The Garden of Eden is Closed
Chorus:
We're tighty, we're mighty,
we're righter than righty,
and now almost everyone knows,
we'll arm or disarm you at the drop of a hat,
but the Garden of Eden is Closed
Verse
Down at the mouth of the Tigris Euphrates,
is an old eucalyptus palm tree,
this is the place, they say with bald face,
where God kicked out Adam and Eve
Chorus
We bombed them back to Old Purgatory,
we kicked their ass in the sand,
now our stadium's full
with the red, white and bull,
seems like God's got a flag in his hand
Chorus
But God and the Devil are playing strip poker,
They both have five aces and very long sleeves,
and you're sitting there, in your underwear,
wondering when you get to deal.
Chorus
Yeah, God and the Devil are playing strip poker,
while evil is being undone,
you're sitting there in your underwear, man,
this ain't looking like fun
Last Chorus
We're tighty, we're mighty,
we're righter than righty,
and now almost everyone knows,
we'd like to do more for the poor and all that
but not while there's oil in the hose.
----
A 3 chord, country-western style lament regarding the war
© David L. White 2003
Friday, June 21, 2013
Saturday, June 15, 2013
Prince Frog
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Some there are princes
and some there are frogs
yet to be a prince
is to sit on a log
is to know yr not far
from being a frog
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
@DoHappyBetter
David L. White © 1974
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Four Shorties
=========================
nothing to it
(Hobo Daze Anthem)
when there’s nothing to do
and nowhere to go
I go there and do that
no promise but proximity
no direction but desire
nothing to it
=========================
The Alphabet Soup
Conversion Kit - $9.95
you wonder
if you won’t
some day be
in to a can
with your spoon
well in hand ...
you stand in a field
the wind blows
thee oats are sowing you
isn’t that wild?
=========================
- Postcard -
Delmar is almost always
on vacation. He’s
on one right now. He’s
sending you a postcard
from your own home town.
Yr reading it.
The weather is fine. He
wishes you were there.
=========================
Three’s a Trio
We’re not waiting for
the other shoe to drop,
the fat lady to sing or
the cows to come home.
We’re putting the last screw
in this three-legged grief.
A wide and wild ranger,
Guzman’s gone at sixty-three.
==========================
Upside Down Cake
=====================================
Upside Down Cake
Snow flake
finger print
iris pattern
grain of sand
galaxy
Can you spell DNA?
We save the idea of unique,
frame it
put it on a pedestal
up high and out of reach.
Bring it down and see
it's just like you and me
Nothing is unique
no product or process
unless everything is
especially
Can you have your cake and eat it too?
=====================================
© David L. White
Upside Down Cake
Snow flake
finger print
iris pattern
grain of sand
galaxy
Can you spell DNA?
We save the idea of unique,
frame it
put it on a pedestal
up high and out of reach.
Bring it down and see
it's just like you and me
Nothing is unique
no product or process
unless everything is
especially
Can you have your cake and eat it too?
=====================================
© David L. White
Both and Beyond
====================
Both and Beyond
It is
as it is
and
as you
seem it
to be
and,
as much as
it is true for you
it is equally or more
for me. As well, our friends
and enemies.
====================
© David L. White
Both and Beyond
It is
as it is
and
as you
seem it
to be
and,
as much as
it is true for you
it is equally or more
for me. As well, our friends
and enemies.
====================
© David L. White
Dead Squirrels
=====================================
Dead Squirrels
In various stages of bitten disarray
dead squirrels lie in the oak leaves
by the side door
the dog brings them there
my brother takes them away.
And then, she, dog, dead - just like that
eyes closed forever to the west northwest
under the dirt and oak leaves also
father and I brought her there
the dead squirrels took her away
=====================================
© David L. White
Dead Squirrels
In various stages of bitten disarray
dead squirrels lie in the oak leaves
by the side door
the dog brings them there
my brother takes them away.
And then, she, dog, dead - just like that
eyes closed forever to the west northwest
under the dirt and oak leaves also
father and I brought her there
the dead squirrels took her away
=====================================
© David L. White
Curiosity Kills Cat
=================================================
Curiosity Kills Cat
Slow or quick? Peaceful? Violent?
