if leaders

if leaders

are not born
are not created
are not anointed
are not positioned
are not groomed
are not forged
are not made

then

how did our forebears

survive prehistory?

then again

who kept

a righteous judge
a flamboyant pharaoh
a malevolent monarch
a prissy emperor
a prominent premier
a fervent fuhrer
a colonial militia
a colonel bagosora
a major hassle

or any one of us

from ending it all?

puri

some fires cast shadows
from the edge of a room
soothing caloric presence
on a cold rainy eve

perfumed oil

some fires rage
from where the wind comes
consume land and beast
giving no quarter
granting no pardon
without reprieve

vengeful nature

some fires are beyond our
futile terrestrial realm
gasses fusing innards
warm this old rock
lifetime
upon lifetime

slip on your shades


yet


some fires refuse
to yield enough heat
to ignite someone else
to only serve
to make one wonder


granted limited fuel


why have a wick?

wry wit and wisdom

If ye shan't have meat
Then vie for a beet
Tis not very sweet
Yet more so than peat

hmmm

To pet a dear kitten
Please don thee a mitten
Not too tight a fittin'
In case ye get bitten

ohhh kay

Should ye feel blue
Melancholy hue
Pr'thee wouldst do:
Tell a rhyme'r two

ahhh

But when skies go gray
Sun hides all the day
Then indoors ye stay
And fervently pray...

ooh

For love's bewitch'n
From hell's own kitch'n
Wouldst give ye a switch'n
I still hear ye -

ALRIGHT then

man of sorrows

see my servant shall prosper
he shall be exalted and lifted up
and shall be very high
just as there were many who were astonished at him
so marred was his appearance beyond human semblance
and his form beyond that of mortals
so he shall startle many nations
kings shall shut their mouths because of him
for that which had not been told them they shall see
and that which they had not heard they shall contemplate
who has believed what we have heard?
and to whom has the arm of the lord been revealed?
for he grew up before him like a young plant
and like a root out of dry ground
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him
he was despised and rejected by others
a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity
and as one from whom others hide their faces
he was despised and we held him of no account
surely he has borne our infirmities
and carried our diseases
yet we accounted him stricken
struck down by god and afflicted
but he was wounded for our transgressions
crushed for our iniquities
upon him was the punishment that made us whole
and by his bruises we are healed
all we like sheep have gone astray
we have all turned to our own way
and the lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all
he was oppressed and he was afflicted
yet he did not open his mouth
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent
so he did not open his mouth
by a perversion of justice he was taken away
who could have imagined his future?
for he was cut off from the land of the living
stricken for the transgression of my people

isaiah 52:13-53:8 nrsv

pop balloon

apprehensively
i wait
not something to rush
as i know my heart
having done all i can
apologizing
have i done anything
to encourage this
awkwardness
or promote
misunderstanding
at least
as i perceive it
nothing more
than restoration
and renewal
do i want
however long
it takes
will be worth it
till the membrane
gives
or a pin
brings release
colored latex shreds
obliterate
what is stale
embrace
what is fresh
share
what is plunder
with those around
ka powww
rock on

three funerals and a wedding

'98

The affable Irish Realtor
So spry and energetic even into his 70s
Falls suddenly ill mid-summer
And passes at a big city hospital

I left during visitation there in her home town
Big meeting in Cinci first thing tomorrow
New client, could be a big break

As I pass the corporation sign of that little county seat
The bright skies seem wide open and inviting

Couldn't help but weigh it out in my mind
Well, we're not married
So what to do?

'99

On the way back from a camping trip
We stopped in on her other grandparents
Who treated us to a quaint little country inn
Wonderful homestyle cooking

Something resonates in their smiles
A watchful reassurance with the sunny breeze outside
Celebrating life with each leaf and blade it kisses

Just like it had on our graduation day
As we sat in the park

How it made me wonder

Funny how it is sometimes
She only learns of my plans
Through hints and gleanings

Pressing questions

Seems only moments after we drove away
We return for another wake
At a rural parish in the stagnant heat

I stayed as long as I could then left with a headache
Funny how it cleared up the moment I drove off

And as I neared my parents' house
I'll never forget that raincloud
Somehow burning with light
Like the sun itself

At least I made it back for the funeral
Complete with graveside taps and rifles
Uniting me emotionally with her family
One last time

Heh
My goals...
How I barely understood them myself

The Christmas photos that year
Tell a tale on our faces

So the very next day
She'd finally stood on her feet
Demanding an answer
That I could not give

We brought it on ourselves

The creature we had become
Could neither live or die on its own
Embracing someone yet parsecs apart
Gasping tear-soaked euthanasia

Then I drove to my house far away

Funny how even an earnest love
Can be so misplaced

And some hearts
You never can tame

'01

By no coincidence I am certain
My travels bring me through
That little town

As she was up north in her new place
Just weeks from marrying her new guy

And the rain o'er just my eyes
Signpost to signpost
Brings it to close.

Cold dark starry sky above and ahead
Yet it still tells me

It knows

definition of a girl

"Don't you look at me, boy. You're bad. I don't even know you but you're VERY bad. You better go away. And don't talk to me. What's your name?"