Fruit Beauty [Common Meter]

The flawless deep green melon rind
houses a pink, bland flesh.
The rind - pitted, yellowed, lumpy -
hides fruit: red, sweet, & fresh.

What I Don’t Know… [Lyric Poem]

I know nothing
         of the sea-bottom,
         or of the darkest void.

I know nothing 
         of the ancients' lives
         or how most are employed.

I know nothing 
         of an atom's look,
         or how works, gravity.

I know nothing
         inside my organs
         or nasal cavity.

I can but know
         these simple truths
         that live within my mind.

That it's better
        being together, and
        to err toward being kind.

A World, Too Fast [Common Meter]

I stand upon the cobbled walk
 as scooters whiz on by,
and think this world 's too fast for me,
 and tilt my face to sky.

But there's a contrail gash up there
 made by a hurtling sky-tube
that jets its way to who knows where -
 while I'm the slack-jawed rube.

To match the world to my breath's pace,
 and watch the blur lines form,
and hear each note of music played...
 We'd sync to my waveform. 

Master & Slave [Lyric Poem]

What will be your master,
  and what will be your slave?
Will you court disaster
  to be perceived as brave?
Will you call your pastor
  to hide that which you crave,
    or be your own ringmaster
       and own how you behave?

And will you choose virtue,
  or live in fear of vice?
Will you choose to be true,
  or default to being nice?
And when there's much ado
  will you jet their paradise?
Or just defer your view,
  as act some men and mice?

Open & Shut [Common Meter]

I pause in woods one winter day 
 when leaves stick to the ground,
and twigs and trunks stand stiff & straight -
 a breeze the only sound.

It's a world without walls or bounds,
 but one can't see a mile.
One's sightline is obscured by trees --
 their trunks not single file.

A world, at once, open & shut
 to eyes and ears and mind.
But I've never felt so at home,
 for i'm no lonesome pine.

Around the Corner [Common Meter]

Around the corner, down the street
 who knows just what you'll find.
I often head on down that way
 when I wish to unwind.

A vendor might set up a cart,
 selling divine munchies,
or philosophers might hold court:
 wannabe Socrates.

Or there are those days of muggers,
 or when painted girls flirt,
or when the somnambulist roams 
 in sleep, sans a nightshirt.

The city never lacks chaos:
 always something to see.
Sometimes it pulls one forward;
 sometimes it makes one flee.

Moment Hunting [Lyric Poem]

Seeking perfect moments:

in times of bliss,
in times of pain,
in times of sanity,
and when insane

a divine meal,
a fine strong gin,
the kindest virtue,
a dark age sin

falling into never,
coming out the other side,
landing on one's skates
in the smoothest glide

falling but not crashing,
running but not gasping,
finding but not keeping,
fingers interclasping,

and wishing for nothing more.

Tomb of the Diver [Lyric Poem]

Plunging into darkness,
there is no other way.
In the tomb-like silence,
the mind begins to stray.

To roam, to roam, to roam,
or does it simply sink;
with neither light nor eyes,
one might just be hoodwinked.

Fig in the Wall [Lyric Poem]

It doesn't need wide open spaces.
It doesn't need direct sunlight.
No bark-wide chasm through the tombstone --
Gardner, leave that tree alone.

Hey, Gardner, leave that tree alone!
All in all, it's just another fig in the wall.
All in all, we're just a bunch of figs in the wall. 

Solace [Lyric Poem]

My war days are long past.
I'm not quick to beat drums.
I've neither king nor caste.
I've seen the winter come.

Fearful norms have no hold.
The law has lost its sway.
I've broken from the mold,
and turned a roving stray.

Crazy sages / role models:
those freed from conventions,
who can't stand for twaddle,
and shun all pretensions.