Best of 2003


Sleep Works: works in progress, 2003

 Page Poem Index and Five Star Rating
----------------------------------------------
Show Full Listing

Perhaps *****
Astronomy *****
In Tandem ****
Tectonic Shift ****
Memory Offload ****
Goldfish as Friends ****
The Tree, the Face, the Petals ***** (Poem for two voices)
The Tree, the Face, the Petals (long version) ***** (Poem for four voices)
Distracted ****
The Fruit of Orange County ****
The Dance ****
Voyage ****
Song: Sweet Water and Rain ****
Sheila Behind the Bar Dancing ****
The Dark Side of the Moon **** (Version 2)
The Tree, the Face, the Petals *****  (Two stage version)
Aphrodite Diet *****  
Turn the Page Again ****
Lament Transformed ****
Shot Half Fired ****
-----------------------------------------------
 Perhaps *****
Perhaps it was the sunlight
Not her at all

Perhaps it was the ocean
Not her shock of hair
Long and proud
Like horse's mane
Brilliant in the sun

Perhaps it was the view
Across the bay
As I came upon her
Slowly
Standing
On the corner
Scanning
Unsure of our meeting's destination

Perhaps it was the gentle wind
Not the softness in her voice
The intelligence in her eyes
Past pain from loved betrayed
That made me hear and see
Beauty
And balance recovered

Perhaps it was the picture
Written in my memory
As if chords were struck
Tones lingering in my head
When later as I strolled away
A kiss and smile and dance
Too unfamiliar
To my face and walk
Lit up my day



Return to top


 Astronomy *****
I take great pride
In having discovered the graceful comet
That came to rest
In North America
Painting the ground with traces of rare metallic earths
Bringing DNA from afar

And while it always sad
To see a species go:
Dinosaurus batchelorus
Had his ecological shortfalls:
Failure to reproduce quickly;
Reluctance to brew coffee via filters
Before pumping his body full;
A tendency to wear ill-matching Hawaiian shirts;
Forgetting to sleep.

A new species arises
In the fall-out of clouded skies
And extended winter
Warmer blooded
Lolling at the side of the soft Pacific
Staring curiously north
At the receding icecaps
Eager for the future
And the plants to grow
New mammals in the pool



Dedicated to Greg and Grace


Return to top



 In Tandem ****
Like a grown-up
Her right hand placed upon her seat
Her left upon the handlebars
She walked the back end of the almost tandem bicycle
Across at the light
Behind her mother
Seemingly unaware
That she was the tail on the dog
And very serious

There
Behind the bus
Where father waited
On his single bike
Mother and child stopped
The small one climbed high
Up to her seat
And perched
A little precariously
But balanced
Newly skilled
In this transport game

And off they rode
Leaving me at the light
Transported
From my bad mood
Into sudden delight
At child
Discovery

Off I drove
Into my setting sun
Low in my winter horizon

On
I drove
Forward
To my home
With memory
I will reuse
To reclaim the climb
And clarity of Mt. Mansfield's peak
One long ago summer day with you all at my side and in my heart.




Return to top



 Tectonic Shift ****
There had been warning signs
Loud noises and vibration
I choked and choked and choked

Delicate sensors
Were applied
A tube inserted
Infrared camera monitored movement
Statistics were gathered

And then the interruption
Too little air
More pumped in
To keep the passage open
Saving me from suffocation in the dark

And in the aftermath
A sense of freedom
Of weight removed
Eyes uncloaked
The world appreciated afresh
And light, glorious light

Food became unimportant
Alcohol humdrum
My humor skyrocketed upwards
Electricity ran up and down my spine
Refreshed, alive, aware, awake,
After the shift of the tectonic plate
And my salvation



Return to top


 Memory Offload ****
There will come a day
When my extra-memory
Stored aboard the box in front of me
Will go down for eternity
And you will lose a part of me.

