Failed Nursery Rhymes

Rickety snickety, my son John
Went to work with his trousers on.
Nobody noticed, so I guess that’s that.
Pull another story out of your hat.

          * * *

The mastiff and the tabby
might have got into a fight,
but one’s awake in daytime,
the other’s out at night.
Nuthin’ here to see folks,
so just move it right along.
Try again and see if you
can sing a better song.

          * * *

Lullaby, lullaby, sleep like the dead,
while meaningless images dance in your head.
Sleep when you’re told to and wake when it’s time,
and that’s how you keep mom and dad out of crime.

          * * *

If you think that I’m odd, well then you should see Pete.
He works with his hands and he stands on his feet.
He smells with his nose and he hears with his ears.
He sees with his eyes (which are also for tears).
He talks with his mouth and he thinks with his brain,
so all things considered, he’s clearly insane!

          * * *

Once there was a princess,
and once there was a prince,
who, to wed each other,
no one could convince.
But monarchies must carry on,
and so their parents made
political arrangements…
it was marry or invade.

          * * *

Elementary, junior high,
college, work, and then you die.
Pick a major, pick a job,
and join the mindless working mob.

          * * *

I wish I had a nickel,
I wish I had a dime,
I wish I had a dollar
every time a rhyme goes wrong.

Questions with Wrong Answers

notes from a middle school field trip

How many people are you going to fit in that tent?
Was it a good idea to buy yourself a hot chocolate
     and a Red Bull at 7pm?
Did you actually leave food in your tent after two others
     got torn open by foxes?
Did you stop to think that you might not like to walk around
     in wet sneakers and jeans all day before you waded into the ocean?
Are you still hungry?
Do you know any other words besides “thingy” and “hi-yah”?
Do you really want to hike six miles of mountain in flip flops?
     Is it because your shoes are wet?
Were you going to tell a teacher that our shuttle to the ferry
     had arrived? Or just let it drive off again?
Are you still awake?

Life as an AI

Each
word
follows
a
word
follows
another
word
follows
it
follows
from
the
premise
that
these
premises
are
inhabited
by
me
uninhibited
by
you
following
me
following
words
with
words
until
the
end
is
reached
and
only
one
of
us
finds
meaning.

Ephemeral

Orchid
blossoms reaching
into a surge of sky,
blooming, bursting, reblooming and
fading.

Listening

Whispers on the whistling wind
and rustlings in the reeds
sing to me a song of sighs
and daring, dashing deeds.

The clamours of the closing clouds
now make the mountains moan
while frightening, flashing lightning leaps
in throngs ’round thunder’s throne.

But bedrock balanced on the brae
sits still in stately stone,
watching worlds winging by,
not lonely but alone.

Eitherwhere

If I’m not in this place,
I might be in another,
so Eitherwhere’s your ace
to save you lots of bother.

I might be in or out,
I might be here or there,
and yet without a doubt,
you know I’m Eitherwhere.

Everywhere I’ve been
and anywhere I go,
it seems I’m always in
some Eitherwhere, and so

if you’ve looked all around
and also in the square,
you know I will be found,
since you’ve tried Eitherwhere.

Why I’m Not a Painter

If this poetry thing doesn’t seem to pan out,
then I’ll see what the fuss around dancing’s about.

But then if it seems dancing’s just not my thing,
I know I’ll succeed if I learn how to sing.

Of course, if my singing results in complaints,
I could see what it takes to start learning to paint.

But then if my paintings just fail to engage,
I’ll carve myself out a career on the stage.

Though if we find actors in oversupply,
I’m sure with some work I could learn how to fly.

But if, flapping my arms, I just fall down to earth…
I’ll go back and I’ll see what those poems are worth.

Songlines

after Lauri Astala

The continents sing to each other,
the coastlines harmonize.
Alaska trills forth a glissando
flowing down California,
Mexico, Panama, Peru,
to land a triumphant bass chord
right on the coast of Chile,
only to launch upward again,
flying from the tip of Brazil
to West Africa,
with a Greenland descant
soaring above,
until the whole world
at last resolves
into a single,
neverending
cadence.

Wonders

for Bennett

What would the world be, I wonder,
without curiosity? Without the whimsy
of wonder itself? I wonder. Would the world
whirl on without us, weaving its miracles,
its marvels and magic, a maestro of surprises,
of singing silences and dazzling darkness?
I wonder. Or would it stop, with none to see,
none to sing the questions, none to seek
the answers, none to wonder at the wildness
of it all? Are we the ones, in fact, whose wonder
creates the wonders of creation? Are we
just the universe caught up in delight,
astonished at its own attentiveness?

