Plato's Cave

Old Number Nth

2006-11-20T14:49:00.000-08:00

He joined up with aspiration.

Grab a chance at education.

He could not afford the cost

But lacking it his future lost.

Stricken moms hold folded flags

And stare at rows of body bags.

Great Divide

2006-09-02T21:53:00.000-07:00

Surrounded by others but usually alone,
(save for a voice on a cellular phone.)
Yet, why do I feel encircled by my tribe,
strolling by myself along the great divide?

Frankenstein

2006-08-13T20:34:00.000-07:00

I’m taking my life apart,
putting it into boxes.
But what if Igor and I
can’t will it quick again,
when it’s all back together?
And it will be a soulless thing
whose parts are all at war.
Woe, nevermore my heart to sing
in harmony as before.

Decor

2006-08-06T08:38:00.000-07:00

The urge to give to others clues,
As to our private views,
Sometimes takes peculiar twists,
Shows more than we would wish,
More than we can bare with ease,
Expose us to a critic’s tease.
So lest regret strike like a blow,
Beware just how much you show.

Tattoo

2006-07-04T04:52:00.000-07:00

Tats are cool.
They state your view,
Tho another's art you borrow.
But they tell you that,
Today’s follies are phat,
And that being so,
A heart can't grow,
Into what you are tomorrow.

Retired

2006-06-04T20:57:00.000-07:00

The old gal no more braves the sea.
Yet, she seems content to me,
Sitting on a mud flat singing her song,
For every shutterbug that comes along.

Consumer

2006-05-26T15:29:00.000-07:00

Container ships bring goods galore, to U.S. from Asian shore. We can’t pay now, maybe later but send more stuff by offshore freighter. Pretty soon our debt to Beijing is bigger than we can be paying then Asian man will come across the water and take away my oldest daughter.

MONSTERS

2006-04-22T12:55:00.000-07:00

The works of man have dwarfed his being
He crouches amid his giant conceiving
Behemoths he loosed no longer heed
His guidance, for why should they need
Be told their nature is to his service tied
When they loom o'er him in their pride.
In vain he struggles now to control,
Beasts whose needs consume his soul.

Questions

2006-03-05T12:35:00.000-08:00

Grandson: Why did you take a picture of a naked lady, grandpa?

Photog: To challenge my photographic skill, little buddy.

Grandson: How’s that?

Photog: To see if I could make a shot of this girl’s body look like just a pure form,
like it was sculpture, say.

Grandson: Oh, I get it... I think.

Tourists

2006-03-05T12:13:00.000-08:00

Touring couples often find
They don’t share a common mind
Where to stop is oft decided,
In a way that leaves divided.
But, if their humor lasts this trip,
Their’s is a solid partnership.

Patriot Act

2006-02-28T10:05:00.000-08:00

If Tom Paine’s ghost we happened to meet would his rueful look give us pause? Yes, we should be rioting in the street but saints forbid we should break any laws.

Street of Dreams

2006-02-03T14:13:00.000-08:00

There is a place where no one goes,
A place where real no longer flows,
It’s scary walking down the street,
You never know just what you’ll meet.

Teen

2006-02-03T13:46:00.000-08:00

Ohmygod, shegottabod, telme,
Knowhatamean, waycool, coodbe,
Whadesay, noway, hardly,
Hellafun, Igottarun, party.

Reality

2006-01-31T16:14:00.000-08:00

Kindly nature has seen fit,
To blind our mind’s eye to it.
For if we looked it in the face,
‘Twould surely end the human race.

The Waitress

2006-01-12T23:05:00.000-08:00

I must attend this Bill of Fare
But lest you think me unaware
In time I’ll eye her glorious hair
And note her fetching derriére.

The Bride

2006-01-05T01:47:00.000-08:00

I'll put my snowy gown away,
And view it not for many day.
Then nostalgic I’ll reminisce,
How once a virgin yet unkiss’d.
I yearned to be some man’s chattel,
To bear his whelp and tend his cattle.
But if his care prove unrewarding,
Things not unfold as should according,
Reserved have I a means so dire,
That his soul would pray for fire.

FEAR

2006-01-02T10:25:00.000-08:00

BART train coming down the track,
Whoa, a dark man and suspicious pack.
Is it the terrorist whom I dread?
No, sick fear shan't own my head.

Young Women

2005-12-29T10:42:00.000-08:00

Young women blossom like a flower,
Alas, their bloom lasts but one hour,
How happy we to happen by,
Just when she most delights the eye.

Saving Souls

2005-12-19T04:32:00.000-08:00

Would not aggressive proselytizer,
Pursue a course far, far wiser,
Would he tamp down his zeal political,
And fill his heart with love ecumenical.

Further Reflections

2005-12-16T15:02:00.000-08:00

Photons bouncing all around
Fascinate me with this town.
Image, object, the twain bisected
But in my head they are connected.

Overheard at Lunch

2005-11-25T15:45:00.000-08:00

The office drones escape in a bunch,
And rush down to the alley for lunch,
“Don’t I know the dude at the ATM?
Ohmagod, lookit the buns on him.
Please Steffany, if you’re able,
Grab us two chairs at his table.”

Cafe Divine

2005-11-25T07:57:00.000-08:00

A cup of coffee to start the day,
Lost in thought inside this café,
Anything pressing I need to do?
Hmm...perhaps a carefree tour to Peru?

The Lighthouse

2005-11-23T09:05:00.000-08:00

Whenever I perchance to meet
A technology now long obsolete,
I’m struck with just how great
My time differs from that date.
And yet he who toiled with these old tools
Was put to task to deal with fools
(Who pined alas for days gone by)
Much the same as now do I.

Tomales Bay

2005-11-19T14:02:00.000-08:00

Mouldering relic of a happier time,
I toast your past and mark with rhyme,
The pining for a long dead ghost,
That once did grace this fogbound coast.

Point Reyes

2005-11-19T04:48:00.000-08:00

With the sound of laughter,
bourn on the seabreeze,
a glow of tenderness,
passes o'er me.

For Just a Moment

2005-11-18T21:14:00.000-08:00

Water-strider's feet dimpling the pond,
Or the tinkling of a brook.
Good enough reasons for shuffling off
The weight of being me.

Old Things

2005-11-16T10:03:00.000-08:00

We treasure things rubbed by time,
It softens the edges of that too new.
Old comfy chair of mine,
Sad, your ilk are now so few.

Reflection

2005-11-14T13:40:00.000-08:00

I recently read that physicists now suspect that gravity might be the result of a holographic-like projection of other-dimensional realities into our spacetime.

How will THAT grab promoters of "Intelligent Design?"

Of Course!

2005-11-11T14:51:00.000-08:00

Photog: "When you look so elegant, what are you thinking?"
Model: "About how I look."

In Praise of Dark Houses

2005-11-08T22:50:00.000-08:00

The cold mist blows in from the sea,

Steals through the forest,

Now, surrounds this house.

I reflect on this.