Yard Sailor

I’m going to set sail on a long, long trip
Wherein I will lose sight of this land
And before I set sail, there’s a sale
Wherein I sell all, save for my soul
For without these, I am whole
This is my goal

Every worthless piece of junk,
Every memory laden trinket
Are just the same, things we’ve named
Assigned some life, some use, some space
And adorned our homes with decorous grace
For staged comforts set before our face.

My assets set out for rats to nibble at
in twenty-five cent increments
Each knick-knack sold, a fraying fiber
Of the rope that holds me to the dock
“Why, yes that Christmas tree is flocked!”
“I’m going cheap on that wok.”

Legos, lei goes, I’m letting go
Casting off weight and severing rope
Pushing off from all umbilical
Carnivore material vines that keep me drowning
On the soil that feels like grounding
Sell the yard and the surroundings

Hit the water, smooth and forgiving
Freer than the seabirds that place shiny things in their nests
It is possible to say that I am blessed
When I have nothing
Not even the anchor.

Silent Night

When the neighborhood rests

snug in their stucco nests

and the air conditioners hum

competing with the crickets

and the moon is slung low

in the midnight horizon

you will find me

all agaze and in revel

of the peace and the still

.

The porch is the precipice on the edge

of my sweet silent world,

infinite swirls of tranquility

consuming

the air that surrounds me

breathe wide and smooth

.

I’ll have a slow dance with my cigarette

let the mosquitoes get their appetites whet

and linger in my mecca

until exhaustion grabs me

with its imperious undertow

and stuffs me headlong

into quaint pockets of dizzy dreams

Under the Shade Oak Tree

I’m gonna spread myself out under that shade oak tree

and close my eyes;

feel the breeze flow across my cheeks

my arm flung on the ground behind my head

light and hollow inside,

heavy as wind chime lead

singing, clanging songs as it moves me

this serenity soothes me

If I could only squeeze

the essence of this peace

preserved into a vial for consumption

when the fires of hell are raging.