8 Haiku

Lonely gull singing 
in a rosy morning sky
shared with an airplane

Watching fields of light

through a train window at night—
glimmering city

Ocean: big calm lake

gleaming white with full moon light
just before morning

*

Sunrise in the east,

fat raindrops patter the streets—
rainbow in the west

Thunder shakes the house—

or is the next-door neighbors’
garage door rising?

Laughter like rattling

skeletons from some workers
on a pre-dawn bus

*

Cranes like dinosaurs
against a wispy sky—
don’t look awake yet

From the beach house we

watch people watch the sunset—
brief blaze, then twilight



.

Politician

—based on a song by Cream

Hey now baby

Get into my big black car
I want to show you
Just what my politics are

I support the left

But I’m leaning to the right
You know I’m gonna give in
Without much of a fight

I’m a politician

Hard to practice what I preach
But try to catch me baby—
You’ll find I’m hard to reach

I am your mayor

Your president
Your council member
I’m in your parliament

I am a pimp
(If you could see my hands!)
Just remember baby
Your dreams ain’t what I am



.

Climb The Sky

A snake on the path
We’re silent and stare
Hawk circles the air

Child tiger god face

In a tree in the breeze

A breathing being

A breathing being

A life that climbs the sky

A smile you can smell

A crushed candy cane
A break in the game

Tense painted face

Totters on her high heels

Hair like a...hair like a...shield

A sweet nectar scent
A blur in the blooms
A bird like a bee

A sudden shimmer shivers

In the leaves of the trees

Breezes breathe

Breezes breathe

A life that climbs the sky



.

18 Haiku

Crude roar in the sky— 
on the street he shakes his fist
at the fighter jets

After last night’s rain—

tides of lighted cars and trucks
drifting on wet roads

A tanned grey-haired man

shouts That’s as fun as it gets!—
still wet from surfing

*

Brassy razzmatazz
blaring through the big ballroom—
can we dance to this?

Rosy island clouds

spread into dust in the dusk
over the ocean

Howling tunnel ride,
a warm cup between my thighs—
can’t drink on the train

*

This face in the sky

—slash of a mouth and two eyes—
it doesn’t judge me

I’m an apprentice—

I play a master’s song and
imitate him too

Cinema: flashing
antics of illusionists
pretending to live

*

Walking before dawn—

just over my head some wires
sizzle in the mist

Old guitarist shouts
I already forgot it!
when I play too fast

The hiss of the hose

as she waters her roses
in the soft twilight

*

Bits of broken glass

from car windows smashed by thieves—
stars strewn in the street

The warmth of the earth

under my feet as I watch
the cat nipping grass

We’re rolling slowly

through the tunnel—as dark here
as it is outside

*

Weed whacker buzzes
and flits around a man’s feet—
smell of gas and grass

Abandon yoga

and get swallowed by the world—
foolish destiny

A sliver of sun

slips slowly into the sea—
sunset becomes dusk



.

6 Train Ride Haiku

Rumble under foot, 
breath spreading through my belly—
standing on the train

Asleep on the train—

an upside-down umbrella
dangles from her hand

Speeding between stops,

blur of walls through the windows—
a train underground

*

On a train at dawn

we burst out of a tunnel—
mountains of blue clouds!

Clattering of rails

and some ripe basso gossip—
three men ride standing

Through the rear window

I watch where the train just was
rush away from me



.

Blown Down Blues

Oh mama...I’m so sick and sad 
Oh mama...things looks awful bad

All the famous faces

Look so mean and mad

Oh mama...everybody’s used

Oh mama...what we gonna do?

The bank went broke when the deal was done

Then all the houses of cards blew down
What’s the sense of pretending they’re still around?

Oh mama...where we gonna turn?

Oh mama...we keep getting burned

Dealers keep on dealing

Like we’ll never learn

Oh mama...will it ever end?

Oh mama...what’s around the bend?

A sudden rumble took another tumble

In a boom that just went bust
Is there anything left for us in the dust?

Oh mama!

.

