Over
Dear Bella US troops left South Vietnam in 1973 The war ended in 1975 The war was over But this is what I’ve learned from students The stories they’ve told me After class usually In…
Category: No Time for Poetry but Exactly What Is
On the Way to Work
Driving west on Highway 40 Heading to the university Birkenstocked right foot on accelerator Looking at the left side-view mirror Rising 7 a.m. sun Reminding me I’m a denizen of the cosmos
Sempre la Curiosità
When you honor the ordinary by your photographs When you circulate your current motifs When you take a prophetic stand Sic crescit gloria mundi –from the novel-in-process, Our Heroic and Ceaseless 24/7 Struggle against Tsuris
Saturday 12 November
Simone Dearest Such a disorienting week! Not at all what you expected! But did you really take refuge in Ms. Clinton? And in the DNC? And in the platform of the Democratic Party? And in…
We Know
In that spring semester course There were 40 students The official limit was 35 But I let more in Before starting The Book of Mev I asked “How many of you Have known someone— A…
Hyde Park Gatha
Breathing in, 57th Avenue Breathing out, ah, the Begonias Sitting in the outdoor café– This is it, this is it, this is it
He Would Have Preferred That She Just Spit on Him
He’d been home a couple of months Against his better judgment He said yes he’d come To his fraternity’s party Before he left for Iraq He never drank alcohol Even with his fraternity brothers And…
Note to a Friend Who Surprised Herself Last Month by Reading Ten Various Historical Critical Political Theological Books about Jesus
Dear Flannery Jesus Jee-zus Yesh Son o’ God Messiah Numero Uno Christ the King Son of Man Son of Mary and Joe Champion of the poor Pre-incarnation of Che Founder of the Church? Believer in…
Beholding the Clouds, On the Back Porch of Chris’s Fenton Farmhouse
1. The clouds in the sky reveal the Dharma I could die tomorrow And still be continuing on Monday 2. I give thanks for the clouds, For reminding me of the truth of impermanence– Today, tomorrow, and the…
Scribbled after Reading Weinberger’s “New Directions Anthology of Classical Chinese Poetry”
Take the vows Follow the precepts Study the sutras Honor my teachers Keep quiet Be relentless –from novel-in-=progress, Our Heroic and Ceaseless 24/7 Struggle against Tsuris