Swimmers in the Gorge

swimmers in the gorge below
nasty backflow there

I’m too far to yell

the falls are too loud

they must be new
or stopping by for graduation



there goes another
sliding down the rocks
vanishing under

Where is she?

Ah, Thank God.
Fucking idiots.

To burst the bubble of a moment in paradise
or just watch and pray?

Ah, they’re leaving now

snapping towels and beating hearts
laughter echos up
with the rising darkness

the dog’s been waiting to finish this walk
and find a squirrel to tree

I blow a few smoke rings off the bridge
and watch them drift over the gorge

In all a good day
with my dog, a nice cigar
and paradise won

Pecker on the Chimney

big man woodpecker
bangin’ on the chimney cap
for all the ladies

Look at him up there
serious hormone issues
Woody’s ragin’, man

see that log right there
he did that, man, he did that
just demolished it

he can bang away
the dude’s got a need but he
best not touch my car

Post-op Doc

he tells my son that
things looked good, he’ll be back in
action in no time

one word from the boy
“Sweet” confers on the doctor
the champion’s medal

he cocks his scrub cap
like a man who’s just stepped up
on the podium

my podium, my son -
I want to clutch the child and
hold him forever

Oh, the world rushes
in to laud new heros and
I strain for a view

thank you, my son, for
the time that I’ve known what it’s
like to be a god

Father-Daughter Dance

my screaming teenage
daughter tests my willingness
to keep on giving

no use telling me
that I should draw the line and
hold my ground with her

I’m no push-over
and still have my dignity
when it comes to that

betrayal and fear
conformity rejection
are her daily bread

I need to show her
how to refuse abuse by
standing up to hers

I need to show her
my unconditional love
so she can find hers

Ode to Sherwin-Williams Paint Logo

Oh, Sherwin-Williams
logo of globe dripping in paint
how I admire you

stalwart icon of
my father’s generation
holding on like him

a symbol of dreams
for an anonymous house
some kids and a car

if only the world
could have kept up with your plans
things would be fine now

to ‘cover the world’
with your great vision of the
American Dream

Oh, Sherwin-Williams
your icon is dripping with
dreams of my father

Inauguration Day on the Potomac

Before dawn

I think I hear someone on the frozen river

and stop to listen

but it’s only the straining ice that’s giving way

and shattering like giant panes of glass

as the river moves it on


so I keep moving,

relieved, as if I might have –

could have – saved some soul

who’d gotten stuck there

without a branch or a hand

or hope to cling to


but that behind me

I’m down the trail again to

Washington, D.C.

on toward Washington

to beat the crowds and witness

the Inauguration


heading south

toward where a glow on the horizon

shows through bare branches

and this time

in the first rays of dawn

I hear a low soulful humming

and sense up ahead

the shadowed forms of people

walking toward the light

And see their breath

Rising up like jeweled veils in the frosty air

walking and humming

with tools on their shoulders

and baskets at their sides

humming the world of their frozen river

strained and shattered

moving on

toward the break of day

toward the sun

toward Washington

and Inauguration