In The Future Tense

Tell me about the planet
in words without their cages
straight up and down
set free at last
where curve is curve
and land is temporary.
Tell me your story
paint it with the past
I'll catch the drippings
borrow the cave of leaves
call it my personal library
historic thoughts small boats
moored in the lagoon.

On

It was a path they remembered by heart
the time the horse dragged him more experienced men
stopping to help how some were tall and some were going
to be short emblems and crests were unfamiliar
but nobody asked what they meant until the duchess
inquired. This was humbling how beautiful
they were looking at their faces one could see
the others as in a crystal fleeting just turning to go.

First Week

It is exactly the same out there
he would say it with another accent
now there is a ceiling he did not see
flat land rich where the river once meandered
eccentric costumes of the visitors the trees
only a naked person can see past temperature
genius of the periodic table running the show.

Machines Of Boredom

He probably did not want to return but followed
all arrows pointing back to his place of habitation
strange how it didn't look so familiar after all
who was this person with tubes dangling lines
tape clips wasn't what he remembered or was it
usual now plastic metal liquids constant warmth
the place he stepped into out of was he deciding
still it was settled he had been remote too young
other wars not to die of boredom while alive
don't get mad what is left almost gone to a place
where they speak mathematically or not at all.

Messenger

The nets are useful
they keep everything in
plus you can see through
to what you got strong
but they have a limit 
candles and the foggy day
nearly California before
vinyasa flow remember 
samovars on Alaska Airlines
adding hot water to the dregs

Open

That animal
along the fence
world gone
wandering fog
mind on him
getting better
pears seize
they lean curl
past the gate
thought it shut

To Get It 24 Hours

We drove past my old grudge
the vacated House of Pancakes
I was supposed to give up all my tips
my trainer waitress saw my hand
pocket jingling with quarters
master's degree made worthless
fired by the ex-con managers
you can't keep it you can't
con a con they laughed
gave me another head-to-toe
I believed them to be sisters 
then on to Sherm's Thunderbird
where Roseburg shops organic and regular
entrance crowded gigantic dream catchers
American eagles red white and blue
right before the produce section.
 

Leaving Friday's Fights Behind

Five scraps at lunch before the lockdown bell
everything pointed to violence last Friday
even two small Freshmen friends this was
after we studied Red Jacket's speech
two movies later Bird Man of Alcatraz
tried American in Paris but dumped it
then settled on The Jackie Robinson Story
but of course had nothing to do with it neither
in class long enough to read the whole title.

Pacific here and now elusive past and future real
what must be the prescription for helping Onkel Hans
after his fall from the ladder last minute we were at
the Metropol meanwhile he was grafting trees
am Bodensee all ribs broken punctured kidney
lung head swelling this hasn't been the first time
flashes of his sweater his Tettnang voice ache
nobody else tending to the apples their trees.

Up Close

mirages false suns diamonds
this means vision illusion

is it real? a real interpretation
real as anything else

optimistic oracle space cadet
unusual wheel

slog away crushing gravel
washing rinsing to find

Remnant of Another Landscape

Flat fog new lamb swale
wood down two rows
where light falls apart
cold piled high 
after the war no side
but outside or inside out

straight shot all the way
to town Murphy's Lumber
fumes white as snow.

Why she wants to walk up here
to the Ponderosa hungry for a view
answer:  smell of Bavaria mooing
holy greeting cards
leather pants craggy peaks
where small wooden birds
keep chocolate time
minutes seconds losers craving more

Winter Thunder

Night breaks up
codependent moon
above all what focus
this light dark to light
birds waiting in the wet
song running through dreams
closed moment open flowers.

Halcyon Library Days

On the stone steps crouching
dreams matching thoughts
about who I was what I could do
my theories just forming my mood
in between lightning just the way
it was pleasantly surprising
my hair piled way on top my slim
self amongst the thick volumes
decorated celebrated outer space.

Broiled Sherbet

That was my shirt
my pants suit hat burger
focus America
there has been some interest
bulletin board two dollar floats
against Kohala try to wear black
purple level respiratory concerns
exit and escort to the assigned location

too much Pepsi did him in
was that a joke not able to get up
from the couch

Fizzy Lemon Swim

Far away icy lakes turn
the river weaves past his tower

pain to tell of war near no matter
how many laps Inge said forty-five
years away married small candles
with little holders I was invited go
every other year April is when
someone waits for me

Landscape of the Fuzzy Moon

Black sheep messy hoof prints

obscured by a fat snow cloud

their grey trail disappears

below heavy German branches

nobody wanted to leave

once it got too dark

where nothing fit

That's what happened

after the old place

sleeping

nearly in the new

St. Nico

Germany drunk
weather watched
by millions
loved
by few

large grains
all slow and silent
I felt
most at home
in the clear-cut
I found ten minutes

away

Petition

Hi,

Pahoa High & Intermediate School has not had a School Librarian for the past five years and could benefit from services that most Hawaii public school students enjoy.

Students begin post-secondary experiences already at a great disadvantage: they don't know how to use a library.

As educators, we are demanding equity for all Pahoa area students that they may have universal access to educational resources

Susan Kay Anderson, Classroom Teacher, Pahoa High & Intermediate
Virginia Brautigan Aste, Substitute Teacher, Pahoa, Hawaii


That's why I created a petition to Chief State School Officer Kathryn Matayoshi, Superintendent of Education, Brian Taniguchi, Senate Higher Education Committee, Jill Tokuda, Senate Education Committee, Isaac Choy, House Higher Education Committee, Roy Takumi, House Education Committee, David Lassner, President, University of Hawaii System, J.N. Musto, Executive Director, University of Hawaii Professional Assembly, Alan Oshima, Executive Vice President, Corporate and Commuity Advancement Hawaii Electric Industries, Sen. Russel Ruderman (HI-2), and Governor Neil Abercrombie, which says:

"Introduce IMMEDIATE legislation to fund and staff a school library."

Will you sign my petition? Click here to add your name:

http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/senator-russel-ruderman?source=c.fwd&r_by=4621716


Thanks!

Place Unfamiliar

It was a corner bent in a rounded way.
All the times were sad there yet
how did it belong to me? Only
putting it off could fold something
more towards the middle. I guess
the reason for torture is obvious
something to feel alive about
could be view differently
more life suggestion more life.

In Which Death Was Transparent

She loved the island
just her type of isolation
it had a bit of this lots of that
days to reach this country planet
this future past cleared away
the family went on a trip once
all the way up there how great
even though it was camping it felt
luxurious exotic as if others served.

SLO

Student Learning Outcomes
due January seventh
you need to have two
to work on but will choose
one to be your real one
with all the data you'll gather
plus the green sheet rate
Friday's Meth Awareness
Assembly one to five
five being highest.

Muse

Night walk Rim Trail
back from Jagger Museum
worth every second of torture
at school low alpine brush
those berries edible
saved for geese saved for
orange glow about the same
size how to return 
if only she 
I just saw her shift .

Confessions of a Bad Teacher

Book by Mr. John Owens
all too true war report
target:  teachers of poor
America
energetic fight
instructions?
read?
confess?

I Teach At Walmart

In my mind the threat
maximum
in my "unsatisfactory"
ratings any which way
you slice it
shut up
about the job.

Students will take their Common Summative Assessment, "Migration" and also summarize the notes they took on their Icon Map graphic organizers, therefore producing two summaries and challenge questions having to do with elements of persuasion in multiple texts

Students will determine the main ideas or events.

Students will not only answer the prompt questions but will also consider what we have been studying about rhetorical questioning and its use in persuasive writing and oratory texts such as Patrick Henry's "Speech in the Virginia Convention."

3C: Engaging Students in Learning:  Unsatisfactory

3B: Using Questioning / Prompts and Discussion:  Unsatisfactory 

2B: Establishing a Culture for Learning:  Unsatisfactory 



http://www.civilbeat.com/voices/2012/11/27/17711-i-teach-at-walmart/

.

Was Where

That was where I saw you
standing on the edge
above the gulch grand
shaking a rattle all dressed up
at first I thought pine
then not at all in a small space
up against the sky the brush
so dense so potent.

Scrump

Clump bouquet
sunk grows
imaginary
bright
memorizing
the old
shorelines.

Fit

What could I say of here?
Humid movements of clouds
legs strange desolate plus
volcanic fire glow answer
green wind all night long plus
frothy high tide loudness
it is this chit chatty focus
skimmed away to find you
your garden your fountain
dipped swam there with
clouds their makings.

Keep Me Close

In rooms speaking
in bedrooms at tables
a little lamp
lit up on the night table
this is not
my life either why do I
think I decide 
my refuge
my name
my plan simple
if I could only locate
my dim pocket

Didn't Listen

Body different than mind
today last night I thought
where is my friend
to mint warm
last straw a wizard
on the box I stare at Boulder
wish I could be there.