All nine lives at once, one at a time, or ...
some combination you fill in the blank?
Was it a crime of passion?
Well-planned?
Accidental?
Murder suicide?
Inside job?
Mob hit?
Perhaps the cat in question rode
a lead horse in the Inquisition.
What do you think?
Dare you say?
Insider sources name death by thousand cuts.
A question leads to more questions.
Answers are irrelevant, obscure,
ill-informed, mis-informed, uninformed.
Clear and simple? we reject them.
Suspiscious trickery we do not hear, assimilate, act upon.
yes, insiders point to the death by a thousand cuts.
It is a mob hit - a culture-induced coma
with little chance of waking up.
We all do of course, wake up, not always just in time.
Curiosity kills cat. Stay tuned.
Press conference at eleven.
There will be no time for questions.
=====================================
© David L. White
Curiosity Kills Cat
Slow or quick? Peaceful? Violent?
All nine lives at once, one at a time, or ...
some combination you fill in the blank?
Was it a crime of passion?
Well-planned?
Accidental?
Murder suicide?
Inside job?
Mob hit?
Perhaps the cat in question rode
a lead horse in the Inquisition.
What do you think?
Dare you say?
Insider sources name death by thousand cuts.
A question leads to more questions.
Answers are irrelevant, obscure,
ill-informed, mis-informed, uninformed.
Clear and simple? we reject them.
Suspiscious trickery we do not hear, assimilate, act upon.
yes, insiders point to the death by a thousand cuts.
It is a mob hit - a culture-induced coma
with little chance of waking up.
We all do of course, wake up, not always just in time.
Curiosity kills cat. Stay tuned.
Press conference at eleven.
There will be no time for questions.
=====================================
© David L. White
Almost All the Greek
===================================
Almost All the Greek
Yasu, Christo ..
Tikanis?
Kala.
Scata, Afaristo. SaGaPo
Spanakotiropita
Hi. Chris. How are you?
Fine. Shit. Thanks. I love you.
Spinach Pie.
That’s almost all the Greek I speak.
Occasionally I will mention that lovely appetizer buffet-on-a-platter Loukanikomeze and Roditys, a semi-dry red wine
I can say Baklava too but it’s very sweet. I save it for special occasions like this.
=================================================
© David L. White
Almost All the Greek
Yasu, Christo ..
Tikanis?
Kala.
Scata, Afaristo. SaGaPo
Spanakotiropita
Hi. Chris. How are you?
Fine. Shit. Thanks. I love you.
Spinach Pie.
That’s almost all the Greek I speak.
Occasionally I will mention that lovely appetizer buffet-on-a-platter Loukanikomeze and Roditys, a semi-dry red wine
I can say Baklava too but it’s very sweet. I save it for special occasions like this.
=================================================
© David L. White
Mangoes in June
==========================================
Mangoes in June
In the new week of the new year
in the very early morning of our
very first cold, cold day
I pumped, paid for gas and
chatted with K.C.,
our dark complected
Indian-born convenience store owner-operator.
I think he’s been living in our Milwaukee latitude for all of seven years.
“Well,” he said, “at least we only have two months left of winter.
I must have looked quizzical ... perplexed.
“January and February,” he said, forgetting spring, the equinox,
March 21st April snow ... early May wet dumpers.
I admire his optimism and
I like to add a little spice to the conversation.
“So,” I said, holding my hand at my waist,
“if the crazy weather keeps up we’ll be shoveling up to here in summer.”
“Yes,” he said, wistfully, “sometimes we have mangoes in June.”
===================================
© David L. White
Mangoes in June
In the new week of the new year
in the very early morning of our
very first cold, cold day
I pumped, paid for gas and
chatted with K.C.,
our dark complected
Indian-born convenience store owner-operator.
I think he’s been living in our Milwaukee latitude for all of seven years.
“Well,” he said, “at least we only have two months left of winter.
I must have looked quizzical ... perplexed.
“January and February,” he said, forgetting spring, the equinox,
March 21st April snow ... early May wet dumpers.
I admire his optimism and
I like to add a little spice to the conversation.
“So,” I said, holding my hand at my waist,
“if the crazy weather keeps up we’ll be shoveling up to here in summer.”
