Terminology

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Terminology

Senior Citizen 
shows respect,

Fogey, Geezer, Bitty,
Not so much.

Consider the big trees,
Long since felled,

Thick barked Douglas Firs,
Ancient Cedars,
Grand oaks and such,

All proud lumber 
Of grandfather’s day,
 
Methinks, yes,
I'll answer to

Old Growth Human.

j

Gone Missing

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Gone Missing


She had pressed
an autumn leaf 

between
pages 578 
and 579

of her
college 
dictionary, 

a reminder she 
had visited there 
to better understand

the word
nuance.

Years later 
a Seattle detective,
hunting for subtle

clues

as to her 
whereabouts,

shook out the book
and watched the
leaf flutter to the floor.

"Let's go," he muttered.
"Nothing here.
Musta run off somewheres.”

j

But

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But


Could we but take

The sour from milk,
The stale from bread,
The smell from fish,

Or,

The grease from hamburger,
The core from apple,
The litter from street,

Or, 

The hunger from childhood,
The despair from poverty,
The empty from pantry,

Or,

The ache from tooth,
The stiff from knee,
The blind from eye,

Or,

The greed from money,
The less from home,
The privilege from white,

Or, 

The overdose from drugs,
The divorce from marriage,
The killing from gun,

Or, for that matter,

The nuclear from bomb,
The insanity from war,
The temporary from life.

Ponder that, friend.

j

Trespassers

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Trespassers


In the spring,

whilst sharing pleasantries
with fences and sheep,

flowers giggle,
knowing all the while

their roots have
tunneled

without permission,
passports or
proper papers

and reached
new opportunities,

undaunted.

j

Ancient Prayer of Trees

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Ancient Prayer of Trees

Dear Lord,
Most High Creator of

roots
trunks
bark
branches
and
leaves,

grant me but an inch of dirt,
a drop of cooling water,
and the warmth of morning sun.

I promise my shade to all who linger,
to cope with children’s swings,

heart carvings,
(Phil Loves Katie)

hardheaded woodpeckers,
and rickety tree houses.

But
please, please, oh please
forgive me for 
bearing silent witness 
to

lynchings.

Amen

j

In the Beginning

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In the Beginning

Before writing
is published,

it is raw rhubarb,
sour to the senses. 

Editing
is much easier now

than during the
quill and inkwell days,


But editing is still
more chore than treat.

There will always be a better 
word to be found,

a more precise 
image,

a sweeter 
sound of rhyme.

I suppose God
wishes our

useless appendix
was so easily remedied.

But then, that work 
took a mere seven days.


j