Structure, Localization, Function

What do I they know horizon line
it bends past stars and into this
character sweet it was the other
moment where I lived caught
wind rain fog where it is fresh
thinking tell them tell them more.

That Was me

A moment very long ago
ancient history my face
yours secondary same
I need to look at letters
very closely what have
I missed I will find self
contained small manageable
now right now preserved
my wrappings not visible
but framed with plastic
boundaries daylight.

Circle

My mind in one direction again swooping
round at standstill point I wait.

Everything taller than me.
Some with a muse or two.

It was radiant it was then
now help me help me.

Meeting in five minutes
the wait is endless can you

hear it flicker the on and offs
nowhere around anymore.

Underline

We were supposed to highlight
number paragraphs about blinking
about lies open eyes and resting brain
got caught up in whispers fleeting
kindness a passing flow breath jump
hopeful glued to familiar emphasis

Table

His hand won't heal and that's become a problem
it has become another chance to change
everyone has advice to describe it there is the
space and what gets in the way in that space
a few breaths except if it is pain then it could
depend on the look of things shame
of it the man he thought he was
disappeared without his giving consent
tables turned even a head's up you are
been great we can huddle I know you know.

Inn

This that way elbows
green wind at nine forty-nine
back for an answer glimpse
Mr. French, Buffy, Jody,
Cissy the search Uncle Bill
inside the screen pressed
numerous buttons clicked
here there entirely random
just lots of Brady Bunch.

Chocolate Trees

Cook Island pine before fog
sweeps in over to the mall
Saffron Finches hidden jumpy
Oregon but warm out in the open
too much mythology huge mass
sudden and moving closer daylight
not what it was just a second ago
my clothes inside out I realized
just in time before we went in.

Places Weedy Taking Hold

Old beauty I match it
tiny arctic flowers
or grasses in all that
mind grazing expensive
luxurious pointing
as thought blows around
in it catching hold before
life breath electric fence.

Sang Danced Ate Laughed

She sang she danced she ate
watched performances
thousands of years ago
laughing eating laughing
preserved
all that was inside
She lasted through the years
all wrapped up but bendable
careful that nothing was
disturbed from that life
long ago in the chamber
hers alone now airy see

The Long Ago

Fat planes from another war
got slimmer and slimmer
sped the back and forth
over moonscape
the others squinted at maps
little McNamaras all
now one free cuppa
at the corporate shop
boundary lines drawn:
no refill at all. Take it
or just try to leave
the long ago.

Visible

Thirsty moons
up down the slope
at the watershed
scree edge where
she loves the secret
clear air heavy with

Compare Contrast

Double vision out of each eye
holds me there while the bite
has bitten the rain has fallen
flying foxes have careened
past positive negative olden
trails to the window lead there

I Was

Me beyond all else
showed my toes
my imperfections
plain in sight outta
friends gentle
understanding was all
it took to keep when
later starved for it

Limbo

Dusk is a place loose
it clasps the sofa collapsed
land where I walk near music
cross into a land of simile
Trees cling to their own minds
roots branches sap problem
leaves twigs wind talk
as wind as more than wind
Just when I thought sane
thoughts they sparkled
burst instead while I held
still while I held it

Visit

I meet death yesterday
he was not a doctor
a few years ago
parasites invaded
he has been fighting
with water with flavor
now don't get me wrong
he did share but only half
such nice teeth but jittery
memory not all there he said
have fun teaching that was
not so comforting yesterday

Skeletal

Up the ladder
and into the dark
clouds gather

Speak of data
empty cavities
hide it

long and thin
wind is weeping
calling crushing

Numbers change
with the season
happy happy

A spell is cast
for a moment
did you feel it?

Artist

Flying structured shadow
nobody can define
I sent a card too late
it will arrive after the big day
America walking more
than usual walking sugary
down avenues tall
thoughts about songs
their meanings
flowers so fierce
from what I remember

Flying Cool

Oh wrapped up
ready to go
despite the heat
in spite of day

Ear plush cave
you know how you
inspire fast sound
Flying out glistening
perfect cool so
great to hang with

Druid!

Invite me to that bon
fire moment your heart
of hearts between poetic
appointments large scatter
winds hardened into stone
thousands of years old
a thousand you prescriptions
said take you before sleeping
call back the morning.

Future

Is that what the future holds?
Your name parked along the curb
poems at ten and two
of expert interior dash
of radio song perfume
turns clicks dials
gauges phosphorescent
under olden jagged mineral
landscape of pools of light
without any static
awaiting my interference.

Mineral Sky

I drank water just a sip
from the dark lagoon that was
all it took to throw the data
topsy turvy into a realm
of forgotten deadlines missing links
remote mineral sky.

What had I expected? More dust to grind
chomping on shreds plant material
it was old hat I was newly hatched
a minute past noon daylight savings time.
Those twins their transfusions
my dream of them free free
walking around in animal form.

Analyze Key Events Through Examples

Maybe then it will make sense
empty room all chairs in rows
ready for the mundane for me
they carried elsewhere
across a bridge into the future
I need you to help sort it out
to place a dinner plate shining
on the checkered cloth next to
utensils bright as the moon
through the window melatonin
clouding it all up despite the rinse
polish squeak ready for another use.

Hunting and Gathering

Either way the island is different
viewed from afar as a preferred sky
moon amazing to imagine powdery
nobody there almost untouched
outline of its allure its far-off shape
instead of its close up shape diluted
edges large and furry h and g.

Tall Order

I learned new tricks
practiced them until
it was not pleasing
or didn't work as well
or time or an accident
disguised my attempts
everything for the pleasure
of others in one way
trying too hard to balance
poetics force gravity magic
sweat satin salt reptiles good looks
youth a game played on a flat surface
part of the tool a homemade shovel
they told me to make my own then dig
hot sun overhead with low overhead
I licked my hand pretended it was you.

Must Go On

Sad or happy decide now
which it will be crazy hair
everyone laughs 
under the big top

on the way to Sparks from Reno
through the desert to Pyramid Lake
Bertha and Tina the Amazing Elephants
Ethyl Gasoline
Boozin' Cruisin' Lookin' For A Bruisin'

I realized later I held it down
with my foot with anything that's why
I laugh and cry when handed a shovel
to dig my own grave quick call the union
as more and more climbs out of a tiny car
evaporation the only way to leave

Shift

Weather goes through it. Through
over beyond. Here you feel small.
Giant nut trees crashing thumps
see-through pines their stars
ignore takeover by clouds
I thought there was an extra light
beginning to show the lack of shelter
from what I seek and find and think.

Evidence & Support

The thunder was late and loud. I appreciated the grey wall
then it became more and didn't go away but gathered
in the cool. Like love it was mostly hidden from view
difficult to find and then would not leave until exhausted
spent even dogs ran away I believed in my own power
but it was nothing compared to what dropped eyes closed
I remember a ranger saying palm oases existed
only due to tending meaning the careful love given
as frequent burning over the course of a millennium.

Tilted Clouds Sunlit Rain

Landscape an internship
in a second language my second
chance for credit
appears to be 
blue by nine
if those downpours are to be taken
endured believed polished seriously
framed sparkling thought
filled in by your thoughts
about Rabbit Island.

What It's Really Like

Bliss lights nearly electric
pronounced with lots of k's
had to gain attention chipped in
ready-made crinkly a glow
so strong even trees can't blot
wind waited there we fixed up
gutter with tape and spray foam
Bohemian happy I'm glad
it would have been more leaking
more yin flow than what was wanted
ruining everything down below.

That Certain Something

It ran away again and again. Bohemians
wise to this lurking swaying fact
day and night sealed in a silent code
I could not crack if only my plan
could be remembered minute to minute
what glassy eyes I'd have seeing beyond
daylight or night light rumpled into one.
The ideal can only be seen looking back
weighed down with stones small and famous
the rest of the family a few echoes away.

Night's Throat

Chirps underwater drops
dripping stars fall into pools
while night swallows
ripples gulps down small signals
what was it I had all these years
thought there would be a pinnacle
to it that I'd know something
about this chapter of island living
be able to see all of it at once
a map my life not more edges
of a lake more flimsy shorelines.

Olden Thesis

Not new but newish best describes
the idea of it I'm not quite sure if
that's what you meant with all the layers
my thoughts are negative that way
but interesting what was uncovered
people slept on what else to do
during a disaster that's where I'd be
curled up thinking up until the last
of you and your ways how to understand
even the edges and the gifts I saw
for a short time in all that dusty jumble.

