Senseless Shoes

I see a ghost running
in high, high heels
as if she couldn't fly
in senseless shoes

I see her on her treadmill
wishing she could fly
away to where ghosts
wear senseless shoes

They meet in a trance
with alluring glances
then drift off, laid-back
in senseless shoes

Getting my bike fixed
drinking a beer
at a neighborhood bar
wearing my sensible shoes

They didn't fix my breaks
and the gears won't engage
I imagine the bicycle repairman
only owns senseless shoes

She twists and turns
careful and alert
working behind the bar
in her sensible shoes

Confused about the change
from the hundred into fives
and no ones for an exciting tip
much to learn in your clunky, senseless shoes

Then PNW fills my head
where everything's higher
like trees and mountains
and those who don't give a fuck about senseless shoes

Sensibly senseless
riding the waves
ready to capture
coasting in senseless shoes

My friend is always too far away
I sit watching foam turn to beer
drunk off the thought
of the girl in senseless shoes

She wears a smile
not to resist
you would never know
she sometimes wears senseless shoes

I know her as kind
a woman of the world
one who knows
she's thinking of those who have no shoes

I used the word, fascinating
and she questioned its use
I left it as such
loafing in my senseless shoes

When one makes you wonder
how far you can go
to press for more
peeling off my senseless shoes

When you melt at the sight
of words you want to read
with an urge to satisfy
all the fuck about senseless shoes

A reach without touch
to a beautiful stranger
you're further away than a dream
floating free in senseless shoes

Dust

Long for the day
as if puzzles are free
making sense of wonders
that wander through time

Tempt a wish
to float the art
fashion a thought
after questions

Act out the truth
in a fantasy
leap to your norm
outside yourself

Rush to compete
for last place
all wet in your
suit of promises

Taste like a dream
on a rope
pulling the sky
from a song

Brush your hair
with the wind
standing alone
on a strand

Tremble until
the dust matches your eyes
trip over heartbeats
and kiss off the Moon

Bend to gravity
absorb the sun
lasting as long
as the Universe

Coffee Hour

Coffee hour beans
French roast
French pressed
no cream no sugar
no honey no sauce
no booze no frappe
simply coffee

Spring

giant flakes falling
melting as they hit the ground
spring time resisters

Travel Day

I climbed the stairs
took a cab
rode a bus
elevators
a light rail train
escalators
trams
people movers
a plane
and a Subaru

Dangling Feet

Setting sunlight
glistening water
reflecting the day
Winds push waves
slapping at boats
and dangling feet
off docks for fishing
and lingering
as time pretends
to notice the future

Cloudy

Which way the clouds wend
depends on your mind
how you blow them around
you bluster
and trees fall down
like a bad idea

Random Act of Violence

Halloween weekend last October I pedaled home along the bicycle path and was attacked by a stranger in a random act of violence.

Though it was dark, I noticed three figures standing idle just off the path ahead. I mistakenly didn’t take heed to stop and go the other direction. Too trusting, I continued along the path like a thousand times before…

As I rolled by, I noticed one figure lunge toward me. He was big, like a football player. In that moment, I thought, what the fuck does he want and looked ahead to ignore him and keep going.

I recall a moment of the collision, of what was me hitting the ground. Next I recall, a guy was asking if I was okay. He pedaled by and saw me lying with my bike off the path. I told him I was attacked, but seemingly okay. He went on his way and I continued the last few blocks home.

By the time I arrived, the concussion was obvious. I had a huge lump the size of a baseball on the backside of my head. My jaw was out of alignment and my bite didn’t come back together for a day or so. Then the deep body bruises on my back and entire ass cheek appeared and lingered for a couple weeks, eventually forming into the shape of a loon. How MN like.

I can only surmise the thug slugged me in the jaw, which knocked me out and off my bike. In the fall, I landed on my ass and hit my head on the ground. Considering the amount of time between leaving for home and arriving, I was unconscious for 10-15 minutes.

Strangely, I wasn’t robbed, raped and they didn’t take my bike. What was their purpose? Was it an act of hazing? Was it a dare? Was it just asshole guys out wilding on a Halloween party night? Did they realize they nearly killed me and that scared them off? So fucking senseless of them...

I never felt fear, though I’m deeply disappointed. My bicycle is my main mode of transport. I travel the bike paths daily (when free of ice). I wear a helmet now, which I never had before, in nearly 50 years of riding. The helmet cautiously restores my roughed up sense of safety. I am used to riding anywhere, at anytime I want. Anyway, seven months later, there is still a small lump that is sore and tingles, sometimes my skull hurts and my ears are fucked up.

I love my bicycle. http://www.loversandwreckers.blogspot.com/2010/01/my-bicycle-love-poem.html  

Shadows

Wander
from shadows
into sunlight
beaming heat
bold as gravity
basking in rays
late winter

Hep

   for Pam

Pam, extraordinary lamb
scales buildings like mountains
with verve
Could go on
to include her sister
traveling,
doth wholly miss her
Comforts weary victims
salubrious light,
meaning and muscle
As rivers float her being
for pleasure rejuvenates
Did she endeavor to be more
than a conquistador?
Read her biography
once written

Present Perfect

for Jen

Live in a poem
with me, poet
Become the body
Free verse
cursive lips
cascading lines
punctuated meaning,
present perfect
Idiomatic expressions
spliced and fused,
inductive shifts
in tense, voice and mood
Superlative adventures
loosely climax
with purpose

Bog

Fog loosens
into mist
quiet, wet
night-fall hues
murky gray
impressions lurk

Snow Creature

Winter pitched a fit

shoveled into a pile

carved with a wooden spoon

into shapely curves

of a snow creature

that knows nothing 



Rocks

Rough the truth
blend the words
age the rocks in your head
as the music plays on

Neck

Her neck bore the mark
of a woman loved
or molested
A crimson star 
upon bronze skin
She called it a love bite
a desired tattoo
Love sucks

Daydreamer

Into my mind
you wander
as a daydream
a wish
as a whisper lights new
tangible as gravity
the wind
as a smile holds true

Tremble

When castles wait
for time to crumble
clouds billow and melt
Waves roll and crash to shore
as feathers lift and soar
The earth quakes
when lovers tremble
compelling greed to ponder

Entice

Treasures shine
pleasures lure
senses trust
promises keep
pressures mount
thoughts linger
lovers know
time allows
all that will be

Cadence

The cadence of 140
ever true to tell
the stories, snorts and sound bites
do excite or quell

Change

The squeeze is on
ever greater
For those who suffer
are the light
that shines justly
for change