Dumpster Diving

I heard about a man

who lived for a year

out of refuse

cast off goods, 

food, 

and shelter.

He learned

where the best stuff was

wrapped in separate bags

buried deep within kitchen waste

like the discarder

didn't want the discardee

to find a thing.

Buried

The deep things

of the heart

are often buried

deep deep

like a dark secret

or a gemstone

or a black vein of coal.

Mountains

I climb

with friend

up up up

till the mossy green

yields to patchy snow

and blowing winds.

The tracks ahead

fill with drifting snow

the pass is near.

And as we stand

in ankle-deep whiteness

just missing the liquid fire

but still seeing glowing embers

of an extinguished sun

I can't help but to look

and follow the ridgeline.

There are mountains to climb.

Antsy

Sometimes
I want to bury my head
deep in the ground
with a little tube to the surface
to breath
and eat
and drink.

I would probably get antsy
(that's just how I am)
and want more than a tube.

Great

You are so so big
and I so small
if you only knew
nothing would change
and that's what makes you great.

You give
it pours out of you
like rain
or orange juice.

I hope you don't run out.

Climate Change

As I breath out
you breath in
recycling my gas.

I respirate
you assimilate
Together we'll build mass.

But strange things brew
as I change on you
the atmosphere so great.

What once you lacked
you now can't stand
you lower uptake rate!

Rivals

Pullman fills
with people from around the state
the stadium is packed
with alumnous rabble
some in purple
others in red
and I wonder
why would you hate
a husky so much.

It's not like they're a Ute.

Two Worlds

I straddle two worlds
one says, "that crazy religious right"
and the other, "join together on prop 8"
They are pretty much the same
on so many other points
that I forget who goes to church
and who doesn't.

In my science
I see creation
the management of life
in pools and fluxes
flowing haphazardly
a sand dune
grown from a random grain
into a mountain.

In my soul
I see creation
a purpose in my being
responsibility
service
Eternal Hope.

Do I straddle,
or do I span?

Apical Meristem

Grow little plant, grow
you do so much
without even trying
the closest you come to a brain
is a bundle of cells
that pumps out hormones
grow grow grow.

Then I think
about how we're not that different
especially
when I was in high school
and college
and grad school.

Grow little plant
grow.

Warp

A moment spent
is gone forever
but I wish
I could make it stretch
from yesterday
to tomorrow.

Genealogy

On Monday night I sat and learned
how indexing can be performed
the sister Gibbs came, Moscow way
to share with us a bright new day
death records, county, from all the land
entered twice, and checked by hand
so those who wish to build their tree
can do so with some help from me!

Check here for more info

Depression

In the great depression
people still smiled
although they may have taken a bit longer.

Clouds

Like pulsing traffic
they wash across the blue
a conveyor of cotton
they move east
towards Moscow
(Idaho)
and Elk River
and the Sawtooths
until they squeeze together
too dense to float
nucleating around a mite
until they fall
and shred through
mountain, rock, and earth.

Pretty good for a cloud.

Coyote

Coyote is a trickster,
follows his stomach
when he should follow his head.

Under Moon

Under moon
a silver shadow
painting greens and browns
black and gray
across the hills of the Palouse
I think about where I am
how my heart
still yearns for the smell of sage
carried by hot current
dried sweat.

I will be ok here
it's taken me a bit
to get used to
and I can always run home
if I really wanted to.

Unnatural

Rust-brown bars
stuck into the earth
like thick bristling hairs
on a man who hasn't shaved for a few
draping electricity
to home
school
and traffic light.

It's easy to forget
that they really don't belong.

Yield

To yield a heart
a mind
a soul
to Someone Else
is agony.

To strip away
from vein
artery
and muscle
tearing tissue
ripping flesh
the wheat and the tare
share roots after all.

To present
a bleeding heart
with holes ripped
once filled with appetite
and lust
not a gift I would want.

But Someone does
I still don't understand why.

Veterans

I honor you
who do what I cannot
and leave family
for country.

I honor you
who take each day
and live for something greater.

I honor you
and pray
that we can figure out something better.

Map

A million things to do
and I write poems
not for you
but for me
to teach me how to talk
what I am
where my dreams lay down
to sleep and dream themselves.

A map guides my feet
with roads
an contour
but what guides my heart?

Exalted

I struggle with my thorn
but I feel
with or without it
I would not be exalted
I'm too close to the earth
the warm brown fills my nose
like the North Carolina summer
the screaming of cicada
doesn't bother me a bit
because I'm too tired to care.

Keep my thorn
if anything it pulls me up
not like a tether
but a fishhook
tearing in until it's deep enough
to plop me on a boat
flopping for air
a fish out of water.

Yeah
I'll need some work
before I get my harp.

Forrest Gump

You carry the name
of a sheet-laden hooligan
wore the braces
of a rocky society
until you broke free
to become that which those who mock
wished most to be
whisper to your grave friend
you will be together again.

Lonely

I'm not sitting alone
thank you very much
I have memories
to keep me company,
dreams
to keep me motivated
and perspective
to keep me laughing.

No I'm not alone
but you can sit here
if you like.

Something Quick

Just a note
to those who think
I am a serious person...

I mean seriously
you really think that?

A kiss

A kiss
is a whisper shared
a breath lent
and a moment suspended.

Emperor

It's good to know
what people want your picture for
before you send it in.

Or else
you end up
at a lunch with many forks
and people who pour your salad dressing
with this as a backdrop.

yadda yadda

Yadda Yadda
a catchy phrase
says so much
with nothing at all.

Facebook

A digital friend
is a friend indeed
yes we can be friends
you asked after all
Does Facebook let me add enemies?

So So

So long
can be so short
depending on what side of so you're on.