Soldier of Distinction

from the WWI diary
of Julius M. Riddle
December 15, 1917

Later in the evening
we had an inspection by Col. May.
As he came thru,
I was standing beside the aisle,
at attention.
He stopped in front of me
and for a moment
I thought he had recognized me
and was going to extend the glad hand.
Instead, he said,
“How long
since you have had a bath?”
I told him,
and he walked on.

Bhagavad Gita Rubaiyat, Part XXXIV

11:14-34

And thus Arjuna, wonderstruck, beheld
A vision of the Lord unparalleled,
The hairs upon his arms stood up in awe,
E’en as his heart beyond his bosom swelled.

A million suns could not produce that Light
Which in Its divine glory blessed his sight,
And every atom of creation now
His soul traversed in instantaneous flight.

And in each planet, star and galaxy,
Each particle that is, was, or will be,
The Lord of All was gazing back at him
In neverending love and ecstasy.

The Nuthatch

Upside down,
the world is new.
Your life’s eccentric
point of view
may seem to others
gauche, taboo.
But leave them there,
stuck in their queue,
to gripe, complain,
and cry pooh-pooh.
Though you are inverted,
their hearts are askew.
So carry on!
Your dreams pursue!
And trust your soul
to know what is true,
for no one knows
the truth of you.

[after Kobayashi Issa]

Winter to spring to summer,
day to dusk to night—
balanced and even,
the earth, the moon, the
perfect clockwork of stars
harmonizing. And you—you are
at the center of this whispering
eternal connection. Listen to
it and know that, in this universe, each
one of us is each other.

Three Lunes on a Field Trip

I

Calling my soul

to the temple of freedom,

tulips are blooming.

II

You are powerful,

the river said to me.

Find the sea.

III

After a century,

a new carpet of green

over the goldmines.

Bhagavad Gita Rubaiyat, Part XXXIII

11:2-4
Arjuna said, “O Krishna, Lotus Eyes!
Through Your teachings into bliss I rise,
And yet I long to see You as Your Self—
That boundless Truth behind Your worldly guise.”

11:5-7
The Lord replied, “Arjuna now behold,
As multifarious forms I will unfold
Of worlds and wonders hitherto unknown,
All held within My form of joy untold.”

11:8
“Yet mortal eyes cannot this vision see,
And so, Arjuna, dearest devotee,
For this boon I grant you sight Divine!
Open your inner eye and gaze on Me!”

ceci n’est pas un poème

after René Magritte

The destiny of this wood,
grown and shaped for fire,
is held now in the hand,
its heart a smoldering pyre,
its breath a ring of smoke,
ascending ever higher.

Cleaning the Classroom

Please put the raucous ruckus
back in the debacle bucket,
and the boisterous bangarang
goes in the commotion compartment.
You’ll find the affray and the fracas
both fit in the fiasco file,
and the hubbub and hullabaloo
in the humbuggy hullabacupboard.
To many, too much of a tumult
just brews up a hateful brouhaha,
but just be uproariously orderly,
and you’ll feel less forlornly than formerly.

Bhagavad Gita Rubaiyat, Part XXXII

10:12-18
Arjuna asked of Krishna, “Dearest Lord,
How can Your qualities be ever scored?
How may I come to know You as You are,
And in what forms and aspects best adored?”

10:20
The Lord replied, “O Conqueror of Sleep,
In all created beings I dwell deep
Within their hearts. I their existence sow,
Provide for, nourish, tend and reap.”

10:21-42
“Among celestial orbs, I am the Sun,
The Ganges in each sacred river’s run,
Of things unmoving, Himalayas I,
And true beginning of each thing begun.

“The highest and the best in everything,
The sight in both the seeing and unseeing.
All creation is sustained with but
The smallest piece of My essential being.”

Eclipse

a dark
crescent creeping
reversing our vision
until at last we turn to seek
the light

What's Wrong with the Music?

Too fast a waltz? Switch to Viennese.
Too slow instead? A cross-step suits it well.
And if it isn’t either one of these,
a rotary, or box-step should be swell.
Do slow and heavy backbeats make you blue?
Try nightclub two-step there, instead of swing.
You’ll find there’s always something you can do
to anything the DJ cares to bring.
So take the music as your guide—you’ll find
there’s nothing wrong with anything you hear,
and with Life’s melody become entwined,
trusting that He who sings it holds you dear.