“Yes,” he said, wistfully, “sometimes we have mangoes in June.”
===================================
© David L. White
Prayer for our Church at Guernica
===========================================
Prayer for our Church at Guernica
On the slick edge of weather
we hit the wall
steering column crushes chest
pierces sternum
air bag deploys late
abrading face
and snapping neck
children unbelted and unconscious
frozen askew
mucus like mildew forms at their nostrils
blood and lunch and feces pool in the seat
ghosts and souls hover,
not yet ready to leave
beneath the wreck they lick battery acid,
brake fluid and antifreeze, or lie back on
the hood like a coat of paint,
watching the autumn clouds roll in
and the sun set
It looks like the planning commission and
construction crew failed to properly deploy
the blinking orange barrels and iridescent
arrows marking the way
fines double in work zones
slow the hell down
Some say it's a failure of the anti-lock braking system.
As is so often the case these days - we blame it on it -
the several levels of plausible deniability.
We blame it on IT - info tech - a typo in a line of code
glued to a chip set - no one's fault.
Well, someone always takes the blame and the
insurance company sends us the bill.
Whatever the case, we're on our own and
bleeding out.
In the distance getting closer are the twin sirens
of the attorneys and the conflict resolution team
followed by a busload of assholes and the
medical examiner.
Dear God,
Bulldoze this stretch down to the granite,
scratch our names in shiny stone,
and make it rain the manna of fresh soil, seed
and the perfect complement of
wind, sun and rain.
Amen
DLW
Labor Day 2010
4:04 a.m.
==========================================
© David L. WHite
Prayer for our Church at Guernica
On the slick edge of weather
we hit the wall
steering column crushes chest
pierces sternum
air bag deploys late
abrading face
and snapping neck
children unbelted and unconscious
frozen askew
mucus like mildew forms at their nostrils
blood and lunch and feces pool in the seat
ghosts and souls hover,
not yet ready to leave
beneath the wreck they lick battery acid,
brake fluid and antifreeze, or lie back on
the hood like a coat of paint,
watching the autumn clouds roll in
and the sun set
It looks like the planning commission and
construction crew failed to properly deploy
the blinking orange barrels and iridescent
arrows marking the way
fines double in work zones
slow the hell down
Some say it's a failure of the anti-lock braking system.
As is so often the case these days - we blame it on it -
the several levels of plausible deniability.
We blame it on IT - info tech - a typo in a line of code
glued to a chip set - no one's fault.
Well, someone always takes the blame and the
insurance company sends us the bill.
Whatever the case, we're on our own and
bleeding out.
In the distance getting closer are the twin sirens
of the attorneys and the conflict resolution team
followed by a busload of assholes and the
medical examiner.
Dear God,
Bulldoze this stretch down to the granite,
scratch our names in shiny stone,
and make it rain the manna of fresh soil, seed
and the perfect complement of
wind, sun and rain.
Amen
DLW
Labor Day 2010
4:04 a.m.
==========================================
© David L. WHite
Las Guerras Fresas - The Strawberry Wars
============================================
Las Guerras Fresas
The Strawberry Wars, Part One of ....
My God, how we rejoice
in these nearly unnatural fruits,
with their uniform large size and
their extended growing season.
... these delicious fruits grown in desert valleys
owned by mutual fund, stock holding,
corporate farmers,
like you and me.
... grown in desert valleys made green
with federally subsidized water paid for and
pumped down from mountains by people
like you and me.
... sprayed with toxic wastes reclassified
as fertilizers by chemical bureaucrats
appointed by Senators and Congressman
that were voted in, or not, by people
like you and me
Yet these lush and juicy berries
are brought to market on the backs
of brown people working for bordertown wages
trying to make a life at slaving wages
permanently bent over by middle age
and we would like to fence them out
these people
like you and me
Will you pick them?
Alien or not, illegal or not we've already paid
much too dearly for this tasty toxic priviledge.
We might have our strawberry shortcake,
but can we eat it, too?
==============
Las Guerras Fresas
The Strawberry Wars, Part Two
Does it matter if what I say, nickel for nickel is true?
The part about slave labor wages
and toxic waste, puppet politicians
and the very few
rich corporate farmers
subsidized by us; owners by mutual proxy
What if california never does slide into the ocean floor?
