrows are deep

this I know

How many years

of digging these rows?

How many years

of worrying about who knows?

How many years

of squinting in the sun?

I should have worn

sunglasses more often

And when did they start

printing signs so small?

Its getting so I barely

see them at all

My brow is my field

my expressions my hoe

and the furrows will only

continue to grow

231/365 - Chronologist

 

I measure time by

the sunsets and sunrises

I capture daily

I measure the mood

by the moon

as it dances across the horizon

I measure the passing

of the year

by the pantone pallet

painted in the sky

I measure the march

of the millennia

by the stars that no longer alight

in the darkening

of the night

230/365 - Whigmaleerie

The sky is blue

this much I know

and like the birds

we're free to fly

we're free to come and go

There are no borders

there are no walls

to keep us in close

And in the hills

above The Town

the redwoods still grow

and the Bay is still clean

no need for testing

so swim!

and run!

and breathe!

and sing!

No worrying!

This magic land

that could have been

without the greed

without the corruption

without disregard

for all wellbeing

 

229/365 Xeric

 

Steam rises

from the dirt

where the water

from the hose hits

We had hot days

in San Jose

when I was a child

but nothing like this

The earth is baked

but the oven's still on

All the fog

has burned away

You can't even cool off

in the waters of the Bay

because the red-tide

algal blooms

have joined the fray

This isn't fine

we're not going to be 

okay

228/365 - Mokar

 

I clicked the travel-cap

on the toothbrush

closed this morning

and thought about

the next time I'd be using it

The next trip

The next vacation

How many days?

I made a note

to make a note of it

later

But why?

Because I'm a poet

you see

So I write poetry

about the silliest little things

that strike my fancy

Or at least

after 228 poems written

I like to think I am

But I also think

I'm not

because that's the nature

of thoughts

227/365 - Recent

 

I'm sorry

if you were trying

to reach me

I haven't been around

lately

I've left the shit

behind

for a little while

at least

but I suppose

this all must

cease

someday

eventually

226/365 - Choleric

 

I'm sorry

for the borks I made

I know you wish

I wouldn't

But for too long

I've reacted this way

I tried to change

but couldn't

There is something

deep inside

that says I must

protect you

And when you see

another dog

I bark and growl

so they won't

get you

225/365 - Substrate

 

This

is where

I'm meant to be

When we crawled out

millennia ago

what were we trying

to flee

And now it feels

like I'll always yearn

to return

to the see

224/365 - Tailored

 

The leaves change

as if on cue

September 1st -

a redder hue

And soon the green

is going going 

gone as though

it never was a thing

fall is here

the long months of decay

winter's slumber awaits

the rebirth of may