There will come a day
When change occurs
Memories will disappear
And backups fail
Then I will come to you for aid
Seeking your long term memory

There will come another day
I'll look for you
And all you mean to me
But you will have gone away
Along with your recall of everything
We've shared
And marked in memory

There will come a time
When all that is left of me
Is this immobile box
These aging disks
But there will be
Copied files in other localities
And they will not be
You or me
Just a curious immortality
Buried in the immensity
Of other disks and memory
In mere machinery.



Return to top





Goldfish as Friends ****
The Hotel Monaco
San Francisco
At www.hotelmonaco.com
Is proud to proclaim
Its 201 guest rooms
32 suites
Some with a two person spa-tub.

Complimentary goldfish are available
For company
On request

I suppose
The room CD player
Will permit romantic and raucous
Swimming and partying music
And the room voice mail
Allows you not to take a call
While frolicking with fish

I find it difficult to imagine
Taking along my fish
To the complimentary
Evening wine reception
And wonder whether
They would let my new found friend
Into the hotel pool.

All in all
I am very sure I would have regrets
About the hotel steam room
Unless I were Cantonese




Return to top


 The Tree, the Face, the Petals ***** (Poem for two voices)
I am an eldest child
The petals on the plum tree have come so soon this year
Her face appeared

And have gone where siblings have yet to go
Small pink petals on the walk beside the pool
She turned to me

My history writ in scars visible
Pink petals, oval, flying in the wind
Launching a thousand thoughts and ships

And invisible, my history checked with ups and downs
Each petal flawless translucent to the sun
She glanced at me and glanced again

I caught her glance marveled at her symmetry, long dark hair
In evening sun, the petals glorify the day
I looked again. She turned away.


Return to top


 The Tree, the Face, the Petals (long version) *****
(Poem for four voices)

ACT 1
Man: I am an eldest child
Woman: The petals on the plum tree have come so soon this year
Boy: Her face appeared

Man: And have gone where siblings have yet to go
Woman: Small pink petals on the walk beside the pool
Boy: She turned to me

Man: My history writ in scars visible
Woman: Pink petals, oval, flying in the wind
Boy: Launching a thousand thoughts and ships

Man: Invisible, my history checked with ups and downs
Woman: Each petal flawless translucent to the sun
Boy: She glanced at me and glanced again

Man and Boy: I caught her glance marveled at her symmetry, long dark hair
Woman: In morning sun, the petals glorify the day
Man and Boy: I looked again. She turned away.

ACT 2
Woman: I am a youngest child
Man: The petals on the plum tree have come so soon this year
Girl: His face appeared

Woman: And have not yet gone where siblings go
Man: Small pink petals on the walk beside the pool
Girl: He turned to me

Woman: His history writ in scars visible
Man: Pink petals, oval, flying in the wind
Girl: Launching a thousand thoughts and ships

Woman: Invisible, my future may have ups and downs
Man: Each petal flawless translucent to the sun
Girl: He glanced at me and glanced again

Woman and Girl: I caught his glance marveled at his grace, his calm
Man: In noonday sun, the petals glorify the day
Woman and Girl: I looked again. He turned away.

ACT 3
Man and Woman: I am a child
Boy and Girl: The petals on the plum tree are new this year
Man and Woman: Spring brings petals. The tree will flower again.

Man and Woman: We have not yet gone where we will go
Boy and Girl: Small pink petals on the walk beside the pool
Man and Woman: Love turned to me

Man and Woman: Love leaves history, making scars visible and joined
Boy and Girl: Pink petals, oval, flying in the wind
Man and Woman: Launches a thousand thoughts and pleasures

Man and Woman: Our future invisible will have ups and downs
Boy and Girl: Each petal flawless translucent to the sun
Man and Woman: We looked and looked and looked again

Man and Woman: In morning sun, we touched, we spoke and intertwined
Man and Woman: We spoke. The petals glorify the way.
Boy and Girl: In evening sun, the petals glorify the day
Man and Woman: We looked again. We turned away.




Return to top


 Distracted ****
When you think hard
You open the microwave
Instead of the cupboard
Try to brush your teeth
With foot cream
Wander into rooms
Wondering why you went
And names disappear
As if you did not sleep last night.
You wander the unfamiliar landscape
Of your flat.
Metaphors come to mind
To replace what once was there
You hide by
Rising up into the surviving abstraction
But the details of reality
Have disappeared
Unless they arrive with the morning paper
To refill the growing hole in your head
And sadly you know about the hole
Into which you will eventually fall.