What if the Imperial Valley remains salt-free?
What if we discover fertilizer really is good for us?
Will the strawberry wars ever be over?
Or will it bring an endless stream of POW's and MIA's
and us among the dissappeared, marching to hell
with strawberry grins and whipped cream lips
and shortcakes in our hip pockets
==============
Las Guerras Fresas
The Strawberry Wars, Part Three
Wal-Mart Redefines Organic Thru Lobbying and Legislation
Monsanto Outlaws Home gardening
and buys the old Blackwater mercenary team
You will eat what we feed you.
We know where you live.
===========================================
Las Guerras Fresas
The Strawberry Wars, Part One of ....
My God, how we rejoice
in these nearly unnatural fruits,
with their uniform large size and
their extended growing season.
... these delicious fruits grown in desert valleys
owned by mutual fund, stock holding,
corporate farmers,
like you and me.
... grown in desert valleys made green
with federally subsidized water paid for and
pumped down from mountains by people
like you and me.
... sprayed with toxic wastes reclassified
as fertilizers by chemical bureaucrats
appointed by Senators and Congressman
that were voted in, or not, by people
like you and me
Yet these lush and juicy berries
are brought to market on the backs
of brown people working for bordertown wages
trying to make a life at slaving wages
permanently bent over by middle age
and we would like to fence them out
these people
like you and me
Will you pick them?
Alien or not, illegal or not we've already paid
much too dearly for this tasty toxic priviledge.
We might have our strawberry shortcake,
but can we eat it, too?
==============
Las Guerras Fresas
The Strawberry Wars, Part Two
Does it matter if what I say, nickel for nickel is true?
The part about slave labor wages
and toxic waste, puppet politicians
and the very few
rich corporate farmers
subsidized by us; owners by mutual proxy
What if california never does slide into the ocean floor?
What if the Imperial Valley remains salt-free?
What if we discover fertilizer really is good for us?
Will the strawberry wars ever be over?
Or will it bring an endless stream of POW's and MIA's
and us among the dissappeared, marching to hell
with strawberry grins and whipped cream lips
and shortcakes in our hip pockets
==============
Las Guerras Fresas
The Strawberry Wars, Part Three
Wal-Mart Redefines Organic Thru Lobbying and Legislation
Monsanto Outlaws Home gardening
and buys the old Blackwater mercenary team
You will eat what we feed you.
We know where you live.
===========================================
to Julie
==============================
You came to me
excited and alive
peeking out from a
November cap and collar
smiles and scarlet cheeks
starbursst your jubilance
across my dark gray sky
with thoughts in other moments
your so brown eyes touched as
deep and true as the chill
that rushed in the door
telling me you'd gone again.
==============================
© David L. White 11/5/1973
You came to me
excited and alive
peeking out from a
November cap and collar
smiles and scarlet cheeks
starbursst your jubilance
across my dark gray sky
with thoughts in other moments
your so brown eyes touched as
deep and true as the chill
that rushed in the door
telling me you'd gone again.
