Hallway to Nowhere

  • Amber (Poem)

    another summer and again familiar

    the heat the sun the wind the endless sky

    will this one differ from the last or the one before

    or the earliest ones we knew when we were so young

    these will mark this season in this time and place

    holding it pinned like an insect caught just so

    the large smile of a street dog as I pour water into her bowl

    a woman in a full black evening gown gliding on a scooter

    Mount Rainier half-hidden in the evening haze

    a man playing a violin under the canopied shelter of the trees

    as for you, you must find your own ways

    delineate your own your time I cannot do it for you

  • Never Good With A Drink (Poem)

    not good at standing casually with a glass

    filled with melted cold side stares

    bubbly remarks now falling flat

    and the requisite dash of acerbic bitters

    hand me this and I get the urge

    to throw the contents into the nearest smirk

    to justify some stereotype (being from the South)

    I always show with my iconic flask of hot tea

    for the safety of all concerned

  • Room 9 (Poem)

    the bitter taste of childhood memories

    salty and harsh like someone else’s tears

    left on the pillow in a chance motel room

    where once you stayed on a lonely trip

    though not yours they end up in your mouth

    jagged and broken on your tongue

    and you dream of digging holes in river sand

    where the water line is just at the surface

    you awaken the next day

    drenched and the bed is damp

    when you walk out the door to the car

    you feel the wet grit on your shoes

  • When It’s Hard To Breathe (Poem)

    I want to leave childhood youth middle age

    and now the days approaching death

    leave them all like broken cups on a windowsill

    beloved shards of collected dreams

    what use are these grimy scrapes of life

    sticky with longing for what never was

    for what never now can be

    to go beyond these hopes these fears this body

    deep deep into the well of wisdom and compassion

  • Expectations Unshattered (Poem)

    perhaps rain today

    the sky beyond the window offers uncertain light

    the sun appearing beneath a gauzy haze

    obdurate indeterminacy a hallmark now

    but always tea

  • New Flag (Poem)

    let it remain at half-mast until

    the ragged stars make room for a rainbow

    a recognition that all have a place

    the brutal stripes soften in welcome

    to no longer resemble harsh prison bars

    let the colors run until they resemble tears

    so that we can finally release our grief

    know that we are safe to cry and then to rise

    to build ourselves a home

  • The Flag (Poem)

    the flag has been absent for over a week

    better now as there’s room

    around the bare pole gulls fly

    dropping feathers and shit and food

    no one misses that scrap of red white and blue oppression

    too precious to be soiled by common life

    let someone put it away on their American altar

    it has lost its promise for the rest of us

    and only hangs a threat

  • Flight Of Consequence (Poem)

    crane balanced on one skeletal leg

    atop the roof glistening in the rain

    suddenly it spreads two metallic wings

    rises with a harsh industrial warning

    off to find its own destination

    as the building abandoned stares after it

    with empty windows and jagged girders

    never to be completed

  • Continuation (Poem)

    I hold you more dear than myself

    closer in the night cradled so gently

    my heart become a feathered bird

    able to fly in sun-filled dreams

    laughter filling my days

    so that I open the door to joyous greeting

    having been guided home by your smile

    and no waves of sorrow no rainfall of tears

    will ever be strong enough to wash these away

    your love a steady comfort

    your memory a precious gift

  • Fast Food (Poem)

    I sit on the side of the road

    holding the hand of a small child of grief

    he rocks besides me disconsolate and starving

    I give him water drawn from tears

    and food pulled from rocky hardship

    to feed him with what he’s known

    were I to offer the radiant fruit of jewel trees

    that shelter us both from the burning sun

    he would die from shock