Tree Talk "But soft," whispered one tree to another, "Sometwo come this way." "If woodsmen," asked his brother, "Will this be our final day?" "They carry no weapons, chainsaw or axe, perhaps young lovers, come to play." "If so, they intend no harm upon our backs, and are most welcome to linger stay." "Like boats to safe harbor let them steer, and make gentle love among us if they may." "We counsel them to lay aside any fear, and enjoy only boundless joy, we pray.
A Racist Bone I don't have one. I don't buy none. I don't borrow none. I don't crave none. No! I don't want a single one them racist bones, not underside my ribs, 'tectin' my heart— not overtop my skull, shieldin' my brain— not round my back, bulwarkin' my spine. No! Day I's born, doctor don't slap me up my backside with one them racist bones, and Mother don't feed me up my hunger with no gnawing on those racist bones, and my school don't teach me up wrong with no 'lectual books readin' on racist bones, and my church don't hymn me with no musical racist bones, and my friends don't pal me up with "we in this together" racist bones. No! But just a second young man— now I been thinkin' 'bout it long time— goodly while— indeed, most' my life— despite I lovin' LeBron roarin' up court, full steam ahead, "outta my way!" and marvel that Stephen Curry pest, shootin' anywhere on court, swishin' 'em like nobody's business— why do I keep hopin' yeah, why I be hopin' quietly, so nobody notice me, nobody hear me, nobody know me, and if I don't have no racist bone nowhere in my body growing inside me, secret in my mind somewheres, crouched down my heart chambers, camouflaged in my soul, all invisible like, then, why, I'm asking you why, do I keep hopin' some skinny white kid come along, someone like Cousy, Bird, Pistol Pete, all rolled up in one human concoction like one them Thai spring rolls all mixed up vegetables, come along, and throw a barricade up on LeBron, shuttin' him down all good an' proper, and hold Mr. Curry to 18 measly, all the while putting up a grand 42 and 12 unselfish shares himself on any given Saturday night? If I sincere got no racist bone, then why I be thinkin' that way? Somethin' not quite right here. Could it be possible I got 'fetcted somehow with one them racist viruses, and it be festerin' my marrow?
Pangs Anyone who will not eat an apple core, stem and all, or shuns a bread crust, is not fully acquainted with hunger.
Waste Not, Want Not
One of my biggest
regrets
in life is
my inability to
return left-over
toothpaste
to its tube.
I can insert key to lock,
throw pill to mouth,
squeeze foot to sock,
slide letter to mailbox,
transfer love to heart—
but forget
cram toothpaste to tube.
Admittedly,
I’ve handicapped
myself—
I didn’t earn a
Harvard Law degree,
or Stanford PhD—
I’m not a Rhodes scholar,
or Oxford Fellow—
Cal Tech Engineer,
or win Summa Cum Laude honor.
Coupling those failures
with less than a kindergartener’s
store of
common sense,
makes life a constant
pothole.
No wonder
the toothpaste debacle.
Hot Stuff
Whenever my
ego fluffs up
and
gets in the way
of
humility,
i remember me
how little i know
of
auto mechanics,
pie crust,
algebra,
and especially
the unfathomable riddle called
women.
Then things even out
real fast.
A Remembrance
Catch any raindrop in your palm,
and hold it as you would a precious pearl;
it matters not what
latitude
or
longitude
you sail,
or
distant city
you
wander,
when you lift it
to your nose,
you’ll be back
home in
Seattle.
Red
Hummingbirds and men
are haunted by an irresitible attraction
to the color
Red,
but
Women
have an uncanny,
almost instinctive,
ability
to sort out
the two.
