Poems and COW Ku's

My dog is a classic ... sissy Poodle, big poodle, all poodle Love, play and licks, lotsa licks Few days ago, she bounded out Found 3 construction guys next door They played with her and I walked out to chat After a few minutes two guys left A husky, bearded red-head who hadn’t said a word Stayed and continued to stare, glare? – at me But now, he began to tell me a story – his story About a dog – his brother’s, a friend’s, maybe a figment Can’t recall I was mesmerized by

I met a young man in front of a coffee shop Tending my poodle waiting for my wife to bring The magic elixir of life He asked if he could pet the dog I said, ‘sure, what’s your name?’ He said, ‘just call me AJ’ AJ was Indian, a neuroscientist researcher I learned He asked if I was retired and/or what I did I gave my usual stock answer, ‘I write poetry’ Then AJ spoke the word’s I needed …. desperately ‘what’s your website’s name’, he asked Taken aback, I stammered stupidly,

Old glory unfurled by the breeze Floating, gloating, shining, shimmering Crying, dying, trying To survive ... To thrive To continue forward By the will of the American citizen But what of these This collection of disparates Ethnics, religions, classes Criminals and saints Forging the democracy of old Into the engine of now Engine, engine … The truth of American democracy From beginning to … end Steamroller for growth, power, wealth Feeding on its successes And spewing out

Slivers of my Soul Shattered, unbound Scattered on the ground Reflecting refraction Sun’s rays Melding, welding, healing Slivers into vessels Vessels into heart Heart into soul

Everywhere is somewhere Until Somewhere is nowhere Where to go from there When time not pressing Pressure not stressing Flight at 10a And I still need dressing Fly away, fly away There will be another day Until There’s not But that’s the wrong thought Forever lives somewhere And nowhere is not

Inspiration Something, nothing Everything In between Innate, ornate Disappointment obliterated With stroke of … Magic Found within, without Jump and shout Have no doubt Overwhelmed, washed over Complete transfusion Of joy and passion Confusion’s clarity Such a rarity Yet, always at the fingertip The whisper Nothing clearer Nor more distant Inspiration

Words, thought but never said Deeds retracted, redacted left for dead Unsaid, undone missed connections reverberating in my head Dreams, desires trapped, flailing Seeking life then aborted, death’s siren wailing Hopes of more - to climb, to soar, to be the best Now lost, not even deaf ears to pass the test But from my heart these lusts did flow Only to be burdened by what I know And that, my friend, Is a thing that has no end Affirmed by self-coronated genius Sustaining

I met you once and once again Just a breath, a sniff of lilac or garlic synaptic The sound of footsteps passing A brief brush of shoulders in a crowd Neither enemy nor friend Never to be seen again An old-timey sits with needle in hand Meticulously looping the next stitch As the pattern beckons yet another pass To mark the moment, the encounter to ever last I met you twice and twice again The first time we touched And then we fucked Or just got drunk and howled at the m