Evey day I phone you
Send e-mails to incite
The fierce fight
That rebuilds the light
You shine on your life
After the departure of your wife.




Return to top


 The Fruit of Orange County ****
Orange County is a dangerous place
I thought
Seated in a deep fat armchair
In the lobby bar
Near a piano
With strange and digital box beneath
Revealing histories of past blue figures:

She
Laughed attractively
Animatedly
Smiles breaking out regularly
Perhaps inspired by seared sashimi
Saki.
She rose above history's sediment
A wine glass in front of her
Tall as the Empire State building
Filled with oaky Chardonnay
Inventory against closing of the bar.

At home
She, too, faced danger
(the burden and attraction of living in the sun)
From marauding spreading ficus roots.
I understood the temptation of the root
Thinking of her upstairs in my hotel room.

Outside the wind gusted
And elegant palm trees rolled
Back and forth
Sensually
For three hours.
I sensed
That change was in the wind.





Return to top


 The Dance ****
Consider crystal
Light divided
Colors of life

Consider
Beginnings of endings
Endings of beginnings

Consider
What you do not know
What you have forgotten

Consider
Where you are
Outside of love

Remember
The inner side of love
With no wall or separation

Consider symmetry
Feel your health
Your lack of balance

Dance
Upon the thought
Dance upon the light

Dance
Until you are young
With light




Return to top



 Voyage ****
She wanted to expose herself
So they sat outside
In dark and drizzle

Not sure she wanted him
Or any other
She told her tale
Blown out to sea
Unable to tack

Looking down
For fifteen hours
Through deep clear water
She wondered
Small and feeble
Of her future
Alone
In turquoise beauty.

The four sailors
Would not let her capsize
Their small boat
But towed her board
Indifferent to her exhaustion
A different fish
Than their normal catch

Her life was happy
Two great girls
Friends with her ex
Glamorous career
Yet she sipped her tea
And dipped her toes
Once more
Afraid she might drift out to sea
Finding solace
With sailors
Seeking other fish
Afraid she might capsize their boat.
Or leap screaming
Back into the ocean

He smiled
And held her hand
To test how warm her toes might be
Thinking she could warm his boat
But freezing in her dark.




Return to top



 Song: Sweet Water and Rain **** (Version 9)

Going to Sweetwater
Needing the rain.
Wanting the music
Fleeing the pain

Like an onrushing
Oncoming evening train

Cast from the garden
And needing the rain
Abandoned my room
To Sweetwater came

Like an onrushing
Oncoming evening train

Instrumental

Waiting's so slow
For the new to arrive
Finding sweet water
Begin a new life

Needing sweet water
And wanting the rain

My music is soft
And I miss our flame
It warmed our house
Abandoned with blame

Rolling and rocking
So sweet in the rain

Needing sweet water
So sweet in the rain.
Wanting sweet music
So sweet with the flame.

Needing sweet water
So sweet with the flame.

Rolling and rocking
So sweet in the rain.
Rolling and rocking
So sweet with the flame.
.




Sweetwater is a wonderful and famous bar in Mill Valley, a community, home to many talented writers and musicians, north of the Golden Gate Bridge in Marin County, California. It is renowned for the many musicians who have played there both before and after they became famous.


Return to top


 Sheila Behind the Bar Dancing ****
The mandolin had curves
Its body
Danced up and down
Alive with joy

Behind the bar
So did Sheila
With a graceful
Bluegrass wiggle

Elegant in black
A flower on her
Single exposed shoulder
Unseen
By the drinkers
Turned towards the music
Who
Missed her dance
Ignored their drafts

She
In turn
Ignored their quarters
Left as tips
On the bar

And still she danced.