I could go there I mean to that place
and live there and dig or watch it dug.
What would I understand? Would it be
what I had always wanted thought about?
Would I understand myself and everyone
better or would it just be another scene
of spirits lurking around missing everyone
everything they worked so hard to notice
get noticed loved examined off the hook.

The Egg Between Us

Holds a frozen potion
no rust in a frozen land
something inside
a cracked idea
spills around itself
circles close moon
did not see it all
eyes expected flat
got multi instead.

Details

It was sad about the lost data but not all of it was useful
who am I to say except I am responsible for my part
fake numbers set out in rows meaningless decisions
by others at the reins from the top down.  I rode along
guilty of the crime creating more and more nowhere
large enough to put all output there will be more endless
more ideas it led to that point history gutted bombed burnt.

Forgotten

Then surfaces appear
become past real soggy
milder than it was not photographic
partly real no shadow going the distance
slips between here and there overnight
when nobody was looking nobody checking
but breath from sky stars wave of night.

Main Idea

Down main street the news
rattles in an old car once shiny
not so long ago some kept up
their vehicles that now roll
slowly in a parade to show
how it was so dusty even then
things got old forgotten
but their faces stayed new
young working tired on a break.

Chain of Command

I had to look it up.
Could not resist a peek
into the world I was in.
I got back some words
for free without cost
I had already paid
the price plain ordinary.

adrenal gland, analysand, back of one's hand, Bechuanaland, cloud-cuckoo-land, digestive gland, endocrine gland, fantasyland, Franz Josef Land, head-in-the-sand, mammary gland, misunderstand, multiplicand, pineal gland, Somaliland, Sudetenland, to beat the band, vacationland, videoland, Witwatersrand

Kalamata

Tried to interpret the language
butterflies doors branches
masks on and off what could
be heard from far off
translated given more time
present moment clouds or land
out beyond collapsed Picasso sense
crude sun dial stuck in the estuary
with bright idea billowing. 

That's you.  Me I am
five post meridian weep.
I'm supposed to look beyond
remember the figure that waved
almost to Kalamata especially
that moment out in a wild field
supposed to report on it
before the next station.

Short Short

Answer any signal
not provided for
short short
short short short short
long long short long
arms legs wrists
whole personalities
there in between blossoms
middle of grey breathing
edge of loneliness times two.

Spice

Was that a poem or was it my sphere
emptied out growing
wonder what it was called anyhow
change for some for others
an investment in layers
cloud layers
cloud by cloud
a little house
a creamy dog.

Hooky Alibi

Clouds carry flat grey underbellies
across green volcanic wet
over to large drugged cruise ships
move dream cargo through what could be
heaven to some to others an idea
round and round until pitch dark
until a white neon orb blinks
secret light everybody can finally see
only it is a little dim a little uneven
shore rocky black sharp with cliffs
molten earth blood manufacturing
what tiny cameras can't quite catch.

Week of the Moon

There was something about this moon
its duskiness same sort of walk
evening dust weaker magic
what we seek while joining
a pair a team pulling time
out of our memories what
is leftover I try to fence in
water or nurture into a garden
change is something I saw later
I am here for you here you are.

No Rest For The Sweaty

For the ruffled for the soaring
present beauty soothes what burned
before wings in air integrity sooty
ashy above the shack of lies
ramshackle institution where
sometimes you hear aloha
but more often it's fuck that is
cognitive development
a necessary step in it they say.

Make Me Believe

The data frightened me
jumbled on the sheets
rows and rows of numbers
phony if you thought about it
a little too much weight
in between the in between
far from Earth kicking up-dust
bothering some other time-space
where nobody cares nobody lives
to see the greedy greedy fingers
grasping for life for blood for time
away from teachers their little desks
rusty now spiders crawling over papers
fear in their voices the intercom the email
fear of the data and what it means what it
could do threatening in the strange realm
make believe make do make mistakes.

If I Could Do It

The data was blue or light blue
swollen river post it notes
cherry juice all wrong
in the mini-fridge
data far far away
it did not remember
anything else that conformed
developing something else
what else my generation
role models scattered
missing persons call out
now there is the space
for it still in front of the bank.

Multiply Then Divide

There was something secret about the data.
It wasn't in the numbers, exactly, but instead
in the vague notion that the numbers were
a hungry monstrosity hungry for victims.
The victims ran into the millions, billions even.
Yeah, I saw the movie just in case I needed
a bibliography a reference or two for the thesis.

Press Submit

The data was fresh warm
despite Bloom's Taxonomy
that shrill hierarchy drooping by five
perfect body mask facts phrases lies
support for everything imaginary
so unnaturally dull missing the point
maybe shredding all that data in haste
was just too much to bear
let's just say my alter ego
my spirit animal wearing shoes
typed out a letter to my superiors
signed Chief Executive Officer
here in my cave of results production
wind tunnel vacuum chamber calibrations.

Even

Remember the shelter
from language rain
use of force unknown
invite me in there
honey much cooler
even without the fan
to live inside one of those
burdens well that's about
all I accomplished
far from Colorado.

Beyond Pyramids

I studied there became time
data hung like bats only it did not make sense
even in the hairy night of my experiment
flying out to look for more minutiae
only language itself could see.  They cheered
pulled it off spoke smilingly at the meeting
I knew then about each stone in its place
each breath cold and crisp my room
romantic wavering it all added up
nothing was squared nothing certain
thank god for my tinkering with curves
pods and capsules.  Ramps.  Etchings.
That is the map of me.  Roll it up unfolded.
Use it for soapstone for stoplight fricatives.

They Will Get Their Devices

Big cheats blame teachers
force new gimmicks unembarrassed
as small CEO's worship scientifically
around the whiteboard with markers
fiercely play pretend learning
highlight circle steal match
Facebook's cognitive demand.

Swim a.m.

Body quite addicted
to that body of water.

Across

We walked across the road
on flat feet no arches
I was first into the smoke
then the little romper
listened as I ignored
what was behind
it could not be
again we moved
down into the canyon
it was cool right in the water
fish hiding I did not notice
you were there.

Out of Wild

How could it be everything it is not
minus I guess check minus
about the standards not seen
right there in front
your faces children inspectors
about our work or what
needs to be harvested what needs
to be burned too late out of control.

Data Squared

By more than stupidity
questioned by bandy-legged
vets their basement room under
old school building near office
it was cool then staggeringly small
rough back outside in all that brightness
they made a neat million quite nicely.

Gotta Get It Back

Rosetta stone finally shone
bright bothering desert
packed and unpacked
to get there to a place
regular road like Sutherlin
recalls scratched out chopped
expanse with too much between
downtime of the major extraction
minor participation a page
from the student planner
actually page one is all about
recognizing unexploded ordinances
bombs in other words before
the three pages about bullying
after the spell check on my hometown.

Nothing Better

Amazing ingredients
all in one poem
each detail a vitamin
to support the whole body
delicious find I'm forever
ever in its aftermath
struck dumb but swimming.

Agenda

I was not asked but given the agenda
immediately a big chunk of our time
I mean a short chunk I'm hoping you'll
have a code today to register or see me
during break I'd feel really good to have
you registered when I walk out of here
today. The biggest bulk of our time
back in our level groups benefit to see
some alignment in those level groups
to unpack one of your embedded
assessments. At the end of the day
writer workshops only live online
what needs to happen within Springboard
you'll get swag a bag and a poster of all
strategies I hang mine up to remind them.

Flim Flam Shim Sham

Data oh data gathered beneath my feet my hands
data data what have you been up to
since last year when I got into trouble
asking the question I was not supposed to ask
about you about the data it came up a problem
came up within all the data turning it false upside
down the data became rusty rusted it was solid
as spring ice melting dissolving into a smudge
in the history of the world this watery world.

Blither Blather

Did I submit all my data
to the growing pile worried
proving my inadequacy worried
deficiency in the system worried
calls forth another era worried
other than this unregulated ocean
nowhere else with nothing but.

Home

There he was and then there he wasn't
with a burlap sack slung over one shoulder
happy but dead tired from a day raking in poems.
I waited down the road at the usual place.
Under that tree. It is cool dense shade
waterfall. What more could I ask for?
Truth with its fresh animals in the
fracked distance hell no HELCO
the last two days cars honking by
rattle and rustle of it are you there?

Occupy Me

Heart soul neighborhood where the potluck
spills over into fun that's what it will be
in memory so I've given it a try and now
can only say change without really changing
do I have to after so many times resisting
the lie I would have to occupy like at work
when they say to add in the data for results
which never really truly could or did occur.

