Category Archives: Poetry

Dialog Between Athlete and Coach Hebrews 11:29-12:2 A duet: Athlete (alto or tenor) and Coach (bass) I ran my best, but failed to place.My legs were dead the entire race. I don’t have wind. I don’t feel strong.Tell me: What … Continue reading →

Dad Tips the Waitress For the first time in my life,I noticed how Dad paid a restaurant bill.I had been watching him silentlyon our long trip. We ate dinner in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.The waitress cleared the tableand came back with … Continue reading →

The God Guy Proverbs 9:10 Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.How is that?Fear is the feeling of terrorin a frightening event.It is respect a servant showsfor the master’s vision.It is reverence one feelsin the presence of greatness.Those … Continue reading →

Change For a memorial service The sacred sea definesour summed collective soul. Our infinite designsare in the sea’s control. We scarcely understandour fundamental start. We cannot comprehendthe sum of every part. As the aeons come and go,its silent flow and … Continue reading →

[tanka] my glass is filledwith dusk tonightI swirl the west and think of youand sip the starsdown to the stem

The Ark of the Covenant In the red morning on the umber sea,none of the tall ships, wind or lee,is lovelier than you, proud lady.O, wandering bark, come home to me! The storm is passed. Sailors rest.The People are safe, … Continue reading →

New Year’s resolution: More poetry, less politics [haiku] rainfirst sidewalk slimefor baby slugs

Class of 1960 We meet again, halfway to the sea;we touch again, halfway from the snow.Our disentangled lives have floated freethrough range and farm and city far below,and far away from home. We floated freewithin the groove of the river’s … Continue reading →

White Privilege High School Professional lawns, exquisite flowers, housesout of Sunset illumined quiet wealth.Money was mostly new, but tastefully displayed.Professional men sipped cocktails with their wives,quietly, of course, when business deals were done.The tone was English. Along with Germanic cousins,British … Continue reading →

The Body and Its Desires for Matthew Arnold The gods consume nectar and ambrosia on Olympusand amuse themselves by looking down on usdispassionately. Cool detachment is a sardonic business.Hellenism insists we see things as they are.For right thinking, the body … Continue reading →

America in Decline It’s like the air went out of our balloonin 1989. The last timewe were this self-absorbedwas during the Hoover presidencybefore the great depression.The stock market crashedand there was a national failureof imagination for three years.FDR rallied our … Continue reading →

[tanka] tethered to the sun,Venus is brighter than usual,and so are you tonight,on the armof a rich man

The High Achievers A single mom gave everything she hadto her children. She took care of their urgent needsat all hours. She worked in a stressful jobto put food on the table and clothes on their backs.Because of her, there … Continue reading →