When I was a windy boy and a bit
And the black spit of the chapel fold,
(Sighed the old ram rod, dying of women),
I tiptoed shy in the gooseberry wood,
The rude owl cried like a tell-tale tit,
I skipped in a blush as the big girls rolled
Nine-pin down on donkey's common,
And on seesaw sunday nights I wooed
Whoever I would with my wicked eyes,
The whole of the moon I could love and leave
......
They paddle with staccato feet
In powder-pools of sunlight,
Small blue busybodies
Strutting like fat gentlemen
With hands clasped
Under their swallowtail coats;
And, as they stump about,
Their heads like tiny hammers
Tap at imaginary nails
In non-existent walls.
......
He drowsed and was aware of silence heaped
Round him, unshaken as the steadfast walls;
Aqueous like floating rays of amber light,
Soaring and quivering in the wings of sleep.
Silence and safety; and his mortal shore
Lipped by the inward, moonless waves of death.
Someone was holding water to his mouth.
He swallowed, unresisting; moaned and dropped
Through crimson gloom to darkness; and forgot
......
I--The Tragedy
She sits in the tawny vapour
That the City lanes have uprolled,
Behind whose webby fold on fold
Like a waning taper
The street-lamp glimmers cold.
A messenger's knock cracks smartly,
Flashed news is in her hand
......
I didn't write that novel
I've dreamed of for many years
Nor did I climb Mt. Everest
(I'm really scared of heights)
I didn't swim the English Channel
(It was a bit too far)
I didn't win a Pulitzer
Nor was Woman of the Year
I didn't have a face lift
Nor lose those extra pounds
......
As the last pale notes of summer’s song
Tumble sideways and down the weathered path
I step out into the night
To walk in tempo with a symphony of stars
The anxious conductor stands at attention, baton poised
But tonight I’ve no need for him
I’d rather listen in rapt attention
To the wisdom of frogs
......
chicago cuties
tangerine days of summer
when noon redbird sings
cool burst of sunshine
from the fridge of hot august
its dream turned to dust
flowers are flaunting
crisp tomorrows coming soon
......
scarlet sweet cherries
and blueberries summer's best
orange days of zest
June blackberry pies
teal skies bursts of raspberries
strawberries pink moon
Soaring in orange
kingfisher blue in the sun
beyond red roses
Afternoon has come softly
smothered by the summer heat
Oblivious bird
making the most of each day
by still silver lakes
Trills dawn to sunset curtains
......
avenue of hues
but mostly asters rich blooms
colored by the sun
petals on pathways
in windswept honeyed summer
on the outside in
tireless mauve hours pause
just to hear cardinals sing
......