The boards do not touch at the peak of the spacious sugarhouse sunlight pours though gaps in the wall Steam rises from the evaporator past a single wire that holds two bare light bulbs Two men The older his tan fedora cocked to the side forearms clothed in wool his hands in leather gloves perches on the edge of a sofa covered with a stained canvas tarp The younger stands behind the evaporator his foot resting on an overturned sap bucket his back to a stacks of dozens more A quilted red coat and red wool cap with flaps ward off the chill
national poetry month
All They Need
PoetryThe siding is gone above the
narrow roof that
barely protects the doorway
A doorway flanked by clotheslines
holding pink boxers, bandanas and a washcloth
Beside the steps, a defunct water heater,
a peeling stack of windows,
two chairs and a broken red wagon
A black-haired, barefooted women
leans into a yellow-shirted smiling blond man
The Evil in Us
PoetryWe are all one in sin
We are all one in redemption
The question of your unbelief
or belief
Is not yours to ask
Stop.
Breathe.
Have faith.
True faith puts you in the middle
of true evil
Often the evil is you and me
Do this:
Step out of the boat
For the Great Spirit is your anchor
Taking It All In
PoetryBad historians, lazy theologians and clever politicians
Back up prejudice
With just enough to support their view
It’s a dangerous game
trying to think inside someone else’s head
We can never go back to Eden
That’s why preachers should keep their old sermons
to weep over
Edward Abbey Proclaims:
Keep America Beautiful!
Grow a Beard
Take a Bath
Burn a billboard!
The fringe element is now listening
I’m driving back from Burlington
in the Plymouth taking it all in
while writing my manifesto