Yellow Lab Poses for Picture

Humphrey doesn’t like to sit for pictures 

rather smell the grounds and wander,

when he hears the word, “Sit”

he obeys like he is trained to do,

but when he hears the word, “Cat”

we get the money shot.

pictures by Bill

After the Rain

Woke up groggy this morning
couldn’t form my thoughts
words got twisted on my tongue
felt hung over and confused
but I haven't had a drink

still find in difficult to think
then the rain broke through
first a few drops than many

the words 

started to form
first poetry 

then prose 

I worked the rest of the day 

until a story was told
and I had said everything

I
wanted
to
say.

Two Poems from Chuck

The Crown of Crows

the crown of crows

fall on you

and peck you

to the end

you look up

and have them pick

each eye

do not cry

instead

brush them off

it is the only way

to remove

the crows

one at a time

by yourself

The 5:25 Tunnel

The passage is non-stop

The passage is one way

The passage comes

The passengers

Are always on board

The direction is safe

Welcome aboard

Everyone loves you

Let everyone go

This is your passage

All your baggage is light

And unnecessary

Keep it or leave it

You will see

You are not alone

Everyone loves you

Leave something for us to follow

We are so afraid of the tunnel

We have so much to think about

Before we enter there

Your message is:

Everyone loves you here 

Meditation: Famous Sayings

Motivation will always

beat out mere talent. N. Augustine

The minute you settle for less than

you deserve, you get even less than

you settled for. M. Dowd

Even if you’re on the right track,

you’ll get run over if you just sit there W. Rogers

Stop the habit of wishful thinking and start

the habit of thoughtful wishes. M. Martin

Please all, and you will please no one. Aesop

All your dreams can come true –

if you have the courage

to pursue them. Walt Disney

A future depends on

what you do in the present. Anonymous

A life spent making mistakes

is not only more honorable,

but more useful than a life spent

doing nothing. B. Shaw

Life is a great big canvas,

and you should throw all the paint

on it you can. D. Kaye. 

Strange Cities USA

Traveling across the United States I visited cities
with some very strange names
started out in Why, Arizona
after a short stint in Bumpass, Virginia
fell on my face in Mud Lick, Kentucky
found some peace in Weed, New Mexico.

Stopped for breakfast in Hot Coffee, Mississippi
with Two Egg, Florida and Bacon, Georgia
next day I dined in Oatmeal, Texas.

Headed out to Happy Land, Oklahoma
Where I found French Lick, Indiana then
On to Beer Bottle Crossing, Idaho
spent the night in Can Do, North Dakota
before heading off to Hell, Michigan.

This story is not true but the names of the cities
can be found on the map of the United States.
Makes me wonder about the people
who lived there and named those cities.

Maybe they were a band
of perfectly named professionals

like Mel Slaughter, the butcher
or Allen Cockburn, the urologist
they met with Sue Yoo, the local lawyer
and Will Mankiller, the marine.

Karl Krook, the used car salesman
was probably at the meeting too
along with the cardinal Jaime Sin
and the music teacher, Linda Toot.

Melvin Bonner, the dentist
and Guy Hooker, who owned the local bait shop
might have argued with Kim Yoo Suc,
the track and field athlete, before he headed
off to the Olympics in Odd, Virginia.

The must have settled for the name
Loonyville, Texas
because that name is on the map
for anyone interested.

Oliver Loser the homegrown politician
couldn't understand why he never won an election
until he visited Braintree, Massachusetts
and finally saw the big picture.

He wrapped up his political career
leaving the GOP to fend for itself
moving to Poop Out City in California.

Thunder Storm

Thunder clouds billow
across the mountains
then converged into the center
of town like a rock and roll band
with an electric light orchestra and
bohemian rhapsody

Animals got to get out of this place
children run to their mamas and papas
sirens screamed like Jimi Hendrix’s guitars
as cars slide along the highways
pelted with rock size hail
Please, please, please, let it stop

With the roar of the wind like a locomotive
people run for cover at the hotel California
while the purple rain continues to fall
and the riders on the storm
wipe out along the roadways.

The bridge over troubled waters
sways as the firemen drive across
listening to their radio
screaming their lungs out
survivors stumble on the bank
shouting, “Help! I need somebody.”