==============================
© David L. White 11/5/1973
Authors and Titles
============================================
Like the fine print ingredients on a can of non-perishables here are my
Authors and Titles
Emerson, Thoreau, Brautigan, Krishnamurti, Castenada, Black Elk, Lame Deer, Trungpa, Suzuki, Alan Watts, Lao Tzu, Tom Robbins, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, George ... Gurdieff-that is, Ouspensky, Bukowski, Bly and Bly, Yogananda, Kerouac, Rajneesh, Russel Edson, Martin Seligman, Mattieu Ricard, Chopra, Dr. Seuss, Wendell Berry, Kabat-Zinn, Howard Zinn, Kubler-Ross, Mary Oliver, Anne Lamott, Annie Dillard, Julia Cameron, Natalie Goldberg,
As a Man Thinketh, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance; and Archery; and Making a Living, Siddhartha, Buddha Nature, Dancing Wu Li Masters, Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism, Conversations with God, Books of the Dead: Egyptian, Tibetan, A Course in Miracles, The Disappearance of the Universe, The Power of Story, Where Ever You Go There You Are, Think, Flow, Happiness, and The Possibility of Everything
===========================================
Like the fine print ingredients on a can of non-perishables here are my
Authors and Titles
Emerson, Thoreau, Brautigan, Krishnamurti, Castenada, Black Elk, Lame Deer, Trungpa, Suzuki, Alan Watts, Lao Tzu, Tom Robbins, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, George ... Gurdieff-that is, Ouspensky, Bukowski, Bly and Bly, Yogananda, Kerouac, Rajneesh, Russel Edson, Martin Seligman, Mattieu Ricard, Chopra, Dr. Seuss, Wendell Berry, Kabat-Zinn, Howard Zinn, Kubler-Ross, Mary Oliver, Anne Lamott, Annie Dillard, Julia Cameron, Natalie Goldberg,
As a Man Thinketh, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance; and Archery; and Making a Living, Siddhartha, Buddha Nature, Dancing Wu Li Masters, Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism, Conversations with God, Books of the Dead: Egyptian, Tibetan, A Course in Miracles, The Disappearance of the Universe, The Power of Story, Where Ever You Go There You Are, Think, Flow, Happiness, and The Possibility of Everything
===========================================
Mary’s Passing
========================
Mary’s Passing
The morning after
Mary’s passing Pat and I
hugged a little longer and
shared a couple extra
kisses.
On empty I pulled into
McD’s for some delightful
sassy banter with fiesty Judy,
bought myself a coffee and
a salt naughty sausage.
I headed out - went south and
puttered through the park.
No passing.
========================
© David L. White
Mary’s Passing
The morning after
Mary’s passing Pat and I
hugged a little longer and
shared a couple extra
kisses.
On empty I pulled into
McD’s for some delightful
sassy banter with fiesty Judy,
bought myself a coffee and
a salt naughty sausage.
I headed out - went south and
puttered through the park.
No passing.
========================
© David L. White
Untitled: to a Robyn
===========================================
Untitled: to a Robyn
One morning I woke up in Wisconsin
and you were in New York and
the possibility of our
ever meeting again was
on the endangered species list
(going the way of
dodo birds and dinosaurs,
in the general direction of
whooping cranes and whales,
becoming a possibility extinct)
I called the D.N.R.,
the High Sierra Club of the Heart,
the Audobon Society of Finer Feelings
and then I called you
and you had seen it, too
(perhaps the last existing opportunity)
flying wild and free
in a refuge between us
© David L. White 5/18/82
Untitled: to a Robyn
One morning I woke up in Wisconsin
and you were in New York and
the possibility of our
ever meeting again was
on the endangered species list
(going the way of
dodo birds and dinosaurs,
in the general direction of
whooping cranes and whales,
becoming a possibility extinct)
I called the D.N.R.,
the High Sierra Club of the Heart,
the Audobon Society of Finer Feelings
and then I called you
and you had seen it, too
(perhaps the last existing opportunity)
flying wild and free
in a refuge between us
© David L. White 5/18/82
Dead Hero Sandwich
============================================
Dead Hero Sandwich
I'd been feeling lousy
all day long.
I thought it might be
the death of Lennon.
I had something to eat
and felt much better.
===========================================
© David L. White
12/8/80
RIP John
Dead Hero Sandwich
I'd been feeling lousy
all day long.
I thought it might be
the death of Lennon.
I had something to eat
and felt much better.
===========================================
© David L. White
12/8/80
RIP John
The Garden of Eden is Closed
============================================
The Garden of Eden is Closed
Down at the mouth of the Tigris Euphrates,
is an old eucalyptus palm tree,
this is the place, they say with bald face,
where God kicked out Adam and Eve
Now Saddam Hussien had put up a fence
and charged the people to see
but when the bombs dropped
all that sorta stopped
Uncle Sam was taking a pee
We bombed them back to Old Purgatory,
we kicked their ass in the sand,
now our stadium's full with the red, white and bull,
seems like God's got a flag in his hand
Chorus:
We're tighty, we're mighty,
we're righter than righty,
and now almost everyone knows,
we'll arm or disarm you at the drop of a hat,
but the Garden of Eden is Closed
But God and the Devil are playing strip poker,
They both have five aces and very long sleeves,
and you're sitting there, in your underwear,
wondering when you get to deal.