Smiling Starbucks Faces *found poem

Don't let it fool ya
I'm only tryin' to school ya with
my smiling faces that pat on the back
it is not true all the time only sometimes.
I've been afraid of changing but times
children get older I'm getting older too.
Well so you climb a mountain and you turn
around the land slides all the way down do
you see it maybe well maybe. Well maybe.
Obviously.  So obviously. Oh come outside.
My my. My my. I told you to be kind. I want
to see you again. Arm in arm we are born.
I should have told you I did without you
but I don't want to. I miss you. I don't want to.

Teacher Little Beggar Teacher

It is not coal dust that I wipe off
my cheeks next to golden earrings
earrings earrings artsy scarf
scarf scarf and Dansko Dansko Dansko
(thanks Iver) not back breaking
work anymore in drifts they are now
asbestos residue mixed with signal smog
in the drone of data collection while my
submission divides draws near.

America's Choice

New teachers from the ivy leagues leave
the state in droves as soon as they can dump their loans
say they are lab rats in the system
I thought it would not last this long
my workplace my lifetime this tale of disagreement.

Could I Borrow My Brain Back?

May I use it for a bit this day
as I please in the crush of debt
I thought I'd go to Sears to check
things out maybe a mini-fridge
would be the great equalizer
in the swelter that rides the day
my credit is good they say.

Chained to Worldview

The links clink shake
corrode in the salty air
water them and nothing grows
but the fact that the fact that fact
calculated written down I see now
to suck it up as they say deal with it.
There are debts I wanted (you)
and debts I didn't figure correctly (you)
I am forever in yours. I'll deal with it.

Brutal Stark Bureaucrat

From the outside
quite organized
looking
inside a bowl
full of cold mush.

Tryst

On the board it looked knotted
Celtic like Romeo and Juliet I said
in the scrabble town amongst
champions of the game
points kept all important
there are winners and losers.

Baked Not Yet Fried

In the time that it takes to change over
to the underneath to the way there
it has become a different day
stepping through familiar
back then and now
there were steps
I took them
many and
then none
a path emerged
I remembered it
from before only now
it was smaller and overgrown.
I still like it there am satisfied. For now.

These Are Important

The first one is the data profile
plan historical information
for the academic plan the next tab
is the monitor tab.  It has data
on the students. The problem is that
it includes students who are here
and those who drop out. Suppose
he leaves the school the next day.
The data stays in the whole year.
Operations is different.  Only data
in the school now.  Only at this time
the time it goes in.  See the difference?
This is where you're going to get scores
math and language arts. I'll show you that
in a second.  Data quality this shows where
the arrows are. I think it means they typed
the wrong keys. You won't be using this tab
much. OK I'm going to get started. How we
are going to generate questions. What questions
can we ask? The search for data in the system
begins with a focused inquiry question.

Password

Memorize the words you may need them I
tried to open the sesame sprouting when your back
when it turned it turned a moment ago round
and round in the best dregs of summer true
to the target I tried to grab it as it flew past
but you were not thinking I wanted to
catch it I tried too hard to slide in front
locating myself inside the meteor shower
the surprise the prize a cold lake in summer.

Common Sense

Not so common the sense that
filters down in between the still
fracas of dry blades where seeds
find the ground water if lucky
will sprout but not without
individual drops of rain water
chance in the blue light they crave
the weather is changeable or is it fated.

Either Or

They are twin ideas in one place
you are not in reality they said
again and I despaired but not today
I could have walked around aimless
in the desert not the airport
but there is the strange Northwest goal
its flicker forever happy light
because the poetry of it has settled in
always home on the road to find it
in the season of catch and release
I learned this waiting for the yellow light
to change and it did but I think of the green.

If You Can Get It

What will it be when I have caught up
to them and there are no more student loan
payments the anger in their voices at my loan
it lingers lingers like in that lingering song
my hand in the clear one day one day turning
brass handles of my future without debt newborn
American solid instead of a mass of whirling cells
that don't settle down smooth as glass I mean
borrowed gleaming future of America's got talent
in the good taste of the judges their sorrow absent.

Not Exactly

Just being in the future didn't solve
my loneliness at windows looking in
at night past the happy homes their stars
moon above belonging to me only that
suddenly the antiques look new and the
new has some antiquing expertly applied
sold in sidewalk bins quite a deal I almost
got a worn fleur de lis in Whitefish
it had crystals and a stake it was for a plant
it was the size of a hand now I think my hand
cannot stop thinking of the real glitter of it
but who would I give it to who would want it
like I want it they had blue ones and some
with yellow and green is there anything else.
 

Stumptown Madness

Whitefish Lake pillow waves
wash over the esker I tried
harder to understand why
gulls easy going all in all
what else would I expect the point
for me waiting I mean traveling.

Summer Wrap-Up

My life an attempt to jump into symmetry
or out of it needless counting I catch myself
at it until new dandelions come back weedy
summer we nearly broke our backs this summer
hunting them from across their morning geometric
bursts of life in the middle of the lawn that is
pasture if you look at it exactly in that way.

Polson Jitters

Town glittered from a safe distance its
pirates sans boat sans shirt sans everything
at the pier of the lake world glacial
town where you could get a city suit made
western fashion at the Mode-O-Day windows
yellow plastic against the curious sun new turquoise
bras jeans blouses fit tiny anonymous waists
small medium-rare steaks and cokes on ice
I worshipped my blue idols sky and lake
they had no faces only intricacies shifting filigrees.

Polson Stickup

We were held up in Polson a spell
speed boats disappeared across Flathead
under the bridge water light maximum
a separate day hibernated blue glacial
yellow until winter until rumors
cherry season other lake ancient
flooded tutti-frutti multi rainbow rinse repeat
paradise located by sitting inside the dream
alongside the exquisite gravel its gulls its docks.

Low And Fast Along The Clark Fork

Montana ponderosa ghosts hang gothic
the coal train is in ravens match bins
short sound in summer clack clack rick rick
water so clear root so bitter Mount Jumbo
more trees still its L in white across
there's the M glass carafes at the U my hands
were students then up the Rattlesnake wild.

Said To Be Full

Blackberries already ripe in the corner of their field
poison oak obvious the river remembering itself
spooked deer white tail brushy agitation
out of the copse under the good pear tree
during the day it is cooler although I listen
that jump over the fence was it easy as pie.
The Percy Sledge Way. Blondie. London Calling.
Big Science. Déjà vu. My friends their hellos.

This July

We found the drama endless
she used to be a tigress
we'll drive all over history
wet knees glistening
day before I told it
then at night I dreamt it
a slack a slag I kept
laziness clobbered ready.

The Show Still Goes

Byrne for hours
summer stories
plus St. Vincent
through branches
crash along electronic
thunder first few steps
magic drops hang there
generously lit for all
anguished moments spin
others dip to above below
are that if only this time
held still for now for me
I was that I am that.

Roseburg Half Shell

Along the Umpqua osprey look us over
tasty legs flop skim the surface
of the sloping lawn where we sit for free
worshipping the BoDeans their guts
blasting about an America I almost understand
too close to the speakers words important
sexy and then I notice everyone is up
jumping to the last songs happy sad
oh well David Byrne next language
where old growth will translate it
we'll go on to Whitefish after that
take a quick look around eventually
see Shawna the Missions her Missoula
after we step off the Empire Builder.

Expressed O Pressed Life

Loose innocent academy reject
denounced heart self shot in Davos
after extreme fit press destroyed
sharp cleaved granite images burned
no shelter from boot stomping
state bureaucrats Austria lost out
to functionalists their lists most frightening
hunted listed caged my face scribbled green
my eyes outlined in black black woe
churchgoer pink valley-dweller yellow.

People of the Cedar: Downton Abbey Downsized

Whitehorse Falls is a lucky break on the highway. They probably meant Whitehouse Falls back then because it appears to be a fancy building complete with ionic columns that are always on the move.

The falls take a passionate loop around rocky knobs, ignore fallen trees both natural and sawed down a' la the Forest Service. I've meditated here how long? It did not matter one bit, after all, the steering was easy, piece of cake divided by two. I spaced a little then remembered what it was all about.

It would  be nice to have a representation of it later when swept-up in reality. Later, my thoughts and feelings would be absorbed in an elongated fashion. Some trees were purple. Some white. Their roots clung to boulders. The ash drifts looked pink sometimes, sometimes yellow.

The falls tore down my defenses, I could love again.

Scott Law Jerry Greene

Everyone has a twin walking around
somewhere but so nearby not hidden
with the same interests from the same
area same movements when singing
there was my ex on the stage and I could
only stare at the differences find them
if I could a kind of a game to see what
was not there or was it a Jerry Greene
tarot card at the Country Fair
later everything came together
to make a certain sense they call time
a rich bright lovely stream escaping.