The funnel cloud touches down
twisting everyone around
Oh what a night
at last there is a break
after hours of blowing in the wind

purple haze starts to clear
panic subsides
sounds of silence deafen ears
Everyone will get by
with a little help
from their friends

thunderstorms rocking
the summertime blues.

Storm After The Rain

I marked the date on the calendar, the day
we had relations. Remember how the
cornstalk peeked over the buckboard
and the subtropical storm left
beetles in its aftermath?

We were exuberant in mama’s trailer,
intoxicated by our youth,
when we masqueraded as grown-ups.

I took you in spoonfuls, encircled you in
my cot and easily expressed my pleasure.

The rays of sunlight revealed your smile
as you tried once more to punt
and I advised you where to touch

now we have another date, nine months
from that rain-drenched morning.

We’re having a baby boy.
I didn’t mean to trap you.
I know you want to travel
but I expect you to help
me with this child
and be with me
after he is born.

After all,
I didn’t make him
on my own.

Poetry Sampling

Cut-Up-Poem (a Saturday Evening Post
from cover to cover choosing words and phrases)

Valentine's Day Sale
Share your love
The item is on clearance
A truly unique gift
Woven with care
Captures heart and soul
It has value and beauty
Does it matter?
You be the judge
We make house calls.

Cross-Out Poem (two pages from a catalog
for PBS selling videos of art and history)

Inside Edition
Love
Wish me luck
Height of the cold war
Disturbing incident
Behind the palace door
Scandalous behavior
A complete collection
Winner of rave reviews


Found Poem (Words and phrases
selected at random from a 2 page article on racism)

Racism
Colorblind attitudes
Perpetuate
Racist attitudes
Stimulating conversations
Transform lives
Share painful
Memories
Inform communities
Purveyors of justice
Become one people
United in love

Ransom Note (Words cut and glued from TV Guide)

Hollywood Warning
Pretty Little Liars
Size does matter
Shut down the bar
Open the box
Original sin
Finale shocker


Chance Poem (Two words chosen at random
from side by side pages in a Daily Meditation)

Domestic Violence
An awareness emerges
After the resentment subsides
I no longer need the comfort
Of your kind of power
I finally understand
I have the courage to speak out
To make bold statements
and to develop guidelines
permitting the laws to filter
Inappropriate behavior
in order to squelch fear,
to black-list aggressors,
and to live by the quote
“Kinder and gentler
makes a stronger union.”

Tea Leaves

Selma drinks her tea then checks the bottom
of her cup to read her fortune.

In the random arrangement
she thinks she sees adversity
coming in a clump of leaves
or is it true love with
that irregular seed located awkwardly
to one side?

Although when she thinks about it,
adversity and true love are not
opposites but come hand in hand
like two mischievous friends
prepared to wreck havoc on her
comfortable life where everything has a place
and remains in space without demands
from outside forces until love and
adversity arrive unannounced and trample her heart,
wrestle her down into a whirl of passion and dread.

Afraid she will not be able to withstand
their assault she asks her friend, Millie
to take a glance at her tea leaves.

Millie believes she sees good fortune arriving.
Selma will be offered a job and move to the
city, inconvenient but a better destiny than
having to deal with love or adversity

Writers Write

A noisy sparrow disrupted
the peace, and a whistle
from the neighbor’s teapot,
added to my bad temper.

Attention was on the vast
white page sitting on the screen
and I hated being distracted.

My brain finally revolted
and burst forth like larva,
emerging from an egg.

Soon fingers danced
across the keyboard
and my chronic sorrow

was put aside while
my mind explored the span
of life and was able to
reuse past events to tell

a new tale and rhetoric
became poetic for the first time
in days. I felt equipped
to provide a text that made sense

and a worthy vehicle to express
my innermost thoughts.
I moved from the keyboard
to a legal pad wanting to savor

the words as I formed them
in cursive script dotting
my “i's” with stars
but the reverent prose

gave way to illegible scribbles
I was back in the morass.
I knew it was time to take

a break so I went outside
for a walk and then to the
sink to wash the dishes

and finally back to my computer
to stare at a new page
and hopefully to write again.