Yeah, God and the Devil are playing strip poker,
while evil is being undone,
you're sitting there in your underwear,
man, this ain't looking like fun.
Last Chorus:
We're tighty, we're mighty,
we're righter than righty,
and now almost everyone knows,
we'd like to do more
for the poor and all that
but not while there's oil in the hose.
============================================
© David L. White
The Garden of Eden is Closed
Down at the mouth of the Tigris Euphrates,
is an old eucalyptus palm tree,
this is the place, they say with bald face,
where God kicked out Adam and Eve
Now Saddam Hussien had put up a fence
and charged the people to see
but when the bombs dropped
all that sorta stopped
Uncle Sam was taking a pee
We bombed them back to Old Purgatory,
we kicked their ass in the sand,
now our stadium's full with the red, white and bull,
seems like God's got a flag in his hand
Chorus:
We're tighty, we're mighty,
we're righter than righty,
and now almost everyone knows,
we'll arm or disarm you at the drop of a hat,
but the Garden of Eden is Closed
But God and the Devil are playing strip poker,
They both have five aces and very long sleeves,
and you're sitting there, in your underwear,
wondering when you get to deal.
Yeah, God and the Devil are playing strip poker,
while evil is being undone,
you're sitting there in your underwear,
man, this ain't looking like fun.
Last Chorus:
We're tighty, we're mighty,
we're righter than righty,
and now almost everyone knows,
we'd like to do more
for the poor and all that
but not while there's oil in the hose.
============================================
© David L. White
Selling Flowers
============================================
Selling Flowers
dedicated to Delmar Shreeves and High Vicki
“Delmar, I say, Delmar,
didn’t we just pass God
in the last parking lot
and weren’t he selling flowers
and yelling something about;
‘jus;’ take one home fr yr old lady today’?
not selling flowers fr unicef or jesus or fuck love
jus’ flowers in patches
sewn by his old lady with that same love
who doesn’t either wave nobody’s
raggy banner. they ain’t pushing
anything real hard.
“God Dammit, Delmar, I say,
“why don’t we swing around the corner
and see what he’s got in carnations?”
===========================================
© David L. White
Selling Flowers
dedicated to Delmar Shreeves and High Vicki
“Delmar, I say, Delmar,
didn’t we just pass God
in the last parking lot
and weren’t he selling flowers
and yelling something about;
‘jus;’ take one home fr yr old lady today’?
not selling flowers fr unicef or jesus or fuck love
jus’ flowers in patches
sewn by his old lady with that same love
who doesn’t either wave nobody’s
raggy banner. they ain’t pushing
anything real hard.
“God Dammit, Delmar, I say,
“why don’t we swing around the corner
and see what he’s got in carnations?”
===========================================
© David L. White
The Long Commute
==========================
The Long Commute
Inbound and outbound,
we navigate on auto-pilot.
We stop and start,
lost in our own rolling clouds
of perception and perspiration.
The scenery and seasons
often seem so much the same
that whole lifetimes
begin to blend together.
And as we drop our coins
in the toll booth basket
at the gates of breath,
we move back and forth
in space and time
between God and
what else is there?
============================
© David L. White
The Long Commute
Inbound and outbound,
we navigate on auto-pilot.
We stop and start,
lost in our own rolling clouds
of perception and perspiration.
The scenery and seasons
often seem so much the same
that whole lifetimes
begin to blend together.
And as we drop our coins
in the toll booth basket
at the gates of breath,
we move back and forth
in space and time
between God and
what else is there?
============================
© David L. White
Just a dream
===========================================
I just had a dream.
We were all in it and
everyone we know
was there. It was
someone-we-love's
tearful, crazy separation
and ... that was that.
Awake, now I imagine
it is actually
all of us ...
moving on
dying
so,
I thought I'd better
say goodbye.
You never know
when your ...
===========================================
© David L. White
I just had a dream.
We were all in it and
everyone we know
was there. It was
someone-we-love's
tearful, crazy separation
and ... that was that.
Awake, now I imagine
it is actually
all of us ...
moving on
dying
so,
I thought I'd better
say goodbye.
You never know
when your ...