Freedom To Shop

Eagle T-shirt
with the words America!
on one side &
Freedom! on the other
sat in pitch in summer moss
so crisp Gatorade blue
Douglas fir and soapbrush
next to air-conditioned ash drifts
along the rusty highway.

Still a cataclysmic mystery
how they lost the business
her Germany no parents
everyone too busy with binding
delivery of funeral wreaths
to take particular notice
all they noticed was
the too lateness
of everything.

Before Toketee After

How to spell it my history
pull between beauty 
seconds then moving
downstream through
plumbing devices every which way
water to turbines' static rumbling
misguided small against drifts of ash
sheer weight of erosion angled trees
elaborate piles of rubbish
masks what has happened what will
torn up built monument
working to harness the elusive
power light land water
quite Pacific.

Top Secret Oak Glade

The edges have it
need only to bump up
show shadows
maybe it was a mistake
mean blue lines
curvy purple trees calm lemon
scattered in the foreground.
Never mind favorite phthalo green
there in the background.

Blurt

Careful of the data
I spoke so carefully
but could not take it
all those spreadsheets
piling up piling up
so I went to Bolivia
got me a safe house
that would never be.

It is wrong for government
to spy on its people
but what to show for
after months days years
gathering armfuls of data
what will explode give way
will it be an explosion
of a new freedom what am I
thinking what am I saying.

Jinxed

At times I could not see green
nearly impossible to pin down
canvas chaotic without the living air space
rainbow next to another rainbow
so I thought extra thick remembered
they made use of paper sacks cardboard boxes
discarded napkins chocolate wrappers
American soldiers threw down exactly observed
then picked up sniffed same as eating

If I say guru he may disappear (not really)
I study their words their ways in the summer
A teacher appears then finds a way back home
generously stepped out of the green into it
Hobo wise Bauernschlaeue add integrity
so much so that my fear hitched a ride outta here
to the war to the machine to the factory

Making Night Small

The Bachelorette in a mood
to give out the next rose.
First order of discussion
bright color celebration
thinking already to next
how I was bomb-trained
small.

The Alpinist

She leaped back
over the fence. I thought
I'd get tangled but didn't
the wire easy light enough.
How I thought I was being used
to get them back together.

Faraway wildflowers
were what I studied
their names their illustrations
convenient on the deck of cards
their names in different languages.

Jet Lag Reality: Language Blues

She said she apologized for bringing up the Holocaust. I said that there is no need to apologize for that, after all, we had just come back from Germany where the war is never too far away never too far afield. Just standing on a street corner imagining. Just picking strawberries raspberries seeing bread and butter brings a certain sadness. I snap back but not at strangers, just to the ones I love so much. Postcards might numb some of it. I can be friendly for a short while and so can the others. If I hadn't ripped out my back pulling on the tomato cage I would not be reaching for Bayer.

More Days

Love waits at night in a summer hut
out of weeping willows
their flex is the place (where I have been living)
it changed from looking at myself in shop windows/
museums to looking at the things people themselves.

When it came to footsteps the fox disappeared
white tip of his tail like wheat like him.

Demeter Multitude

Shy crowd that waits for winter
barely any kids.  Wind through poplars.
She is still upset about the manger. Years
have past but still there's the question
of power and shunning. She looks most like
the family. The others:  mutts. That was
our cat. Remember our primitive kitchen.
Floors tilt against whitewashed walls
beams the color of walnuts. Should I go
throw out the crumbs I've gathered
or should I eat them? Their dog barked
then I found out its name:  Corsica.

Land of Analysis: Linden Tree Blues

Under those love hangs golden
for bees a roaring their buzzing
so loud their buzzing fills a huge
area I wonder if they miss the honey
their bees--I ask them and they say
missing them makes it so--makes it
convenient or else makes it better to
have another life one of deadlines other
two-legged creatures their certain outlook
problems they thought existed like wings
but don't so careful about speaking words
speaking about the dastardly mites.

Tom Clarkless Days

Following footsteps in old Europe
to new understanding
campfires out in the full moon
hills they call whales.  Out here
harmony cool wind footsteps
stubborn roots out in rich glacial
soil. Animal self.  Can be. The road
granite limestone Milan deer sandstone
ravens talk about the moon fully.

Fire Bombs

Water did not extinguish them
sand worked or cloths
the trees bushes all on fire
even now the fear comes back
a siren starts it she said at the old burg
everything burned church forgotten
all that praying many times per week
just like it was yesterday or even now.

Salon Ursula

Sheaves of wheat
support the Black Madonna
of Altoetting now in Kempten.
We followed the city wall
down to the Iller to willows
pungent tangled debris
never got a good combing all awash
further on.  My mother still jealous
about the flute its music
sweet and low and sorrowful.

Kamchatka Kousins

They need to say grizzly
their eyes cool fires
their intensity leaves for
a worn trail through grasses
down to the swirling river
its bars and banks
we will feast and then say goodbye
after all we are related
when hearing stories
of huge furry creatures
their snouts their fishing abilities
think later which parts truer.

Sent From My iMind

Rich life before bombs
afterwards but different
money is not what I mean
is all she thinks about meanly
where she was born hospital
cemetery church school apartment
Memmingerstrasse 13 yesterday
spoke to people same place
seventy years ago how
who where when say hello for me
yes yes renovations noticed

Trostberg Roseburg twin sounds
would never have
if it had not been for you
your rich neighborhood in ruins loving
your maps of wild life generous
my Roman uterus tipped gone
perfectly formed watery watering
pictures statues that same single mom
and her kid everywhere all around.

Verdant Ultra

Fields rump up
against the alps
smelled them
before we saw them
super saturated with cow
why was the word religion
crossed out on the document
question mark swirling into
my headache my memory
someone else. Answer. 
Meeting. Answer.

Each and Every

When I stop take a picture
she stops and takes the same picture.
I quickly snapped one of Heine's apartment.
He lived for a year near a marble tree
people nestled in its branches. Morning raven
the only fat sound plus her body bright awake
U bahn under construction three levels down
rattles and rumbles yesterday refused direction
one point two million faces I will not see
even a handful ever again yet I find myself
trying to memorize each and every one.

Back Then

I think they had a fine laugh about it all
back then it was work to break into the new
dreams were recorded in color sometimes
with graphite blue and brown wash.  How I
crave rhubarb.  We argue constantly she
refuses to hold the map read it and decide. 
Looks for a group decision of two.
Each person is a unique landscape
specifically located with an exact climate.
Back then a group effort or was it
zhen zou ziewed zhe zillage zrom zfar.

Green Fields Trees Green Fields

A man stands in his field
it is so dark green it is black
he is in a white dress shirt
tests the wheat between fingers
S bahn is so quiet people speak
soft voices polite warmth of June
finally here on rich soil where bears roamed
once that was history then towers were built to look
over it all we found out she died in Bad Tölz at least
one of them them moved around too just like we did.

Following the Drop

Branches are antlers
reach across the creek
to the other side foreign
end up somewhere in the middle
where it is deepest cool all day
in that imaginary room of water
a sea to the creature there.  A gallery
for the masses.  Your place
is there too.  It is an exhibition of voices
America wakes hopes for more gets more
resources American way to ignore or show off
the fragile while remembering Ishi remember
California a little creek just like this.

Runoff

We will need to visit both places.
If something is not found in one
then we will venture to the other
nowhere for the water to go
but it is to be expected
such low pressure suspended
making people a little crazy
against the mountains.

Voice

He sees the modern gadget
that has placed itself just so
when he would be bothered
little patient but looking
forward to the work
was there work was trust.

Illegitimate, Waitress

Hearts of all Bavarian kings
buried underneath flooring
of the cathedral.

O half-timbered construction
o pointy mountains
blond braids on horses
near the chapel
steep fields
patchwork
coachwork
firework
footwork
fishwife
Ignore.

Heretic

Your name becomes my history
she said to all the flowers
their unembarrassed faces
cool heavy sweet
not strictly forest
time rain bending
she wrote too much
it was obvious now
around the little graves
was a familiar history
a certain smell.

Riparian

Plush overhang almost touching
glides past dust or what
on glazed headache time
cool now nests thick way up
the sword dance zips moments
thoughts of you and your
shields of bent branches three towers.

Town of Running Ideas

My town grown spilled over
banks between buttes roses
Black Tartarian Cherry
two hundred years old sinks
propped up to be a tree heavy more
a place to run from while saying this
to a heart that waits dripping misted
the town that is the tree I mean
the metaphor is perfect but misses
constantly ignores the traffic
on the overpass loud the riffles
scooting down the river loud
the train still making its way through.

Grandfather's Town

To sit at the wrong table
might just be the end
of your life as you've always
known it always wanted it
to be.

