Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Year End

holidays looming
economy swooning
after snow, birds sing

something he made clear
that screechy shriek was bird's song
sung now: come back love

cat sits by food bowl
not yet empty. he knows once
i was gone four months

your watch has ended
you brought us to the brink
don't push us over

they flew private jets
begging for money for cars
we fail ourselves now

noon sunlight wakes me
shivering under covers
the cold comes too soon

japanese soldier
in Siberian gulag
comes to love that land

gulag prisoner
poison into medicine
digs to find the past

mourning my dead cat
i try not to deny love
to the one still here

dusk without lights on
grey navy blue, furnace hum
large cat shadow moves

there is only me here
why is there not enough hot
water to shower

xenophobia
you enjoy a football game
just by taking sides

blame hurts me the most
i swear i don't want this pain
don't need this lesson

he sends me e-cards
telling me to be thankful
presuming to know

ant legs shaved, on stilts
tell us what we want to know
how they know to go

though it takes 3 hours
i give thanks for my shower
touching all over

ahh how it should be
ripe bananas, bright sunlight
great tunes on the box

deep level change comes
end rankism. nobodies
become somebodies

my penned hand thinks better than me

Advent: what's to come
waiting through the darknesses
praying for more, light

Nobel's peace land arms
many nations, makes more guns
than any other

they slept in the plant
2 million owed the workers
we must fix this mess

Raul Flores says
strong workers of Republic
stand united, win

he hopes all learn this
community makes us strong
a forest shelters

not about the song
but the singing, ancient, strong
carried freedom on

toxic debt spews ash
melting schemes, jobs, homes, lives, dreams
covering us all

Sunday intrusion
10 am knock and bell ring
shovels scrape and roar

winter solstice sun
light after storm Daddy's sign
his Happy Birthday

Pray for New Hampshire
Zimbabwe, Congo, Darfur
fuel, food, safety, peace

cat knows at long last
don't ask, don't pace by the door
too cold to go out

we begin again
loss will cease, day will lengthen
snow melt, warm sunshine

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Sunday, December, NPR

care package gift
restores vocabulary
food that flavors life

Bobby Hutcherson
singing hammers resonate
soul metal ringing

they did not free us
North Sea swingers imbibe jazz
but they sing our songs

called the dog a dog
threw shoes at lame fowl ruler
president bush ducked

Saturday, December 13, 2008

stitch holders, needles
found under, around me, lost
places I can't feel

they were forewarned
they said when New York, who, how
this is true,they knew

katrina showed
government doesnt work
when not allowed

rebuild defenses
American century
neocons played war

Sunday, December 7, 2008

December sunday

white jazz singer scats
my father wouldn't like her
i miss his great ears

i sang that tune once
hills alive with music's sound
all i must relearn

light streams through white blinds
bright gold bars float on wood floor
bird shadows flutter

crocheting Christmas
new designs meet old standards
trees, neckwarmers, love

my family
people i don't know talking
on the radio

Sunday radio
secular worship, hearing
all day NPR

La Bohème, Carmen,
Madame Butterfly, Mommy,
i hear you in these

Saturday, December 6, 2008

December 6

............................................

monks in tuscany
sing praisesongs for nativity
o holy sounds ring

this christmas will be
full and empty missing them
who holy made me

Hope, Albert, parents
beyond praise now, beyond pain
thank you for your love

i told you so
how your leaving would break me
why couldn't you last?

opening the door
cold shoves past, entering
with the roaming cat

the book of carols
won't stay open, too much
for me to play

move the garbage out
light incense, brew clove tea,
winter Saturday

tall milkweed stalks stand
white fluff clings to ruptured pods
wild untidy mess

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

December 2

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


toes cut off when young
noses cut off stops fighting
mass produced turkeys

when i ate turkey
i liked drumsticks, dark meat
now bred out, all gone

how can fall be
so dark at noon that i must
turn on all the lights

this fall so cold
i wear hats inside all day
and a hat to bed