Hi Gary, the last time I saw you was quite some time ago, early 70’s you were walking up the stairs at zen center, I said hello. I dig your poetry, you said thanks and kept walking, this was right after Suzukiroshi showed me about sticking an incense in the sandbox and making it stand up, This is a collaborative piece I put into a dna strand , it might be transformative? Hope you njoy it, love to hear your feed ac
1.straightest line walked
straightest line drawn
big-toe dips
shoreline
sands
of yours and mine
Was the result
of years and years
of painstakingly laborious corrections
and restitution
Or maybe
it was just a remembrance
of something
not lost
but only obscured and forgotten
by betrayals
and broken treaties
by morbidly precocious
Mother and Fathers
by the blood
of tasking peons
toiling for dignity and necessity.
How does one begin
to sculpt and chisel
calcified remnants,
rusted imperatives,
flagging convictions
of that hangdog defeat,
stuttering and stumbling
into blind obeisance
and servitude
Will we inspire
through semaphore
and symbol
through the clarion call
that pierces and destroys
obstacles and illusions
in the midst of clouds of worry,
clouds of concern
admirably misty-eyed,
gnawed and uncertain rays
of hope
rays of relief
rays of us originally.
2.The fairness of death
that frail carnation bodice
that cocoons the encasement
of the eternal dove
forgotten freedoms perched
on razor wire fences
the masterful escape
of a luminous spirit
confined in flesh and time
from an unforgiving world.
Justice operates beyond this realm
and frees
those whose journeys
have been completed.
I can't comprehend
why some are chosen
to depart
in such a seemingly untimely manner.
But your consciousness
evinces a courage
that rages against fettered souls
and skins subjugated
by the sensesheld
by guilt and shame.
Yet we are forgiven,
rejoice in the reunion
of whence we came
to where we go
Tethered to impertinent strongholds
grasping wholeheartedly,
knuckles porcelain-white
whiplash smash clear through invisible walls
psychic trash piled sky-high
each and every piece
carefully placed, architecturally arranged
prized installation,
insecure and secured frantically
thrashing about
you lose a finger
that falls feather-slow,
dinner-plate-crash
ten-thousand-little-pieces
easily recognizable,
when frozen in shock
finger flying skyward
bird brains
slow-motion rotation
mid-air summer salt twist
meridian mudras
handicapped and plaster cast
ungovernable ambition
rocketing feebly
surveying the remnants
abound in fevered compensation
the golden-armed misdeal
perceived as providential
atoning
and redeeming
faithfully.