Grandma's Town

It was so long ago
what indeed could still
be seen the old fort on the hill
an old river snaking remembering
the glacier new condos and a mayor
who shuffles down the stairs
quite skillfully a movie star
in the little town nobody finds
long enough to remember.

Which War

In a way you can tell those nostrils flare
that is the prime reason to be sugar mama
it collapses daily and yes the night is
endless and forgiving you in my dream
as if the East did not exist wasn't rotten
hadn't ruined the childhood errand
to the corner bar stuck with work
too young like adults little
grandads at eight Romeos
not knowing when dark is.

Edge of It

It took two years of convincing
Traunstein moved
from the back burner
imagination no longer flat
endless but a horizon
no longer tucked away
with the war
no longer in black and white
where real thoughts remain.

Make Mine Standardized

Big enough for the both of us.
A different meaning.
It looks to be my language
but it is too new for that.
I'll take it with mustard
so it is sweeter than sweet.

Diplomatic Excursion

European cousins
are we so different
day to day our rules
made by other deserts
other oceans same physics
but of course you
are the experts have
traveled here got fed up
immensity random order
want the Lucky Charms
say you love the marshmallows
all pastel all full of air.

Standard Issue

The tomb is colorful
everyone is there
you must be taught
how to hold me
I take your elbow
and show you.

Our wigs are perfect
we knew wheat
we were not vegans
or anywhere close

but we were so careful
everything appearing proper
hearts so heavy so fleeting
clocks were solar powered.

Working For or Against

It wasn't that I minded going
or in fact leaving eight hours
horribly disorienting
not to be the one there
when that was my job all the way
home it was a foreign country
my passport and other papers
decided my stay a flimsy map.

Out of the Ordinary

Later I thought about it all.
Those had been my lucky days
up the Umpqua just focused
on which Snapple I would choose
at the Dry Creek Store.  Just
across from there and downhill
is an amazing hole in the river.
Once there was time to relax there
and get to know it and the Snapple.
A small beach ignored the rushing water
it was peace out time with just
part of the crew and not everyone.

Apostrophe

I came to know the tree
a little too well best friends
until I noticed I was falling apart
breaking towards my core
it did not stay unchanged.  My worry
was that I would not be recognizable
as the solid one the biggest one.
The bear would not miss my shade
would be satisfied with expansive filtered light
from above and not from just one side.

Down To

Those moments are best
anticipating home
like the phone call
rings and rings
ghost is there
again before the click
suddenly awake alert
before my travel alarm
now insignificant.

Like Then

What will it be like
alone alone
when you leave
the room

how it was
in Meersburg
I'd stick my head
out the tiny window
through the snow
I could see the castle
eyes ears nose disappeared
then noticed.

Schooled

It became normal to think of the animal
right around the corner.  We spoke
of anything but this.  Our friendship was
a shadow of its former self but that was all
we needed.  I was reminded of the limits
saw what was left.  A most beautiful color
not doled out but everywhere. I didn't like
how the idea changed in the story. That
bothered me a lot.  The tree was just okay. 

Some Day Jet Set

Where are my miles
they were supposed to be shared
by now
disappeared into the ether
clouds recording dreams
of the lost
dreamers.

The OSSR Took My Mind Away

Left me to develop my dolor
brain snatch
another data sheet
more peer observations
quote zero instruction
quote zero students on task quote
guide never complete
a name a dollar sound. 
 

Everything

Favorite aura
comfort
in its slinky sound
past fabricated
dogma boundaries.

You know which ones
create a shadow.

With The Absurd

Better to let colors bleed
soak into mind's eye besotted
till turning for more for natural
like an animal get lost there
or appear so to others.

Standard Deviation

What does it matter
love is forbidden
inside the factory

production at maximum
punishment is to withhold pay
fourteen hours per day
making disposable baubles
so cheap so shiny won't they love them.

My Learning Target Dot Com

Oh sincere my breath
away was it this whole time
stuck on the inhale of aloha
exiting just barely but it does
count for something this spring
why do the Dilbert cartoons
fit so much with the school.

Rotten to the Common Core

My apple
has no core at the desk so common
America's children send a text
to the future nothing to do here
thanks to David Coleman & Co.
we now have a framework for
puberty we continue to skip.  All
the teacher's fault if it does not match
exactly.

Volcanic Activity

Slope of the new shield
sleep is the snore wind
came up rushed through ohia
that loud red
pom poms holding
at the edge in the cloud
of particulate matter
with little delay.

Moot

Isn't that the rub
of it.  Doesn't that impression
seem artful.  That is me blind.
I recognize you anywhere anytime
anyways.  Chalk crayon paper
bark
sand
blossom
leaves
fruit
seed
sun.
Missing water
its moon
the mountains.
Her fur.  Her feathers.

Testing Mania

Observed to survive
against all odds
the kids tell me they do well
when they guess randomly
they get better scores.
It must be their teacher.
It must be their teacher's fault
Professional Development
will fix the teacher their future torture future torture teacher
for now on sleep mode after the test before more testing.

PDE3 Geisterbahn

Truenorthlogic via Empower
holds the system closed
no matter where I click
I don't really get to click
or propose that my ideas
get read by the many.
Ai Weiwei what happened to you
those few months away
did it hurt as much?  What
was it or who was it you recognized?
Did you discuss a procrastination
in every heart beat.

State of Hawaii

Falls down like petals
just the act of mentioning
goes round and round
like fish not from point A
to point B
what he has decided
means already stalling
beyond what
any four agreements may be
or even love its wisdom
after blossom wait
about the fruit the seed the core
a sublime cider press
my future memory of this windfall spirit
deciding means that the spirit
the mind of it is kept alive
guise close or distant
certainly not quite by choice.

Pacing Guide Hoo Ha

I didn't realize he had dropped out
now stealing at the beach parks
whooping it up like old times.
I remember he sat front row
"The use of riches is better
than their possession" (Fernando de Rojas)
stapled to the bulletin board
above Teen Ink above National Geographic
Scholastics piled every which way.

Her Close Call With Diptheria

Bombs rearranged their lives
later after hands inside
dust feel for flaws in the smooth
the cool inside the taste imagined fruit.
Full of fruit and blossoms. Both of
this state grey milky. Something left over.
Weren't they there in the photo from '42
all smiling at Onkel Magnus
some joke he was making
clowning around the table New Year's.

Historik All Knees

The letters have little shoes
they walk in a line
in the city the street
there is ease despite cement
despite being concrete
that abstract warble
makes everything strange.

The Visit

Every time I visit I become a visitor
with a pass to look for the pink glow
orange above the sea
dark changing billowing

that's how it's been for at least four years
surrounded by ferns that start out red and then turn green
curly-Q fronds of the tree fern
trees whose lime black leaves have moving pores
crimson blossoms sipped by creepers
owls with short ears
geese without webbing
blueberries that are reddish
mint-less mint
you here too
each step I walk the crunching
around the rim my fun
then the pond its overflowing shimmer
business that is my business
warm warmer warmest.

Not What They Seem

At face value what it is
wasted hours turning it over
bouncing it around in my head
for the perfect analogy
it will mutate into something else
then go away again not me not me.
Then two days off takes another shape.

Autocraton

The deputy spoke to a crowd of mostly smaller deputies.
He had a lot to say about numbers nothing exact mainly
policing teachers is a priority with everything in place.
There is no incentive not to get people to be successful
pockets of evidence everywhere
didn't matter to me how many people are here three or any amount
you need good data sets
Danielson certified
it's not a competition
systematic
the race
effective
invest
we're not going to fire
our way to success
good teachers want
to work with good teachers.

Intuition About The New Missoula

A valley so large
one melt made the icy reservoir break
what was left was a shaggy map.

Here a gardenia beside my desk
the moon's outline bumpy
it was light until seven
water was silky with salt
hau leaves.  One guy--
tourist?--said that he takes risks
yes many calculated risks
he takes risks all the time.  You
must be lucky.  Your
brain has not been left as a residue
devoured by the standards.

Stop Oppressive Education Now!

I had an idea that my brain was more left
but when I see the image of what was left
it looks geometric it looks even.  So that's
how it looks prepared for something else
so clean so efficient so planned.  Drained.

Laugh, Weep, or Walk Away

Once visiting near back wash
of Glacial Lake Missoula
I remembered and recalled the pines
at the county park where we camped

what started out as weedy and now this
abundance a miracle enough to feed millions
because it has when you think of it.

Rulz

The test is strict I said to them
it is the ACT test after all
and the whole school
will take this test
next Tuesday
in the imaginary
forward.  No cell phones
no sharing.  Bubble-in
everything completely
so your selection remains
without a doubt.  Now nod
so I know you have not
floated off in the drift or do I need
to call your parole officer.