===========================================
© David L. White
Watch the Parade
================
Watch the Parade
We busily slap mortar
to the bricks of our
very own prison walls
keeping the outsiders out
and the insiders in.
Sing Sing, Attica, Alcatraz,
Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Sufi,
Sufi's? you mean them Moosleems?
You have got to be kidding.
No, no, no, its just another parade
and the clown's are the way.
Put your trowel down and
sit with me on the porch.
Put your feet up on a brick.
Have a lemonade.
Watch the parade.
=================
© David L. White
Watch the Parade
We busily slap mortar
to the bricks of our
very own prison walls
keeping the outsiders out
and the insiders in.
Sing Sing, Attica, Alcatraz,
Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Sufi,
Sufi's? you mean them Moosleems?
You have got to be kidding.
No, no, no, its just another parade
and the clown's are the way.
Put your trowel down and
sit with me on the porch.
Put your feet up on a brick.
Have a lemonade.
Watch the parade.
=================
© David L. White
The Last Frontier
================
The Last Frontier
The last of the last of the last frontier
stands before you, there in the mirror.
and you will arrive before the rest
the beast to vanquish, beats in your chest.
go quietly there and you will find
a drinking pool deep in mind
and there in quiet, without the fear
sits the last of the last of the last frontier
=================
© David L. White
The Last Frontier
The last of the last of the last frontier
stands before you, there in the mirror.
and you will arrive before the rest
the beast to vanquish, beats in your chest.
go quietly there and you will find
a drinking pool deep in mind
and there in quiet, without the fear
sits the last of the last of the last frontier
=================
© David L. White
Just So ... Like this
================
Just So ... Like This
could be
should be
would be .. if ..
or, what was once
or, what may be
or, you tell me
the vigor and vitality
that’s spent in fictionality
when the obvious reality is
just so .. like this
it’s all so very simple; see
deducting rationality
the totals are so totally
just so ... like this
simpler yet, the way to live
not ‘just’ as in diminutive
nor ‘like’, as in derivative
just so ... like this
=================
© David L. White
Just So ... Like This
could be
should be
would be .. if ..
or, what was once
or, what may be
or, you tell me
the vigor and vitality
that’s spent in fictionality
when the obvious reality is
just so .. like this
it’s all so very simple; see
deducting rationality
the totals are so totally
just so ... like this
simpler yet, the way to live
not ‘just’ as in diminutive
nor ‘like’, as in derivative
just so ... like this
=================
© David L. White
Dump Teddy
==================
Dump Teddy
If you were naming a poem for a bear
that you had personally gotten there
back when you were ten or so
three hundred ninety-six months ago
then a fuzzy poem with that much taste
wouldn’t be titled Solid Waste
or something certainly plain as Bill
the name’s Dump Teddy; not Land Phil
© David L. White 1997
Dump Teddy
If you were naming a poem for a bear
that you had personally gotten there
back when you were ten or so
three hundred ninety-six months ago
then a fuzzy poem with that much taste
wouldn’t be titled Solid Waste
or something certainly plain as Bill
the name’s Dump Teddy; not Land Phil
© David L. White 1997
Under Painting
=====================
Under Painting
How to tell a tiny tale
or water paint an oily whale
eat an elephant, build an ark,
grow some hops and tap a dark.
It’s dig and saw and chew by chew,
there’s no more sleep
the whole night through
It all began way back was
and it’s now and here
we push the fuzz, the
dust, the lint, and does it matter
if you did or didn’t?
and ...
===========
© David L. White
Under Painting
How to tell a tiny tale
or water paint an oily whale
eat an elephant, build an ark,
grow some hops and tap a dark.
It’s dig and saw and chew by chew,
there’s no more sleep
the whole night through
It all began way back was
and it’s now and here
we push the fuzz, the
dust, the lint, and does it matter
if you did or didn’t?
and ...
===========
© David L. White
Amarilla
====================
A couple young lovers from Amarillo
in a bright yellow Beetle she says is her baby
drove it all the way to this garage
into the sun all the way into the
blue white hot depths of forever
They pulled in in a cloud of hot stinking
metal smoke that brings tears to your eyes
and they don't have a nickle, a dime or a ride.