5 Haiku

Fennel fields in bloom 
along the old railroad tracks,
a scent of salt flats

Sunday in the park—

shrieking kids bounce in bright tents
under solemn trees

Millionaire landlord

drags an empty metal cart
that makes him happy

*

Dark-eyed little girl
shouting Rabbit! to a tree
in downtown rush hour

Stern men in crisp shirts

gulp wine at a loud cafe—
slow breeze through the palms

.

Flashes 13

What if 
that man
was your father?

Poor folk—

generally more generous
than the rich

Urban person

dreaming
at a magazine

Amazed

every time
I succeed

*

Much too

sunny for my
taste today

Your big

bullfrog boasting
bores me!

Sanity

requires
discipline

Life is great—

but the world
stinks!

.

9 Haiku

A strand of dry grass 
clings to the bronze guitar strings—
music in the trees

White mist on the cliffs—

a dog chases his keeper
jogging on the beach

Scent of peach nectar

brings a tiny whirling blur—
a bird like a bee

*

Curled snake on the path
stops us and makes us silent—
hawk squawks and circles

Palm over the pool—

child tiger god face swaying
in the breezy sky

A tense painted face

tottering on her high heels—
blonde hair like a shield

*

Two women, a man

pass me laughing on the street—
he’s holding a lamp!

Apricot twilight—

slender silver strand of moon
over mellow seas

Seagulls fight for food—

a big dead crab in the surf
that gets swept away



.

7 Haiku

Misty morning beach— 
a black boy in a blue hood
is walking backwards

Black crows and white gulls

stand on a white-streaked railing
and stare at the waves

Morning fishermen

ganged on a damp patch of sand—
shadows in the mist

*

An insistent bird

through the lush trees by the deck—
we sip black coffee

A lake of grey rocks—

copper pheasants and stone cats
gathered at its edge

Summer darkness falls—

fireflies rise over our heads
while we drink red wine

*

A mist in the east—

here a gang of hungry birds
stabbing at dry grass



.

A Crack In You, A Crack In Me

God I know...that you don’t care 
Where I go...or how I fare
If I go broke...in your nightmare
Down below...what a man can bear

You put a price...on human dreams
Your sole advice...is to build a scheme
Like a light...for souls to seek
Until one night...you’ve got them beat

Oh you’ve got a foe to meet

He’s coming to cheat you
Yeah you know he might beat you

And so all your secrets and fears
Just grow

When you get blue...you can see

A crack in you...a crack in me
A crack in that...reality
Which isn’t what...it seemed to be

Which isn't what...it seemed to be



.

Flashes 12

We
don’t lift
our garage doors

Yet another

crack
in the rational world

Watching the wind

through a window
in the mirror

*

He drank
himself
off course

Times when

we want
nothing

Her smile

you could smell:
powdery candy

*

These houses make you
dream of what
other lives are like

May the Spirit of Summer

linger long
in the Land of Lakes!

Dark trees

sparkling
with fireflies



.

10 Haiku

Bright orange poppies 
exploding out of a crack
in the paving stones

I don’t stop the cat

from swatting at a big fly
razzing through the house

Warm late spring night—

against a lavender sky
shadow people pass

*

New lemon blossoms—

the cat rolling in the dirt,
its coat shinier

The sun’s reflection

in a puddle of water—
soft rain is falling

The cat’s eyes widen

when a fire truck screams by—
fading summer dusk

*

Little black birds poised

on strands of telephone wires
in a huge blue sky

Jade and caramel

pebbles shining on the beach—
my pockets are full

Blinding silver waves

crash and tumble toward the shore—
a surfer rides them

*

Reading old haiku

in the early summer dusk,
cat curled on my lap

.

This Can't Be Wrong

Like a flash on the water 
I know this can’t be wrong
I catch a glimpse of the order
Man it’s been so long

Oh I know this can’t be wrong

Birds abound in the bushes

Singing swirling songs
I stop my rushing and hustling
And linger on the lawn
 
Oh I know this can’t be wrong

I found a friend in a dream one time

After she’d been dead
And through a sky of a smile
This is what she said

Set your feet down

In this deep ground
Right where they belong

Set your feet down

In this deep ground
Get yourself back home

I fell in love with the laughter

Glowing in your eyes
Now I know what I’m after
This is paradise
 
Oh I know this can’t be wrong

.

