Bedrock

Below
Rocks
Pushed
Together
Create,
As
Above
Rocks
Fashioned
By
Other
Hands
Point
In
Both
Directions

129 Steps

The
Soul
Of
A
Generation
Climbs
Steadily
Up the Hill
Taking
The
Steps,
Skipping
Others,
Pausing
Unexpectedly:
Watching,
Listening,
Mourning,
Rejoicing
On
The
Journey
As
The
Goal
Is
Shadowed
By
Trees
And
Benches
Along
The way

DMV

The
Great
Leader's
Demise
Pushes
His
Country
Slowly
Into
The chasm
Leaving
Our
DMV
To
Carry
Their
Flag
For future
Generations
Of
Believers

Hill 96

Basements
Echo
Faint
Drumrolls
Behind
Layers
Of
Whitewash
Hiding
Endless
Journeys
Of
Words

Rent

Broken
Hearts
Lay
together
Seeking
Sight
And
Warmth
While
Others
Blinded,
Bring
Token
Offerings
Not
Hearing
Their
Pleas

Greener Grass

free
Magic
Bullets
race
Down
The barrel
Of
My
Weapon
With
Wet
Powder
And
Broken
Primers
Reminding
Me
Of
Their
Cost

29,555 Days

Missed days
Pass
With
Friends
As
Empty
Glasses
Wait
To see
Again,
Drinking
Time
Alone

Black Diamond Clown

What really is
In a picture
Of a picture?

Is this frame
Of a creature
A creation of
A fiction?

Fiction.
Creation.
Truth is where
I see it,
In this, perhaps,
The Other.

19.1.1993
Provo, Utah

The Longest Drive

Pedals
Pound
The
Shaken
Mind
As
Hours
Pass
Along
The
Foreign
Soil;
Smiles
Erupt
With
Gentle
Anger
And
Kind
Relief
As
Highways
Still
The
Broken
Soul

no more strangers

Old
Tracks
In
The
Muddy
Grass
Crowd
Out
The
Present,
Pulling
Past
Visitors
Toward
New
destinations

Tears

Separation
Unites,
Healing
Wounded
Souls
And
Bringing
Peace
To
The
Hearts
Through
The
Outstretched
Hands
Of
The
Other

Trust

Green
Mountains
Of
Nothingness
Never
To
Be
Climbed
Stand
Tall
Full
Of
False
Hope
And
Dreams
By
Those
Who
Believe

Frozen Sparks

Cradling
The
Warm
Steel
In
My
Hand
Time
Remains
Present;
Lighting
My
Mind
Anew
With
Every
Flick
Of
The
Switch

Seeing is Believing

Shiny
Metal
Sparkles
Seeking
To
Find
Its
Owner;
pushing
Pulling
Back
And
Forth
Now
Swaddling
The
Ancient
Love

Mustache

Shaved
Faces
After
All
Is
Said
And
Done;
Sweet
Actions
From
Beyond
Tickle
My
Heart

Void

A
Lifetime
Sits
Between
The 
Void
And
Wrinkled
Yellowed
Pages;
Painful
Happy
Memories
Of 
Unspoken
Thoughts
quenched
With
Righteous
Deeds

A8

Warmth
Returns
To
Grassy
Fields
Around
Empty
Buildings,
as
A
Painted
Horse
Seeks
Distant
aromas
And 
Home

Call Option

Quiet
moments
shout
Past
each
other
while
time
tips
scales
in
opposite
directions
and
Unplanned
last
Moments
sooth

236

Tired
Lives
Spent
Helping
Others
While
Guarding
Heaven's
Streets,
From
Desert
Mounds
And
Mountain
Peaks
We
Claim
The
Price
Of
Peace;
Ooh-rah

Blank Stares

Quiet
Erupts
Loudly
Promising
Pain
Ignorantly
Without
Compassion;
Erupting
Again
And
Again
Sawing
The
Silent
Moment
Without
End

Route 66

Out
Of
Time
And
Space
Forced
To
Turn
In
To 
Find
A
Way
Out
Of
Both;
Still
Searching

Puzzeled

What
Piece
Makes
Me
What
I
Am;
Am
I
At
Home
At
Home
Or
At
Home
Abroad;
Or
Simply
Alone
At
Home
And
Abroad

Vienna Calling

No one 
Hears
The
Silent
Screams
Swimming
Through
The
Air;
A
Line
No
Longer
Connects
As
Others
Cross
Worn
Paths
Moving
Unaware
Through
Time

Sundays

Conscience
pulls
and
pushes
down
paths
of
lions
and
lambs;
Constancy
exists
in
that
rats
relentlessly
enter
the
fray
and
fight
all

White Rain - ฝนสีขาว

White
castles
in
the distance
just
beyond
reaching
Hands
as
white
Rain
splits
the
Horizon;
smiling
cheeks
distract
at
the Mirror's
edge
pulling
red
drapes
across
the
Stage
for
another
encore

Red Rock II - ก้อนสีแดงอยู่ทา

Arrows
Pierce
the Heart
and
Mind
leaving
Holes
of
darkness
and
Light
for
Discovery

In the Beginning...