Only now we discover that those Texas plates
do not indicate that they've been north here
six months already, have jobs, a place ...
just not yet enough friends and network
to handle the daily deal
It had gotten so hot under that bonnet
that everything that could melt
melted to everything that couldn't
And yes, it's a sorry-assed, bone-headed refusal
to look under the hood until too late becomes
the ever present excruciating now that puts them
here ... in this place
what difference does that make?
Six months in new country is not long enough
to grow roots long enough to water whatever life
we need to lead in this God Bless America.
They're still young. They'll get it figured out.
Maybe tomorrow.
====================
© David L. White 2/24/12
A couple young lovers from Amarillo
in a bright yellow Beetle she says is her baby
drove it all the way to this garage
into the sun all the way into the
blue white hot depths of forever
They pulled in in a cloud of hot stinking
metal smoke that brings tears to your eyes
and they don't have a nickle, a dime or a ride.
Only now we discover that those Texas plates
do not indicate that they've been north here
six months already, have jobs, a place ...
just not yet enough friends and network
to handle the daily deal
It had gotten so hot under that bonnet
that everything that could melt
melted to everything that couldn't
And yes, it's a sorry-assed, bone-headed refusal
to look under the hood until too late becomes
the ever present excruciating now that puts them
here ... in this place
what difference does that make?
Six months in new country is not long enough
to grow roots long enough to water whatever life
we need to lead in this God Bless America.
They're still young. They'll get it figured out.
Maybe tomorrow.
====================
© David L. White 2/24/12
Whistler Fishing
=======================
Whistler Fishing
Last Thursday Eileen was
at dance lessons
learning the mans part
while her man was fishing
out past the Mississippi.
Tonight we meet at the
south county funeral parlor
to shove his satin lined kayak
off into deeper water.
Swing your partner
while you may.
Big fish, little fish
all roll away.
=====
© David L. White - 092511
Whistler Fishing
Last Thursday Eileen was
at dance lessons
learning the mans part
while her man was fishing
out past the Mississippi.
Tonight we meet at the
south county funeral parlor
to shove his satin lined kayak
off into deeper water.
Swing your partner
while you may.
Big fish, little fish
all roll away.
=====
© David L. White - 092511
Baby Carrots
Baby Carrots
Poets ... no more make poems
than carpenters make carp
or plumbers make plums.
Poets grace the glossy rack brochures
of the multi-starred hotels
with alphabetical hors d'oeuvers
(anonymously, of course)
Purée for the poets. Purée! Purée!
Poets write the captions under photos
of food over which you drool.
Tempermental as chefs, they whine
until they get it right.
Poets fingers stink of chalk also
from the Blue Plate cafe blackboard
in the pseudo-leather luncheonette
with the stainless steam table chowline
offering grits, groats, and grist for
the serial miller.
All You Care To Eat at Poem's
The Only Road Kill Diner with Carry Out Carrion
Featuring a never-ending fending off a death
with one lifeless forkful at a time.
Chew. Swallow. Smile. It's all you got.
Poets ... no more make poems
than carpenters make carp
or plumbers make plums.
Today's Special
is a wild-caught, lightly braised Carp
marinated in Plum Whine Sauce
with goose-buttered Baby Carrots.
===
© David L. White
Poets ... no more make poems
than carpenters make carp
or plumbers make plums.
Poets grace the glossy rack brochures
of the multi-starred hotels
with alphabetical hors d'oeuvers
(anonymously, of course)
Purée for the poets. Purée! Purée!
Poets write the captions under photos
of food over which you drool.
Tempermental as chefs, they whine
until they get it right.
Poets fingers stink of chalk also
from the Blue Plate cafe blackboard
in the pseudo-leather luncheonette
with the stainless steam table chowline
offering grits, groats, and grist for
the serial miller.
All You Care To Eat at Poem's
The Only Road Kill Diner with Carry Out Carrion
Featuring a never-ending fending off a death
with one lifeless forkful at a time.
Chew. Swallow. Smile. It's all you got.
Poets ... no more make poems
than carpenters make carp
or plumbers make plums.
Today's Special
is a wild-caught, lightly braised Carp
marinated in Plum Whine Sauce
with goose-buttered Baby Carrots.
===
© David L. White
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)