You're Out!

You may want to try your own Chance Poem. Here are the 14 pairs of words I've selected at random:

exercise excuse, reverse riddance, lather leave, modify monster, sorrow speak, heartfelt helmet, pelvis pitiful, ferry file, hanging hatred, type umpire, increase indifferent, dullard echo, reflex reign, delay denial

This is my poem. I've used all the words but lather and increase.


You're Out!




The umpire shouted, “You’re out!”
I was in denial and tried to delay his call.
I made an excuse and refused to leave.
My reflex to exercise my heartfelt sorrow
prompted me to speak in such a way
to reverse his decision.

He wasn’t the type to buy into my pitiful
request to review his conclusion
and he growled at me with an intense hatred.
He said, "I will exercise the full capacity of my position
and your career on the team is hanging by a thread."

I turned and glared at that monster, then tossed my helmet.
I jerked my pelvis to exaggerate my behind
and with all the dignity of an offended queen,
I walked off the field.

My folks and I caught the next ferry home
determined to file a complaint
with the commissioner
saying good riddance to the game
and to the dullard, whose words,
still echo in my brain.

Music That Lasts

This poem is arranged in ABC order with every two lines rhyming.


















Apple falling from the big green tree
Butterflies floating quiet and free
Cats prowling ready to capture

Dogs howling lost in their rapture
Elephants trumpeting a warning sound
Fluffy lambs frolicking around

Goats, and geese, and big fat frogs
Hand held buzz saws cutting logs
Indiscrete words drawing a crowd

Jumping rope shouting out loud
Kisses by the weeping willow
Lost love crying on the pillow

Mom hollering, “It’s time to eat!”
Neighbors playing in the street
Operas preforming across the land

Pineapples served to the Hawaian band
Quiet prayers late at night
Rollicking fireworks bursting bright

Snakes slithering through the grass
Trucks running out of gas
Unicorns traveling in my dreams

Velcro ripping at the seams
Wishing for the music to last
X, Y, Z, it's going too fast.

A Winter Visit

This is a chance poem; 14 pairs of words selected at random from the guide words of a dictionary. The results can be surprising.

















Outside, God was delivering a deluge. The untamed
wind cut through the slats of our wooden cabin.
I could see Mama standing by the pot bellied stove
boiling Mulligan stew. The aroma drifted through
the room causing my innards to rumble and roar.

I heard the snap from that silver clip I gave her to keep her
hair in place. Then I saw her lean over to stoke the fire.
When she tried to engage me, her first born, in idle
chit chat, I didn’t much feel like talking. My head was
burning and my throat swollen with mumps, so I let
her run on and on about Daddy’s unkempt mullet,
her decorative efforts for spring, and
how she was a better bowler now that she
controlled her allergies with antihistamines.

The bottom line is I never became abrasive as I wavered
between wakefulness and sleep. I felt her cool hand on my
forehead, then her fingers when she smoothed my tangled hair.

I woke the next morning and wrote down everything .
I tried to capture her words and her mood. …
She died last winter. I didn’t stop writing
until every page in my notebook was filled.
The aroma of her stew permeated the room.

Chance Poem

A chance poem is written by using 14 pairs of guide words from the dictionary then rearranging the words to form a poem. What comes out is often a surprise to the writer because it allows random thoughts to converge. I've also formed it into a shape poem. If this works it should look like an ace of spades.

Wall Street

The

capitalists sought

ways to defraud the public.

Waging against the odds, they found

the sorceress huddled at the side of the road.

Her long braid hung down her back like a wispy tail

suggesting wisdom but they believed it was ruse to elicit

sympathy. The businessmen tried not to express their disgust,

because to them, she was a dumpy whore, with dull incantations

surrounded by stories exaggerating her ability to spew spells of

magic with skilled witchery. They finished their interactions treating

her like a naive teenager and much to their chagrin she soaked them

in bile and today they appear like damaged artifacts on the world

stage. Carriages bring the curious to observe the sight. Eruption

at the point of devastation transfixes their views. Many

sing hymns and some use humor to dispel their moods

but the arrogance of Wall Street precluded

this untidy end.

Karma seeks revenge,

however long overdue.