Another Fate

Hey there mister can’t you see 
Something’s burning down in me
It gets so hot I’ve got to scream!
I know you know just what I mean

When you’re not at home you’ve got to

Roam that lonesome road

I was schooled and I was ruled

With phony maps and broken tools
But when I knew that I was fooled
I knew I had to make my move

You see something flash through a crack

And you can’t turn back

So many things that I was told

Just empty noises dead and cold
There’s so much more than what is shown
I’ve got to find it on my own

Flee this emptiness you hate
And find another fate



.

Last Shot

Mister Rudy was full of booty

He had the best place around

When you were in there drinking

You would get to thinking

Rudy was the king of the town

His Miss Judy was a beauty

She could really shake it around

Shaped just like a cello

Man! she made fellow

Feel his devil tremble and growl

Those two people seemed

To have it all worked out

Mister Rocco wasn’t normal

He was better than the rest

So much stronger so much smarter

Better watch it partner!

Every test proved he was the best

He knew a player is a taker

Any man who pauses is lost

He was built for speed

And couldn’t bear to be

Anybody less than the boss

That club Rudy had

Always made him feel small

Rudy’s lady made Rocco crazy

He had to have her all to himself

But he felt like a loser

Judy wouldn’t choose him

When Rudy was the one with the wealth

He looked at Rudy and he knew he

Had to get the best of that man

He knew it was his duty

To take that beauty Judy

Steal her out of old Rudy’s his hands

He walked in the club

Gonna get her

Packing a big gun

Gonna get him

Saying praying to himself

This will be done

He put a bullet in Rudy’s belly

Killed the king to be with the queen

It felt just like a dream

But when Miss Judy screamed

He knew she’d never be with him

She would never be with him

.

Flashes 11

A happy

bulge beneath

your belt

Obsessive collectors

in cafes

with laptops

That flag

in the boss’s

office

*

Her cynical

masculine voice

harsh from smoking

Marching formations

like a walking

word

A chorus

of disparate

voices in us

Soul damage

was his sense

of soul

*

Using eyes

as tools

of observation

Feel that

readiness

in your neck

Generosity:

our clear connection

with God

.

Get Off This Bus

“It is right and it is just—because he must!”—Henry Miller

Everyone’s got it

Everyone’s got a reason

That we don’t know

But we know that they’ve got it

‘Cause everyone needs a reason

To keep on going

We think we don’t show it

But we’re glowing with it every moment

That we keep going

We go without knowing

Exactly when or where the road we’re on

Is gonna be done

But it’s gonna be done

I wait for a signal

I stand in line and wait my turn to get

A glimpse of a sign

I hint or a vision

A trigger I can figure that tells me

That the time is mine

To do what I’ve got to

And make a move that breaks through to

The next side of my life

The side that’s been hiding

And waiting for me to get it right

Now the time has arrived

It’s like the turning of the tides

When you know you got it right

This time

And you know you got it right

‘Cause you’re feeling so alive

And light

And the chime you feel inside

Is rhyming with the light

Outside

Outside and inside

There’s something I trust

Something that tells me I must

Get off of this bus

It’s right and it’s just

It’s right and it’s just

Because I know that I must

Get off of this bus

Get off of this bus

And watch it ride off in the dust

‘Cause I’ve had enough

I’ve had enough and I know

This world is a bluff

This world is a bluff

.

We The People

Trade fifty years
Of vitality and industry
Advancing someone else’s wealth
In exchange for opportunities
To purchase some degree
Of comfort when we rest


.

5 Haiku

Stunned in the spring night
staring at the twilit sky
rubbing my sore feet

Sunny spring morning—
deeply breathing cool sea air
on my bicycle

A wide-winged raven
hovering in gusty air—
early spring sunset

*

Traffic rushes past
and we stand beneath buildings
at twilight, smiling

A paused train at night—
two headlights spread cloudy beams
through the milky fog


 
  .

