Call And Response: Day 22: Looking At Fools

Old buildings
old cars
old men keep hanging on
to a ribbon of gold
they only dreamed of

so we stand here
at the corner of
nowhere knowing wishes
can't stand in
for the life that might have been

Looking At Fool
Originally uploaded by vajra

Call and Response: Day 21: Rivets

One tenth of the rusted wheel is buried in urban, fertile soil.

The cartography it reveals when hoisted loose is the answer
to what work remains, our names on spines; persistent,
edible green grows right up against the metal,

and beside the disappointments we erect -

alongside rivets and rivet holes of good intention.

Replacing Certainty

Walking To Breakfast, #7
Originally uploaded by vajra

torn as I am
between what is best
preserved
decision

moving back to the joyous
moment
or preparing against
the movement in time

I do not know
what to send you
or when we speak of the poem
where is now?

Call and Response: Day 20: What I Learned While Waiting

Clatch, #2
Originally uploaded by vajra

what I learned while waiting
in the café is beauty
surprises
(always)
that smiles say more than
you can never
know
anything
(really)
order pattern space
control us
as in the space
between
notes
(and we, too)

Call and Response: Day 20: Stacking

Stacking

The earth is upside down today as

snow seems possible even after Spring's quick

temptation to fill plots with fresh, loose dirt,

and the tomato plants in their indoor pots wait

patiently pungent. Who stacked the days

like this? and is this signpost guiding me home?

Call and Response: Day 19: Chez Renee

Chez Renee, Santa Fe, 2010

Horsemen and demons once cruised this strip
Two drive-ins, low headlights, the height of a night out make out

Saints and sinners knew the view clear as starlight blinking
Endlessly over black light, night fields, off toward Albuquerque

But now beloved art deco neon's nothing but a rusted book
Bible of missing capital 'C' and the shadow of a lower case 'e'

Ghost of Chez Renee where the candlelight was dim and authentic
And a woman and man could be heard humming along

to any old tune.

Call and Response: #19: Waiting For the Messiah

Maygave, 1
Originally uploaded by vajra

I hear the songs
playing in my mind
Joni and John talking 'bout
Paradise
and Willie on my mind
those days so heat and fog drenched
that houses glowed like mirages
in the distance
and lights and yarn and incense
led our thoughts
on fool's or God's
errands