About 20 years ago I started to dabble in writing poetry while in graduate school. When recently cleaning out old boxes from two moves ago, I stumbled across below initial attempts stuffed in one of the many manilla file folders of old college notes bound for the trash can. I capture these here for posterity to show some of my original themes that began floating around in my head and heart at that time. They are not dated and my best guess is they came about sometime in 1993. The paper smells musty and has indentations across the top of each that seem to be from a metal spiral notebook--both pages even have rust in the long forgotten indentations. Enjoy the poems just as I left them many years ago.

Duality

Poetry or Prose
Both or neither
One or other
I pick so you decide. I have had to
work my body to be fit, work my brain
to be smart, or was it the other way?
My wife reminds, "You need a balance!"
So don't go overboard.
I eat, study, sleep.
I eat, body build, study, sleep.
I eat, teach, study, body build, sleep.
I used to be either this or that
Now I am who am I?
I am who I am and I do what I do
and I'm happy.

CHARADE

Two words
are said--
both mask

The inner
self
sleeps,
for truth
is not
reflected in
these utterances

And so
the message
is a
mask,
a false
one that's
received

The other
seeks to
understand
this message
gone awry--
and does
Throwing back
one masked
as well

Now
the original
intent
being lost,
Time and tears
tear at the
many masks

Until,
one
takes a
chance
and reveals
the inner self--
its slumber
now
interrupted

The truth
is
spoken and
masks soon
fall
as love
is
understood

Two words
are said--
both reveal

yankee-sierra-bravo

What
Do 
I
Do
As
The
Worn
Path
Winds
And
Pulls
But
Does
Not
Reveal;
Hope
For
Another
Twenty

@#! Choices

Push,
pull
no
one
seems
to
be
listening






Silent
empty
spaces
appear
to
be
filled
with
others
@#!
choices



And
in
the
end
and
beginning
agency
unites
and
separates

Stumps

The
odor
of
decaying
senses
rushed
in
with
the
choking
breath
of
a
sapling
hiding
among
the
weeds
of
time

West Indies

Birds
seen
and
ignored
by
watchers
watching
a
silent
approach
to
a
chosen
history
fly,
live,
and
die
discretely

The Swing

Quiet
ropes
swing
in
the
distance
revealing
nothing
of
their
past;
singing,
laughing,
crying,
cursing,
each
rope
speaks
only
to
those
who
listen

Treehouse

Loud
noises
crunch
the
whispering
winds
of
solitude
pulling
the
other
into
reality,
forging
new
relationships

H2O

Short
and
Tall,
here
and
there,
high
and
low,
now
and
then,
their
essence
lives
forever
in
present
and
absent
beings

Semtex

Smiling
patiently
for
all,
puffy
Paper
Tigers
set
hollow
decrees
of
compelled
existence,
straining
others
with
simulated
happiness
crushing
the
present

Red Rock

Blood
Spills
quietly
on
the pavement
as
the
other
surrenders
to
an
unchosen
fate;
listening,
praying,
hoping,
cursing
a
temporary
forced
existence
along
the
Red
Rocks

Sweets

The
draw
bridge
lifts
and
some
stay
while
others
go
in
an
eternal
round
of
travelers

Our Daily Choices

Hanging

Trees

from 

the 

Ceiling

bring 

cheer

to

Orlando

and

others

while

pink

Suzie

continues

on 

her 

mission

to 

Mars

past

the

well-dressed

men

in

suits

standing

at 

the 

bar

Plush Carpet Moments

Scents
of
the
past
echo
In
the
peaceful
room,
drawing
the
Other
into
open
eternities
spilling
counsel
over
all
Present,
Creating
a
new
Echo
for
One

Cracked Seal

These
Hallowed
Halls
Ring
Hollow
And
Shine
Brightly
To
The
Intoxicated
New
And
Old
With
An
Elect
Few
Compassionately
Relocating
The
Influenced
Manipulating
Masses

Outsiders

Short
and
Tall
young
and
old
seep
into
new
lives
from
the
distant
past
finding
neither

Rainy Day

A
Silver
flash
moves
through
the
cool
darkness
with
quiet
confidence
looking
for
solace
amidst
painful
rain
seizing
the
moment

Brown Bag

A
dark
reflection
glares
in
front
of
the
stationary
blank
image;
slipping
forward
to
new
destinations
walking
away
from
fear

Clean Windows

The
chest
is
tight
constricting
breath,
moving
sleep;
breaking
broken
alliances
to
slow
down
and
fly
higher
with
others
following
new
paths

Out of Order

Sitting
Quietly
In
Loud
Spaces
Seeking
The
Holy
Inside
The
Worldly;
Silent
Thoughts
Inspire
The
Weary
Heart
as
Inspiration
Moves
The
Metaphysical
Moment
To
A
New
Anchor
Point.

See-Saw

Silence
Secrets
Suffering,
Separate
Lives
Lived
Aloof
And
Alone,
Pulling
Pushing
Toward
Tangled
Tears
Cried
By
All

Places of Peace

Many
Voices
Surround
Loudly
Singing
Crying
Laughing
Listening
To 
Others
Quietly
'twixt
And
'tween
A
Piercing
That
Lasts
Forever

R&K

Tempests
Rage,
Churning
Filth
At
All
Present
And 
Absent
Not
Disrupting
The
Presence
Of
The
Other