Dead Cat In A Top Hat

“Dead cat in a top hat
Thinks he’s an aristocrat
That’s crap”—The Doors

Rat man living out on the street
That man begging for something to eat
That man’s tossed like a scrap on a heap of dreams

Fat man stuffing himself with pills
That man can’t feel any thrills
That man’s hiding up in the hills to kill

Ripping through the city is the terrible sound
Of people being set up and down
And you feel the burning when they tell you
That your turn is now

Right now

I told a friend what’s in my head
He looked at me with eyes full of dread
Then he smiled—Amen brother! he said

Those fat bosses are lonely and mean
They can’t get down—you know what I mean
You and me man, at least got a chance to be happy

Dead cat in a top hat
Thinks he’s an aristocrat
That’s crap

Ask the rat man
About the fat man
Yeah ask the rat man

That’s crap



 .

Can't Go Wrong

I heard a voice so small and strong
It told me Man you won’t be here long
Come on—get out and get it on
When this is living in you man, you know you can’t go wrong

I saw some birds soar in the sky
I saw some clouds with faces flying by
It was like—everything was alive
Now when I look up I can find them every time

I passed a place and in the glass
I saw my face but it was another man’s
It made no difference
Whether I was him or if he is who I am

I know a voice so small and strong
It tells me Man you won’t be here long
Come on—get out and get it on
When this is living in you man, you know you can’t go wrong



.

On Finding Faces

Finding faces in unusual places such as clouds, rocks, and vegetation is a favorite practice of mine.

Faces can be found not only in the natural world, but also in such artificial objects as a peeling wall or a rumpled heap of clothes.

These faces tend to be human, but can also be those of animals. Sometimes part of one face is also part of another. Frequently these faces appear to be engaged in an utterance. In my experience, these utterances have always been soundless.

Upon finding a face, one can gaze at it exclusively, or seek other faces near about. Upon looking away from a face, one can readily find it again. Cloud faces tend to distort more rapidly, making them harder to find again.

These faces are profoundly expressive. Each has a unique character and mood. A face that shares part of itself with another face is distinctly different from the face with which it is conjoined.

One can return to a place and find again a face previously found in rocks, certain artificial objects, and, to some extent, vegetation. One is more likely to find again a face in a tree’s bark, for example, than in the arrangement of its leaves.

Wind can animate some faces, especially those found in clouds and vegetation. A face found in the arrangement of a tree’s leaves, for example, can suddenly appear to be speaking—although soundlessly, in my experience.

Finding faces in unusual places is a form of meditation that can lead to cosmic speculation, and has no known value in the marketplace.



.

6 Haiku

A melting world watched
through a window blurred with rain—
early morning train

Some black crows flap by
in the enormous blue sky
while white gulls circle

Caressing the cat
with my ear to her belly—
a purring cosmos

*

I’m too tired to move
under a vast dying sky—
early spring evening

Glow of two breaklights
smeared red on wet asphalt—
rainy winter night

Beneath a blue sky
with wide-winged gulls gliding by
and somewhere—sirens!



.

Border Boys

Make way!
A cosmic voice says
Today
Makes absolute rays
We trace
A strange and shapely grace
We take
Our place in silences

Border boys are roaming
Gonna show what they have found
Gonna spread the message all around

You’ve gone
As though you had no choice
But you’ve grown
Sick of all the noise
You don’t
Rejoice in all their toys
You know
There’s poison in their ploys

Border boys are roaming
Gonna show what they have found
Gonna spread the message all around

(Borders blur and the bound’ries blend and then
The wind begins to bend
Into a hint of whisper
And it says...)

You run
From a constant hum
That comes
From wires strung among us
They pump
A jolt in the commotion
Can one
Ever come undone?

Border boys are roaming
Gonna show what they have found
Gonna spread the message all around


.

