ride a painted horse
circle, circle, round and round
listen for the song

Will you carry me?
so laid down in white linen
will you carry me?

let the morning run
as if the sun's a sail change
climbing up the mast

coarse as kosher salt
the lickity wings music
hammered gold by time

hot buttered popcorn
the stars spread across the sky
hungry is the dark

the blowing sagebrush
the troopers always saddled
in the shadows, bones

coarse as kosher salt
the lickity wings music
hammered gold by time

hot buttered popcorn
the stars spread across the sky
hungry is the dark

the blowing sagebrush
the troopers always saddled
in the shadows, bones

fables in my head
those imagined episodes
that, like spiders, cling

dream a ragged claw
one that nets all shooting stars
who's team?court? rebirth?

flop Petunia flop
after splitting the cold rock
give your red grin too

luxury temper
let me go lie on that couch
pay the pain away

dawn comes with the dream
that the sun will light it up
usually it does

Eve took the apple and placed it in a basket alongside the sun

past the forgiven
on the road to Calvary
the donkey waits too

If your ego's black
and virtue's just a raincoat
flash black and then white

this morning's dawn threads
calico clouds as the print
blue sky as the frock

turn the earth slowly gather it around my heart- it deadens the pain talking to the sky asking it about blueness but I almost know south to the north face as if a mountain could turn and catch me seeking

maverick come down
my lasso is lost again
go slow, be careful

bread, wine, the white cloth
my bare ass dripping water--
good times, a picnic

sailing far away
the boat cuts the reflection
her ripples still dance


in memory of Nancy Wallace Bailey

mostly it's the weeds that sprout up and never bloom look! dandelions!

I conflict the rain
from garden to hard pavement
It has splashed me

rowing with the boats
into the lingering fog
the squeaks of oarlocks

gorilla take hope
for you can be just like me--
hairy, fat and broke

should I awaken
I may find myself dusty
and I will wipe you

I strip to the bare
and listen for my heartbeat
kind of chilly though

walk across the loam
pile it, pick it over-
wash it with water
you can make the water tan
or you could make big mud pies

a difficult climb
suddenly to reach the top
line-tied to others

always the waves
always the screech of the gulls
sometimes the full moon

marigolds are planted
close to the prize tomatos
to feed us insects

take the horse's reins
I walk into my future
or crawl it hands, knees

journey to the east
mountains to the west, north, south
maybe I should climb

healthy the lions that spring over all ramparts, swim across all moats

away you summer with your airs of permanence did yu ever love?

often found the font
but the water was turned off
so I trust the stream

out that fishing pole
sky's blue enough to catch dreams
throw back the small ones

you are cunning, rage
for you slip in with a smile
caught, you hide again

church basement people
holding hands in a circle--
that forget distance

as if in August,
the fields drying, yet still green
the heart pumping iron

The romance of day,
the sunlight's glittering calm
as seen thru windows

accept the reindeer
that Santa trades on E Bay
you might need Christmas

grow up, you flower
miracle that you opened
June's parade is on!

two highways, one lane,
it comes and it goes sometimes
straight, often crooked

my alligator
smiles, shows off his new brogans
says they're his ex

skinny dip yourself
yes leap into that river
where locust John swam

we grow bananas
on our little farm in Maine
sure beats potatoes
but it certainly takes time
our last crop was less than one

always running child
the moonlight glows your sneakers
can we at least talk?

The odd numbered house
of birth and death and rebirth
has a swinging door

the sky is looking
for long life, expanded growth,
and a bit of blue

living in his world
the commoner knight passes
damsels in distress

live some sour dreams
don't spend your life as Peter Pan
grow, love another

no missing persons--
overflowing my garden==
sweet, sweet Petunias

dark leather couches
shelters for an opening
with no hands, no touch

jump shoot your wallet
if you think your sky hook green
but catch your rebound

crack that concrete slab
if it folds like a napkin
it may well be love

The mice in my wall
talk about me in the fall
said my bed in spring

bass washing away
the fiddle soothes like a wish
love that ramblin' band

the flower statement
is not if the waters part
its if they depart

rain, plaza fountain,
nature is just not looking
unless we water

lion of silence
my struggles with who, would, could
our conversation

It's blemished, the star
falling all gold and silver
tracking fast, alone

where all the suns?
science says they are plentiful
I see only stars

all apples beware
of gardens with Adam, Eve
they blemish your name