Traveling Without Moving

I have passed from the past, I have moved

From science and history, traveled to

The realm of poetry and my story,

I have moved to the future, the void

That is the realm of nought, philosophy.

I traveled all the way by river boat,

I am rocked by the waves of its time.

I sink the screw into the water, churn

My way upstream, then lift it out again

So I drift once again in the frothy flow.

I seek at once both mouths and sources, sense

And dark nonsense and, between, a new sense.

Can I rule, be a hero, and a saint?

An artist, with each image that I paint?

A Song for Anna

I love my life

I love my wife

I love the home we made

I'm full of praise

For all the days

We've live and loved and played

She is my source of happiness

With her I feel most free

With her I feel I must caress

The life she's given me. 

I love my life

I love my wife

I love the home we made

I'm full of praise

For all the days

We've live and loved and played

Time Saved

An hourglass, its waist too wide--the sand

Falls through too fast--in seconds it is over.

What good is it to tell time for my trip?

I travel down the parkway, missing sights

On highways that would wander through the trees.

It's faster on the parkway. More efficient

Time saved. Time saved at the expense of beauty. 

For More Timefulness

I spend my days in constant study,

Finding how I need a more timeful life

Wherein existence becomes less muddy

And I've evolved to clarify this strife

Which lies inherent in this existence,

Where only small green buds may slowly form,

Meeting every new and old resistance

To such cool, open flowers from the warm

Buds from plants from sun and minerals came,

Complexity bringing forth much more time

Than we can at this low, bud-level name

Or understand or even start to mime.

And yet, I feel the pull into complex

New timeful levels than my mind reflects.

Mammon

A Prayer to Mammon

"I bow down and worship, ready to serve--

You are all, what I live for. And even if

I see no soul staring at me from my

Mirrored eyes, I will see no evil

In anything you make me do. For the promise

Of cars and planes and vacations

To places I have never been, I will turn 

Myself into your supplicant, manipulate

Every man I can manage to your ends.

All means shall be open, as necessary--

Charm and meanness, truth and lies.

There is no meaning but what can be purchased

By you who rules all. I will sacrifice

Myself, my friends, my family--

My happiness and joy, the growth of my soul--

To making more of you, my god.

With you, I can purchase all I lost--

Let my anger flair at those who stand

Between me and having more of you.

Amen."

The Happy Man Speaks to Mammon

"You are a way, and not the end

To which we all must aim. Things

Will not bring me joy--only comforts

Of life, clothes, a belly full

Of good food--good things one can enjoy

With family, friends, and wife.

You are a means to physical comfort,

Experiences, a relaxing life,

To books and music, movies, plays, and art--

May I never forget that is all you are."