Duped

It was exciting to scamper over to the student who had raised his hand with a question about Rita Dove's "Adolescence-III."  Maybe the question would be about the bowl of tears or about the fragility of the tomatoes ripening.  I would get to be a teacher.  I would have a student.  Or, did this mean that it was my right to now strip him bare and humiliate him as happened to a famous poet one island over in a famous incident now forever? buried? in culture shock.

What's for lunch was the question.  It had seemed so urgent.  I thought I had been on the cusp of a teachable moment, suddenly, with all my skin.

Clumsy Chump

Me, myself, and this chump.  It sounded
better with the label the imagined role.
That's how it was beneath the fever
if it fit into a can someone could can it.
Chopped, it could be a tater tot.

Saga of the Vinegaroon, Epic of the Fire Ant, Case of the Missing Syllable

How she gets to know him
at his best at his finest.
By now she should know the ropes
the crunch of insects their bug juice.
She remains astonished.  A student.
 
Their beauty is found
in the Case of the Valiant Grindstone
all beauty all rainbows.  That's what she needed.
That's what he gave.  They were both themselves.
Those aren't just small flying things.  They are
immensely interesting.  Endless.  Everywhere.

Case of the Ceaseless Music

By day my hand wrote in Spider
tapping out the tarantella for my other life
on into the mythic night.
They say if it can be described
then it can be danced
weaving place and love
cave or no cave sound or no sound.

Case of the Maroon Ennui

We are still reading and blush
there are possibilities beyond the possible
delicate bee interest of this day the goal
a few months off it is called wander.  

Case of the Absent Turn

Where was the turnaround, the roundabout, the change then
in the mysterious month all pointed
small villages thawed it looks sweaty
even from here it looks populated and I didn't
take things too far then but now I crave to
that was before my training of knowing
just when to back out of my deal
dead as dust
yet so alive
near the shop
the Lolos the Los
Dolores of the woe.
Frozen fruit.

Case of the Curious Mists

Which is the mountain which clouds
way past road construction
just like Monday sand chill
sqeaky clean breathing no other
without the tilt a question
leans in at Four Mile
enough time wouldn't you know
to get there and back.

Case of the Missing

She came to hate it, but buckled down into her own view, however curving, real, or narrow the canyon--the view quickly melted into all that other water. The matter of Zelda Fitzgerald was a lot to think about.  

She wrote:

Oh cityscape, oh underwater writing, passage complicated, still. Another time-chance, a wave, its colors: clear. Looking required more. I had a chance to look--I took it. Looking gave me something else, it gave me a forward mind, placed right in the now. Didn't this hit me, next to now as then? Past photographs do not tell the story quite so flatly. I wish to see a reflex there.

I had been dismissed from a few cases in the recent past. My mojo had disappeared, and I thought it was altogether strange that what I had presumed to be a staple of my personality--acute perception--had become strange to me and no longer accessible. Instead, I began to notice only surface features without inferring what lurked in the depths.

It might have been a result of swimming in the shallows, the protected coves and tide pools, instead of venturing out into the open sea where no emergency would be a small one. Even my analysis only went this far.

Yesterday:  my swim at a popular site on top of fresh, sweet springs that bubble into the sandy pockets of tide pools/small bays. A juvenile turtle looked at me. She was probably my age.

View We Have Now

The meat was torn up like small whales
like seals and the creatures did not live.
It is too awful to think about beside the machine.
Where will the house go?  Where will the future run to?
The guns are small, Spaceship Earth unusual
tearing across space so definite so round
never mind the towns the obligations.

Detached, Near Water

To live these surroundings
just like the old country
everything in its place
even an out-of-body experience
wind-swept but newer
familiar yet already taken
by the past that someone
forgot to talk about until now
just before you thought of it
Denise in the church welcoming
turn slightly and she'd be there
Robert behind the scenes
the subject for a whole new blog.

Kingdom of Close

For me to find it to go there finally
I could not let go of the thought
but did it help well yes and no
it lessened my lost education
to the point of living if you didn't
quite live it was it but although younger
unaware that it was something else
aimless singing after all is said and done
happy to have made lots of nonsense
that got to the heart of the matter again.

Substitute

It was something they didn't get back.
It was the music they remembered
but they remembered it otherwise
yet it became a part of themselves
and they recognized it only to lose it
again at unexpected times if one could
call it that call back impossible thought
that was not there in the first place.
Instead it was that word that name
that became the almost magical feeling.

Would Have Been An Octogenarian

Plethora of syllables
favorite animal
pushing it past grabby
world word politics
too funny for the times
slinging it round and round
in the sublime territory
sometimes glimpsed
clipped away at
finished with grief
not really.

Chalk It Up

The call of the wild did exist on that planet. It had its seasons. Mirrors became the color of despair--silver. Animal cries were grayish lemon. Examples done up in pink. There was the robot blue. And, oh, the lime, like love. One person tried to package it and sell it to the schools. Quite a bundle was made before the next busy trend, the next futile orange.

Handwriting changed there. Each word was a little island. It looked green with garnet brilliance. The words described the planet a little fancier than it actually was but also a little duller. How could that be? Go figure! was a popular saying there, one of compassion without the grit.

My Time On Planet Asterisk

Halfway seen to the naked
I spent downtime
noticing small things
this freckle or that.

A planet much like Planet X
but not as sexy.  To go there
is extra watery.  It tries to spin
just like always
despite a large pull.

Lockige

Rich art artists
had more than
ketchup between
saltines in long ago
swampy Empire.

Relax Curly Easter**only slightly surreal

Funny how
you can
hang around
laugh like that
beyond when we said
yes I know modest swirl
last tip toe around
the mood of North Korea.
I studied the blossoms
their hairy openings
heard about the others
scent color shape whispers
not forgotten yet not drunk
on a past a past
that you describe the edge of.

PP & J

Out across there is a cone
called Lone Cone
way out from the green
table of sage and burnt juniper
burnt piñon pine and Ponderosa.
You can see it from here
also from Black Canyon
but not when you're in Grand Gulch
for instance where the sand is wet
and there was that vision.
See it?  What they saw?  Looking
at you now standing around
their complex irrigation system.

Spring Break

A place of puny lettering
the most simple words
could not be written
but botched mangled
again and again
the three-legged dog
could do better
the Icelandic pony
this was funny
up to a certain point
like math the years
but words do add up
youngish any which way
they're figured.

Take A Seat

Over there it sits
without a ticket
the past so-called
in the mind of words
the knock of it jealous
the kiss of it gone she is
yourself but isn't this pain
broken open by beauty
of that cloud.  You can say
you were there too
always and beautiful night
stars twinkling Big Bear
little bear integrity.  Green
water more than you thought.

Suit Up

And show up
as they say round the circles
somewhere off that avenue
the view of the ferry? something?
the call to earn the pride in little
of it  not lasting  past the Space Needle
I wandered around there once
when I met Hank and saw
where he worked in an office
with an espresso machine
in full view of the enormous grey
we walked to a cafe where I was hated
he had moved on after all my hair like Cher's
he said but blond my clothes not grungy enough
but too tight there in the wet Northwest
in between digging down in the old ash
my inner compass pointed past Missoula
to Tina's closet of Hawaiian shirts
I was forever uncouth my animals forever
Boulder forever Eugene forever Umpqua
a dry dream a volcanic investigation
on file a report for the boss who never quit
even with tons of down time and no commute.

So Activity

A familiar name
across the radio
said by a familiar voice
quite national
while gazing
thinking
oil change reminder--
hanging there
above the road
it all clicks into place
or nearly appears so
with darkening skies
the warm pond crowded
where a man named Will
introduced himself and said
he didn't get my name. I said
that was OK I was swimming
looking at the trees above
to find my way along the edge
to not get lost
in the back and forth.

Alchemical State Of Things

In their alchemical state
no separation of church and state
the sheets expose something quite

magical the naming of the state
before and after
much like
another whip up
the daring an energy.  It blazes
there like the teacher
what took place
exactly not quiet at all
not resting with the rest
but quite demanding of it.

Something New

It is not too difficult to love 
beyond the mish mash

but I did
I do look
to find
a place

beneath the frame
of a bleak landscape
crossed by green elephants
where we walk
hard-boiled.

Never has the last frontier
been so extreme
my mind your mind
oh the jeopardy
pacing balancing
in the drizzle of safe. 

Grudge Against The Standards

I began to have a pretty heavy grudge against the standards.  They controlled my life pretty immensely. I had to show them who was boss, much like the guy in Dog Whisperer.  The only thing was this--somehow, whispering for them to go away wasn't enough and ignoring them didn't help, either.  I wished for another chance to have them be at my mercy instead of me being dragged around more of their unrelenting interpretations.