Return to top


 The Dark Side of the Moon **** (Version 2)
Tonight
You showed me the new crescent moon
And the rest of the disk
The dark side of the moon
Lit
By the light
Of the Pacific waters
Faint
Completing the circle
Like new knowledge
Slowly coming into view

From the house
We heard
The faint cries of
Your infant daughter
Emerging into your life
New like the moon




Return to top


 The Tree, the Face, the Petals *****
(Poem for three voices)
(Two stage version)

I am an eldest child
And have gone where siblings have yet to go
My history writ in scars visible
And invisible, my history checked with ups and downs
I caught her glance marveled at her symmetry, long dark hair

The petals on the plum tree have come so soon this year
Small pink petals on the walk beside the pool
Pink petals, oval, flying in the wind
Each petal flawless translucent to the sun
In evening sun, the petals glorify the day

Her face appeared
She turned to me
Launching a thousand thoughts and ships
She glanced at me and glanced again
I looked again. She turned away.

I am an eldest child
The petals on the plum tree have come so soon this year
Her face appeared

And have gone where siblings have yet to go
Small pink petals on the walk beside the pool
She turned to me

My history writ in scars visible
Pink petals, oval, flying in the wind
Launching a thousand thoughts and ships

And invisible, my history checked with ups and downs
Each petal flawless translucent to the sun
She glanced at me and glanced again

I caught her glance marveled at her symmetry, long dark hair
In evening sun, the petals glorify the day
I looked again. She turned away.




Return to top


 Aphrodite Diet *****
A drunken Aphrodite
Dressed in black,
Spaghetti straps
Barely holding up her cleavage
Stumbled up
Wrapped her arms around me
And holding on for support
Said
She loved me
Oh, life is wonderful

I let her go
And down she fell
Slowly
Gracefully
Half on the pavement
Half on the sidewalk
Oh, so mellow

I picked her up
A boy
Told her to get her arms off
The old guy
Oh, so unsubtle

We offered to pick her up anyway
And put her in the pickup truck
Catching the attention of
Her girl friend
Emerging from the restaurant
Oh, so angry

So my friend and I
Went in for sushi
Talk of his far traveling woman
And the ups and downs of mine
Between
Two new Aphrodites
At the bar
Oh, I do like sushi


Return to top

 Turn the Page Again ****
You read ahead
When you first saw me
Park my bike
On your side of the tracks
“I will marry that boy
I know”

We read our vows
Graduated with a different book
New page to turn
New sheets
Sheets of paper
Not torn for 23 years
I know

You taught
Children to read
The paths of life
The ways of love
Your gifts
I know

But mountains
Lie between us
When I wish
It were the sea
Rising falling
Gently moving
With each day's sun
And moon
Turning the pages
Of our days
And memories

I wish I were your library
And you would live in me

I wish I were your book
That you would turn my pages
Write new lines
Your chapbook
Again

I don't know much
Nor read as much as you
But what I know
Is what you first knew
And what we could become
Again
A sequel
Better than the first
Received to rave reviews


Written for Kent and Fran Black


Return to top


 Lament Transformed (draft 2) ****
Sad
To be disappointed
By the wind

Foolish
To regret the rain
Even if you fall and slip

Pick your body up
Stand strong
Again
Against the storm
Unfurl your sail
Catch the new wind
A new harbor bound

Ships in havens
Can splinter here
Against the shore
Moored by jagged rocks
So
Let's build upon the land
Away from sand and storms
Relishing rain and howl
In our warmth
Looking back at history's paths
To our new peak and view


Return to top



 Shot Half Fired ****
My peck
On her right cheek
Done in the French style
Was incomplete
No chance for completion on the left

Like a hurt animal
She shied away
Fearing more pain
Forced a smile
Fragile.

Like a wounded deer
She poured out her blood
Her man served her papers
Just last week

Realizing
Her future had disappeared
She had bought a massage chair
To replace him,
The scrounging and saving
For now
Their children would
Go to state college

Catching herself
She remembered
I was there
Asking perfunctorily
Who I might be
But not yet able to hear
Deep in the abyss
Into which she had been cast

She wore brown suede
That matched the colors of her hair
Sat there
Like a doe
Caught in life's headlights
And before I could complete my quiet sentence
She ran from hers


Return to top