Memorial Day

Memorial Day 5-30-94

The crickets chirp.
The crow caws.
The pinwheel squeaks
in the wind.
The dog barks.
The bug crawls on my knee.
The old man plants flowers
in the distance.
Roughly eight o'clock p.m.
and eighty degrees.
Summertime.
The squirrels are busy
and the grass has grown for the day.
The trees whisper at dusk.
The sun has gone
and the night rolls in.
The cemetery is closing,
come again.

Stone Rubbing

Stone Rubbing 4-22-94

It's been there for days
sitting in the sun
in the snow
for years now
outside plain as day.
It's been a long time
to visit so often
to lay paper flat
and to color sideways
with a crayon.
It's been a long time
for days now,
a long way to saving
the markings on this stone.

Intrinsic Guardian

Intrinsic Guardian 10-4-93

Good afternoon angelic death
sing in your cathedral choir
envelop my senses subdued
by your greeting.
Kiss my tears
as they leave my face.
Stand behind them
as they fall to the cement.
Wait in my footsteps
as they evaporate in the sun.
I want you to follow me
through my life
to assure the free spirit
of my grief
and the recollections
of my senses.