One standard circled round and around.  It had been special ordered from the Southern Hemisphere, thus, the impulse to go counter-clockwise, or was it clockwise?  Another, well, some had found out that it had been shipped from so far away.  A cute bow clipped onto its mane did not help the situation.

One kept biting viciously.  I guess it is good when they don't get ahead of you so then they know who is in charge.

The New Journalism

Of course your shadow appears there.
It always has anyway.
Of course it has come to this.
You enter the world of nonsense
beyond the access.  There are
two worlds.  One is on Waimanalo Beach
one is everywhere else.
There is a certain confidence
about that.  Joan Didion or no
Joan Didion.

There is no instant place for you
an instance for instance when
it seems to match up.  Stabbing
away at things will bring
some blood and then death.
Bandaging the wounds indicate
a sign and not quite a symbol.

Outlined And Unexpected

Everything is bigger and older
than you think.  Across
from Rabbit Island
some combers
crawl the bay all glassy
horizon cobalt
a line like in paintings.
Mokapu. Makapuu.
Sugar washing itself.
The effort of the planet
stops and starts here.
Password:  sublime.
Our relationship
still lively still the moon
in a small painting
one where I walk into you.
Women rest on the bank
of a river with gold and pink.
Is it the same woman three times?

Beautiful View

That's how it is
better by the minute
an incredible hanging on
that won't wait.

Forever Grape *warning! super surreal

Inky night its trees
they know the clouds
and wait for them beside
the atoll the monument.

It is a silk a satin
mulberry the landscape
wears in and out of season.

You gave it all
 I am now forever grape.

This is what it says
if it could speak.

The conversation
a perfect tomb
that saves
forever as a tiny
adventure

tomorrow married to today
where it is popular to visit
then become nostalgic
and miss and miss it
like greed like the sea
when on land and land
when out to sea.

Past Future Tense

It is all said to happen
in here.  But it is out there.
It is a matter of time.
Language filling in.  I look
at you from the past
the future bend caught
with my life in my hands.
A minute--
Bill and Melinda be damned
there, on the bridge of the ship
walking across to another world.
The droopy moon.

Yes Them That

Each little agenda
in retrospect

did not match
anything else but lit

the daring, the daring!
with names

places.
I love the old spots

funny how it wasn't funny
but in any language

beyond what is 
mostly thought about.

A funny poetry
a shim sham

spin it round and round
lovesick seasick.

He never really had her
he would always miss her.

We saw she wasn't
exactly there.

Change: A Detail

Weep
for the pocket the wallet
the warm place protected.

Cat
that is brushed
all dusty static. 

Map
of promises creased
uncreased.

Plight
a badge
that shows though
in random worn places.

Such
and such so and so
surround that difficult spot.

Besides This

besides that ladder
of white lilies
right out in front

I fell for the brother.
It wasn't far, this falling.
A surprise when I hit
the ground running to realize
I had fallen in love.

They say you can study your face
in the mirror (a la Plath)
and see your ancestors gathered.
I look for you.  I look
for you.  To you I look.

Cheekbones from Switzerland cow
herders and farther away
reindeer lips forehead atlas
of the north.  Short space
certain maps.  Wheat
its fields never alone.

Rolled Into One

My day began a few minutes ago, actually, a half an hour ago and here I am.  I am in the middle of people struggling to get their work finished, their hopes and dreams fulfilled in a way that will be useful to them.  Who am I here?  Who is this giigi person (made up word).

When I first began revising, it was about my spelling.  Teachers would revise my spelling and I was embarrassed. 

Spelling is a loud voice. 

When I think of propaganda, I think of government documents, persuading people about ideas.  O.K., to try to get them to do things or try things.  It sounds organized and to the point.  It is somehow dangerous when it is wrong.  Often, it is repeated and related in a loud voice--in a forceful way.  Sometimes, it can be used for good.  It can be used to heal or help.  Sometimes people cannot be organized quickly without this.

Sometimes I think I am a cliche.  So typical.  What I want, what I think, where I want it.  Words bind me.

About Time

What you provide is some of it
that lifts
with words
the electrifying field
beyond where
it's supposed to be

magician of black and white
scratchings they don't drift away
like everything everyone else.

Now they say bees and their flowers
flowers and their bees
knew these things already
for so long as long
what use to count
ambiguous math goes by the wayside
don'tcha think?

Stay with me here for awhile
smell it taste it be it
the poet says between thinking--
arrangements, buzzing
you stir it up like it matters
new patterns do.

The Drop-off

I always knew where it was
mysterious under one leg
known under the other. 
One place wild.
No need to wave to you.

My fear is pushed away
like when the vampires
all stand around and scowl
their frowns of power then
they have amazing romances
that last forever asterisk.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9HyXc4e7Qc&feature=fvwp&NR=1

Dissent

I followed the trail of sunflowers there.
It wasn't anywhere I had been before
tundra, plains, Front Range, Crater Lake
looking looking following following

all in a day's work.  The wind stirs
my hair or is it you
always shiny comfort air
a ravine a scar forever open
talk about beloved.

When I Taught Jim To Swim

I would teach you
how to swim
over again your
skinny arms
would not float
so I said to

hold my shoulders
from behind
this time I wouldn't talk
so much
but maybe look
into your eyes
underwater like a cartoon

where is it most quiet
my shell lying there
on the bottom
my old self
was I that dull before
without you this
first person pronoun
before it got personal.

Boycott

I thought about the boycott the teachers in Seattle are doing.  I thought about it real hard, how they all stand together as one at Garfield High.  It would be great to have things change around.  People realize the tests are games.  I wondered about calling things what they are.

The students knew they made me look good yesterday when I was observed.  They wanted to know what I had for lunch.  "We made you look good, Miss.  You owe us now.  What do you got for lunch?"  I said I had Craisins.  They didn't want any.

Craisins are dried cranberries.  They have sugar on them.  We watched a film that had bears in it.  They were climbing aspen trees to get caterpillar nests.  This held their attention more than Part I that had scenes of horseshoe crabs.  I noticed how the mountain sheep walked along sniffing their way across the Rockies.  The bluebird was like the sky, it was true.

Shade

She could feel the waters rising
when they put in the reservoir
shiny surface
with no shade
no place to put
all the crap
shape shifters
in the night
wait for the call
the loosening
of bandages anything
to signal life
in the echo
the claw.

Scritchy Scratch

Beneath windy moon
clouds scratch
too bright
night birches that beautiful
their wilt of leaves heal
of course in the sauna
where everything is perfect
glimmer under blinking
over the poet the teacher
the shortness of everything
others think it only a matter
of grammar but interject
it is poetry and maybe only one poem
can make its difference worldly
like rich like poor.

Furry Light

Enough to read a newspaper by
shines like a flashlight
from the distance. Yes more
her own personality
under its water
barely a phosphorescent
empire little glances of it
when stirred.

How happy if one counts
happiness by that and they do
and it does I guess its round cheek
is friendly like the nest of pits
freezing blazing framed
by everything true they say
the constellation has changed
somewhat a great loss of more
misunderstanding and trying
to figure out what was said
in the first or second places.

Useful Thing

The important study of Minerals
nodes of the moon
will not be discussed
at the picnic party

where I've taught them
where I teach them
to pull each other's hair. 

What am I doing

here John Ruskin
addicted to the self
turns out to be

my primary dream
to paint or star gaze
into clothes and victuals
always on the mind
in the free time
to be here with you
that embarrassing
like bright lights
in 7-11
sugary salty.

Effect and Cause

It is a cave

out in the square

it is rounded.

You bark

and bite

at me, Diogenes.

I pet your tail.

Scratch at

your cynical itch.

 

I ate leftovers

to become like you

warm beneath the stars

beside the campfire.

 

Still, there are

no roses around

their petals

beyond soft

I am a dog to you.

My name is creamy.

Do not leave me

in the pound forever

with its evil smell.

Dog In The House Of Tartar

I lived in that house
my whole life
had no idea you
were in the next room.
All along.  I could hear
the distant machine.
See its puffs.  Purple.
All the doors were
open pages brightly lit
what could I do but be
trapped there by the words
you use so freely.

I will think this through forever
know what it is later on
some day like that courtyard
all bare bones.  Yank my chain
but I'm sure it is real now.
Was I supposed to say this?

In the House of Tartar
a creamy place of bravery
bravura.

Now faced with more fluffy fluff
to deconstruct sit around
examine fluff-n-nutter
quality I accept white trashily.

In the house of Thanatos
Eros lives with Hypnos
the edges sharp
I got a clue about the silence.
There's just a lot more
where that came from
where I am from.