ambulance haiku

listen late at night
a siren in the distance
singing in the dark

rorrim ukiah

 

the mirror shows me
just another fat old man
the mirror knows me

state of the union

united states 

no longer united 

party lines blurred   

revolution ignited 

enter the troops

cancel the anniversary 

everyone's unenlightened 

dreading the future

erasing the past  

numbing the present 

telling the big lie    

evolving in reverse 

democracy whispers goodbye  

anticipation

our porch light is on 
the first night of december
christmas is coming

  

 

the sleep that never ends

i want to go gentle
into that good night

and sleep the sleep that never ends

old age is not for battles
old age is not for rage
the years have passed
the past is past

the future waves goodbye

i want to go gentle
into that good night

and sleep the sleep that never ends

don't weep for me
don't call my name
i am not here
i cannot hear

the future does not know me

let me go gentle into that dark night
and sleep the sleep that never ends
and dream sweet dreams of my old friends

dark poetry

did you see the poets
all dressed in black
raging against the dawn
kissing at midnight
praying to the moon
obscuring the sun
every one writing from the heart
taking their sins out for a walk
reciting their mantras
yelling at god

poetry in absentia

poetry
disguised as prose
prose
delivered as poetry

algorithms
inverting complex concepts
metaphors
converting complex concepts

structure and form
surrendered
meaning and definition
blurred

dreaming of consciousness
and freedom from verse
smiling like a simile
feeling artificial

saturday haiku

cloudy saturday

wind chimes tinkle in the breeze

the last day of may 

   

 

 

easter

every little boy
and every little girl
searching in the sunlight
talking to the trees      
early morning egg hunts
remind me, won't you please 

fool's rhyme

one poem for you  

one poem for me  

is that the way 

it’s meant to be 

are you the sea 

am i the sky 

are we the poets 

passing by 

the poets who 

choose suicide 

whenever sea 

and sky collide 

 

when the time 

has come at last 

will we watch 

the moment pass  

will we gently 

close the door 

turn out the lights 

and write no more 

should our story stay untold  

should our guarded hearts be bold 

should we chase our destiny 

or stay and write more poetry

 

sometimes

sometimes
i feel like a teardrop
clinging
to the corner of your eye

afraid to fall 

strange chemistry

strange chemistry
alchemy perhaps
made us what we are
ancient secrets
never intended for
discovery
changed our
history and
rearranged our
intimacy
suddenly
transporting us
into this moment
now we are here
eternally

stalemate

let’s call it a draw
and walk away
from this cliché

let’s spread our wings
stretch our legs
kick the dust off our boots
grab a breath of fresh air

let's do all those things people do
when they don’t know what else to do
everything is changing
let’s change too

blue jays

we're like blue jays
you and i

unlike those other birds
who mate and fly

we stay together
till we die

we're like blue jays
you and i

dickens of a time

it was the beginning and it was the end 

mostly it was the middle 

it was the past and it was the future
mostly it was the present

it was yesterday and it was tomorrow
mostly it was today

it was before and it was after
mostly it was between

it was then and it was when

mostly it was now

 

it was what and it was if

mostly it was this

rhetorical

is there anything
quite like the sight
of a ’57 chevy
running the down the road
in a light september rain
just as the sun goes down

april haiku

the first of april
no fool like an april fool
eliot was right 

ocean child small field

you knew who you were when others didn’t
ocean child small field
kissing him and keeping him
ocean child small field

only you could guard his secrets
never telling always smiling
ocean child small field

november sunday

 

november sunday
chainsaws buzz in the distance
smoke from burning leaves

s. j. welker | fifty years on

 

fifty years on 

looking back on it 

after all these years  

remembering summer swims  

remembering campfires and sandbars 

you and i were secret agents then   

following imaginary maps    

running through backyards 

after imaginary spies      

neither realizing time was short 

keeping our secret code secret   

jotting down notes   

only we could decipher    

hiding them in long forgotten places    

never realizing time was short   

such a long time since you and i were secret agents     

on moonlit summer nights       

neither realizing time was short

 _____

 For LFJ | b Feb 19 1953, d Feb 16 1973