When The Wind Is Right

I’m too tired to move myself
I’m thinking with a sigh
I lie beneath the twilight
While I eye a dying sky
And I don’t mind

Our passions are elapsing
As we pass into the night

This morning I was staring at
Some dewy blades of grass
I bent my head to block the sun
And then a dewdrop flashed
As dazzling as

A far-flung foreign star that fell
And landed in my lap

On the street I passed a man
Whose head was in his hands
He stumbled mumbling but I couldn’t
Make out what he said
And on he went

Something spinning in him had been
Twisting up his head

I asked a friend I work with
“What’s the title of our song?”
And through a rocky grin he said
“ ‘Be Strong and Play Along’—
You think I’m wrong?”

“It’s better that you get it quick
And don’t get strung along”

I’m guessing at the blessing
Of some rusty melody
I’m grabbing at the flashes
Of some ghostly poetry
What does it mean?

I think there’s something bigger
In the glimpses we see

Ever felt that you were held
In otherworldly hands?
As though your life were guided by
A slender silver strand?
Who understands

The undiscovered wonders
Of an undeluded man?

How can we get from under
Such an ugly lonely sham?
And discover all the wonders
Of an undeluded man?

Sometimes I think we might
When the wind is right

When the wind is right



.

Flashes 10

Title
for a novel:
The Prince Of Poop Valley

“Poetry is not a careful thing—
poetry is lamb dust”
—Jack Kerouac

A clear spot
where the stress falls:
hunger

Try not to let
the greedheads
rape your heart of love

*

"Once you’ve said it—
say it again
(with different words)"

Depression:
opportunity
to be a hero

Feeling this
living music
flowing through you now

*

Death:
the means for being
born into one’s origin

I learn more from birds
than from words
of learned men



.

More And More

Can’t conceive it
Can’t conceive it at all

Can’t believe it
Can’t believe it would fall
Not at all

We know it’s rotten and we’re
Throwing the whole lot away
Right away

Stars are gleaming
We can see them tonight

Like a blind man
Finding diamonds in his eyes
A big surprise

It’s awful humbling when you
Know you stumbled onto this
And almost missed

(Wasting days gazing through a crooked maze
And through the haze came a simple spoken phrase
And it said You’re not dead
So you’d better go ahead)

With such a hunger
Rumbling under the floor

It makes you wonder
What we were under before
That’s for sure

We started knocking and they
Started unlocking the doors
More and more

We started knocking and they
Started unlocking the doors
More and more
More and more
More and more



.

5 Haiku

For Jack Kerouac:

While the dance hall rocked
a big old clock ticked and tocked
and nobody cared

This quiet night sky—
I’ve got nothing to bother
my mind with right now

Figures floating by
on an invisible path
in the evening fog

*

Two big eyes of light
glide by me in the darkness—
walking on the road

A flurry of snow—
cloud of white pigeons flutters
and swerves and is gone



.

Blues At The Bottom

You gotta take up space
In a public place
Where you waste your days
What a fall from grace

Blues at the bottom
Man you really got ‘em now

First you took that loan
Then they took your home
‘Cause you lost your job
Man did you get robbed

Blues at the bottom
Man you really got ‘em
Man you really got ‘em now

There’s a ragged man
With his grimy hands
In a garbage bin
Now you live like him

Blues at the bottom
Man you really got ‘em now

And when you try to sleep
On the cold concrete
Under neon lights
It’s an awful night

Blues at the bottom
Man you really got ‘em
Man you really got ‘em now

(Stripped to your limit
With a vision of
What life might be like

If we were rid of
This big swindle of
Pricing life so high

Come and get a bit of heaven—
Your piece of the pie!
You can bet that we would never lie...)

There’s a big fat man
Who you worked for then
And he got fatter when
You lost you’re land

Yeah he’s getting rich
From this scam of his
But if you think like this
You’re a Socialist

Blues at the bottom
Man you really got ‘em
Man you really got ‘em now



.

