Category Archives: Poetry

My poetry. Mostly Collects

Garden

Cultivate a willingness to increase 
your imagination of surprise
for the possibilities 
we create in each other.
Standing in the middle 
of a dormant winter garden
the location of carefully arranged bulbs
planted over seasons and years and ages
remains unknown until the work of the sun.
We are each other’s god.  And, like god, neglected.

Gephyrophobia

1.
Fear of crossing bridges; the 
shivers set off by setting a foot 
on an object suspended in space;
man-made or natural.

2.
A bridge moves 
one moment
to the next.

3.
Unexpected language draws attention
to places where creativity opens up vulnerability.
Add another chair to the table of conversation
between your self and your desires.
Share the ancient triangle of ethos, logos and pathos
to avoid annihilation of the other.
The true alchemy of humans is playing with perspective
when new traditions come from unlearning old traditions.

4.
Build bridges with words,
mindful of language 
for different audiences.

5.
Those who cannot remember beyond birth are orphaned at birth.

Fit for Ceres

“Essentially modern in character,majestic in its dignity and size,and dominant in its unchanging beauty…” – John A. Holabird and John Wellborn Root Jr., Architects Of the Chicago Board of Trade Building, Completed 1930

Your body 
tells a story
like a finely 
designed and 
well-built building.

Do the front doors revolve?
Open by pulling or by pushing?
Swing, unhinged for handling?

How many exterior step-backs layer
- because you never want to put
your whole self out there at the same 
time for those on the ground to point
and ogle at the very shape of your self -
from the ground to the air that swirls 
around the feet of Ceres, the goddess 
of grain and of agriculture and of fertility.

Questions inhabit buildings:
What is the occupancy rate?
Bathrooms convenient?

How long do 
guests wait for 
the one express
elevator to
rise to where
you reside?

What We Care About

The hubris that one can control
their own resurrection
and the hiddenness of the virus
make need more visible.

Sometimes aesthetic sense fails
to develop even in the hardest times
so perhaps God is theology's 
greatest invention.

We do not recognize that 
we continue to benefit 
from the shameful history 
of our ancestors.

When the center is on fire
engage the periphery
for choosing where to begin
carries a great deal of power.

We argue about what we care about
attempting to get our story straight
and inviting the hope of hopes 
into hopelessness.