Monthly Archives: February 2016

FLYING THE CONCORDE

Pilots / / by

FLYING THE CONCORDE

I am not immune to the desire
to wind the stem of old time back
and with as much success as most

Except when the Concorde flew the sky
and I, pilot to pilot in the cockpit stood
and watched the earth reverse for me
on a flight from London to DC

What have I done you ask
with the slice of time I stole

Saved it in a bank of cloud
above the ocean eight miles up
where I can go if I ever wish
to write a check for a smile or a kiss

MARILYN IN THE MOUNTAINS

Uncategorized / tagged / / by

MARILYN IN THE MOUNTAINS

Sixty years after
the release of the film
returning again to
The River of No Return

Stepping again in a river
that you can’t step in twice
sleeping again in a cabin
by the cabin where you slept

Listening again to the rapids
that run over the same rocks
and still chew at the roots
of the same bent tree

Listening for the whispers
of the words
you went away without saying

The words we are all still waiting to hear

HOLDING UP THE LINE

Nostalgia / / by

HOLDING UP THE LINE

Barista, barista, if only you knew
what I’d like to order from you

Barista, barista
please, if you please
cold coffee in a Mason jar
like Momma sent to the fields
at harvest and at haying time

That much sugar
and that much cream
and no one wiped the lip
when they passed it round

Barista, barista
there’s nothing I see
on that long fancy menu for me

I guess
I just came in to smell the coffee

DANTE’S 9TH INNING STRETCH

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DANTE’S 9TH INNING STRETCH

In life there are errors
errors and regrets
and then there is baseball

The ball off the end of the glove
the errant throw, any errant throw

The running into the other fielder
and the ball dropping between

The not being willing
to run into the other fielder
and the ball dropping between

The not tagging up at third

The easy dribbler down the first base line
and knees that won’t let you bend to pick

The ball that was called a strike
the strike that was called a ball

For Catholics there’s Purgatory
with constant replay of regret

For baseball fans
there’s late October to forever