Demon's Eye

--based on a song by Deep Purple

I don’t mind ... what you say
I don’t listen ... to you anyway
I don’t care ... what you do
The spell just broke ... and we are through

Sly sly sly ... like a demon’s eye

Everything’s good ... everything’s fine
Because I know ... it’s the end of your time
I got trapped ... in your web
But I broke loose ... I slipped your thread

Sly sly sly ... like a demon’s eye

I can’t forget ... all the blood you spill
I still feel ... the love you kill
You slip and slide ... around my brain
You think you’re so clever ... but I know you’re insane

Sly sly sly ... like a demon’s eye

You shoot your friend ... right in the face
You go to church ... but you’re out of grace
I know you’re sad ... but that’s too bad
You played for keeps ... and you’ve been had


Sly sly sly ... like a demon’s eye



.

Soon This Will Be Gone

I’m all alone
In my little room
And I don’t know
What I’m gonna do

The world outside me
Howls and moans
I don’t want to go
I’ve got to though

And so I go
Out into the street
To buy a dose
To still the ghosts in me

A little whisky
A little beer
Could be just enough
To ease my fear

Soon this will be gone
Soon this will be gone

And then I roam
Through the glaring night
And I am shown
Some amazing sights

People hungry
For what’s not there
And they watch and wait
They stare and stare

I move along
Toward a corner store
And there’s a woman
Standing by the door

She leers at me
With insect eyes
Like the soul in her
Completely died

Soon this will be gone
Soon this will be gone

(Goodbye
I’ll fade into the sky
One night
When the time is right)

I buy my booze
Get back on the street
Head to my room
And the sirens scream

That cold burning
Icy shriek
Throws a shiver through
The soul in me

And then I’m home
In my little room
I drink my dose
And don’t know what to do

Somewhere out there
A few rich men
Know so many lose
So they can win

Soon this will be gone
Soon this will be gone



.

6 Haiku

Red-lit word TRIBUNE
fenced around a building top—
north, east, south, and west

A wet black scarf left
on the rainy black asphalt—
like a flat drowned rat

In an orange vest,
a black man strolls home from work,
white hard hat in hand


*

Flapping burst of grey
swoops over wet black asphalt—
pigeons in the gloom

Wind-blown lake of rain—
each ripple jostles the gulls
that float like a fleet

Through a pavement crack
a tuft of yellow flowers
quivers in the breeze



.

(Everybody's) Here To Get Down

The center is a snake pit
It’s easy to forget it
But watch out you don’t get hit
By a blow that breaks your spirit

There’s no way around it
Once you’ve finally found it
And you’ve really figured it out

There’s no doubt about it
Everybody’s here to get down

The boss of the equipment
Got his fingers on the switches
Gonna trick you with images
Twist you in his business

There’s no way around it
Once you’ve finally found it
And you’ve really figured it out

There’s no doubt about it
Everybody’s here to get down

(Some folks make a big show of blowing
But everybody’s being blown)

Another bitter figure
With his finger on the trigger
The pressure’s getting bigger
It’s finished in a flicker

There’s no way around it
Once you’ve finally found it
And you’ve really figured it out

There’s no doubt about it
Everybody’s here to get down



.

Flashes Nine

Yes
I am
a dream

Maybe the best you can do
is to spread some good
cheer

God
is
consequence

*

High-hat lips
above the drum
of his jaw

A news of
exceptions
paints a false world

The mind
leaps
at disasters

*

Hating America
is just so
American

Doing the dishes
=
dealing with truth

Mirrored
by my shadow
in the sun

*

Title for a treatise:
On The Nature Of Capital,
Or, Every Man His Own Pimp

How easily
we forget
fundamental things

Our song:
be strong
and play along



.

Standing In The Shadow Of The Blues

I said I’m good as dead
You’re a brooding fool she said
A blur of burning stars
Is turning in your head

I’ll stir ‘em though you, friend
Through every break and bend
Can you remember when
Adventure ever ended?

I’ve seen a lion getting down underground
I’ve seen Goliath sniffing round

Inventing and resenting and
Standing in the shadow of the blues

A man can stop the world
If he can stop and learn
Long lines of ancient ways
Remaining with the Earth

And when you’re standing still
Upon a stony hill
Your eyes and mind are kind
And silently fulfilled

I’ve seen a lion getting down underground
I’ve seen Goliath sniffing round

Inventing and resenting and
Pretending and offending and

Standing in the shadow of the blues



.