Hallway to Nowhere

  • Do Not Look For Me (Poem)

    once I thought these stories important

    wrapped them around me

    dazzling jewels a means to hide

    now I walk more in silence

    trailing memories from my fingers

    dry leaves of yesterday turning to dust

    soon I will be gone

  • Miracle Baby (Poem)

    I practiced from the very beginning

    machines made me breathe

    strangers touched me with love

    for my first three months these sustained me

    gave me reason to return again and again

    I did not know I was not machine

    unrelated to the always present gentle hands

    I have never forgotten those earliest teachers

    and now dying gets easier every time

  • Shadow Town (Poem)

    ghosts of yesterday linger in alleys

    spirits of might have been drift through streets

    shards of broken dreams glint on sidewalks

    tatters of abandoned hopes hang in storefronts

    we could have gathered all to eat real food around a common table

    chose instead for some to feast and others beg

    found acceptable for those who have

    to laugh in derisive disregard at those who lack

    indeed to deny them room in any stable

    those all being filled by brass calves

    soon to be paraded out by fools as gold

    and children starve

  • The Ghost Of The Bonefire (Poem)

    the scent of smoke lingers in the alley

    the restaurant has been gone for awhile

    the owner saw the writing on the wall

    shiny dollar signs scrawled by new money

    incomers remake the town into their own image

    wealth management firms with financial planners

    luxury sports with concierge golf

    rooftop bars with small plated precious food

    soon they’ll build themselves a place of worship

    inside will be a golden calf

  • In A Field Beside The Railroad (Poem)

    ground underfoot heralds a train

    prolonged horn sounds industrial grief

    mechanical death has already occurred

    obsolete car drags obsolete car

    birds pull silence up from dirt

    they do not mourn the shaking passage of time

    theropod wings are much older than shaped metal

  • The Room (Poem)

    here the antechamber

    a dreary room small and drab

    unfurnished lit only by a neon light

    flickering threatening to go out

    the floor covered by a slick of mud

    tracked from other peoples’ shoes

    once this seemed the world

    brilliant views of an endless sky

    a sun that shone on verdant fields

    now older and my eyes fail

    clearly the illusions fade

    know where I wait and why

  • “Children Want To Work Without Lunch Breaks” (Poem)

    (The title is a quote from a U.S. State-in the Deepest South-Delegate)

    these new gods, deities of flash and cash

    delight in human sacrifice as they stride across the world,

    our backs their stepping stones, our faces to the ground.

    we sing in worship, songs shouting possession;

    we groan in pain, cries seeking recognition.

    both go unheard by the hard indifferent dirt

    and the gods pay no heed at all.

    why should they, made in our image?

  • Whose Hand, Whose Words (Poem)

    I say to this hand in disbelief

    whose are you, to what body do you belong

    likewise to these words that you read

    whose are you, what hand wrote you

    you are not mine, neither hand nor words

    how can I who do not exist

    have either of these things

    you are not mine, neither hand nor words

    how can I who do not exist

    have either of these things

    yet here they are, and I would not be

    do you want them

  • I Never Wanted To Be A Tree (Poem)

    does it matter that I have none to follow

    a bare branch that never wanted leaves

    but said to birds and insects and other things

    here if you wish to make a home

    none would remain or not for long

    that did not matter was not the point

    I offered what I had

    now burn me down to ash

  • Psychostasia: A Leaf In The Whirlwind (Poem)

    <dedicated to Richard>

    consider loss and gain

    grief yes in so many ways

    seems to outweigh the world

    then one brief kindness caught in the rush

    tips the balance of the scales

    the heart of compassion lighter ever

    than the heavy feather of illusory truth

    each of us has lifted a burden for someone

    each moment each day each encounter

    your time of listening, your hour of hearing

    provides a gentler land

    thank you thank you thank you