Poetry
“Incessant Distress”
In youth a boundless dimension engrosses enough
To play in freedom love music just measured by desire.
Against which patterns of repeated and relentless rebuff
Enclose that space of dreams burnt black by fire.
There lurks an incessant distress that does enslave
Good souls to drudge the field and age in the sun.
Where crops compost to inter in wave upon wave
An epoch made soil of a battle that can’t be won.
A sojourn to solitude may freeze the rushing stream
Of time eternal, but peace comes not alone.
Divide the threat and share that pace by team
And draw one near to swell that shot full blown.
Embrace each moment engendered embryonic in the womb
Record what annals may come from then till tomb.
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“Thunderstorms”
Late summer’s heat and sweat exhausts the day.
A scorching sun does sear the sultry sky
To wilt composed dry suits all creased one way.
Without relief, fresh flowers fade and die.
Horizon’s hot lines sizzle across the dearth.
A hot mirage appears to hop away.
From heaven’s host, a respite sign for earth
May come to save the humid, languid day.
Dark clouds begin to swirl across the land.
Great gusts of wind make hearts begin to boom.
A storm blows in and rolls a drummers’ band.
Then rain pelts down and pounds a gloomy doom.
Torrential tears soon quench the thirst for more.
God sends commands in bolts from flashing eyes.
Bright strobes of light precede the crack and roar.
The wrath is calmed. The sun comes out and dries.
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“Mother’s Day”
A flourish of tribute to those that gave birth.
A baby delivered fills parents with mirth.
From cradle to floor they can watch growth spin
A toddler walks, then their troubles begin.
Oh mommy, oh mommy, but where are you?
The calls relent whatever she may do.
Maternal relief for youth’s every ill,
The hurt goes away because of her skill.
One day in the year she gets lots of rest
To recall the gift for which she is blessed.
Though the years gone by have left her all gray
She’s feels so young each spring on Mother’s Day.
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“Sparkle”
In shadows, phantoms play upon the mind.
When eyes are blinded vision can’t perceive
Without some light to see what objects find
To ease the fears of dark wraiths which deceive.
A radiant flicker instills such calm.
A gem entraps its gleam deep inside.
Untouchable though in the midst of palm;
The curious ray enchanting the eye.
A steady glow is warm without the trance
That bright sparkles engage as if alive.
Uncertain rhythms like flames in a dance,
Fascinating sparks each instant arrive.
A lover’s eyes soft twinkle and a smile
Beckon the heart to flutter wanting more.
The soothing stroke of warm hands that beguile
All thoughts of what’s next to create allure.
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“Memorial Day”
What Holiday was this you say?
A time to grieve what souls are gone.
Why do we work our lives away?
What dreams where hopes are raised each dawn.
Each day we trudge to earn our keep
To take back home some fine reward.
We work all day until we sleep.
A precious moment may record.
The time to think about what’s lost
Or what may never come to be.
Forecast what’s next but life gets tossed,
Because there’s nothing just for free.
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“Weekend Warrior”
The yard demands my hardest work;
Late spring the chores begin.
Two acres of green lawn and trees;
A pond where frogs croak in.
The mess out front awaits my back
To construct farmed field stone.
Into a wall that sets the bound
This scene our town is prone.
A mason’s work is quite tricky
To find a rock’s best face.
The weight of each will lock the next
Into a thing of grace.
This weekend’s work will surely strain;
My muscles will get fatigued.
This time of year I plan ahead
For next year’s yard intrigue.
Good sleep I must if I’m to last
Tomorrow’s rapid pace.
A tractor I did rent for play
To build a better place.
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“Good Friends To Make”
I’m tired from all that I have taken on.
In some way work engrosses so much
That I am energized by what’s at dawn
Of each new task I take. Good folks I touch,
From time to time. From that, I thrive to feel
Ideas flow among those that connect.
For those that don’t, I have no instant zeal,
But bide a bit for what I might detect
Will be a way to reach some more inside.
Again and again, I watch patiently.
Perhaps a chance, one on one, to confide
Those irks within that keep on endlessly.
In this, I find a chance that may secure
Discovery of some new aim that sends
Revived new drive repeating what’s so pure
As life’s ambition: making more good friends.
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“Big Garden”
I wander through the big garden
Under the hot blue sky.
I get all dirty watching the bugs.
So soon the corn’s eye-high.
The grown-ups work; won’t let me help.
Then I’ll plant my own seeds
In a corner; they’ll never know.
I watch each day for weeds.
What grows in my patch, I’m not sure.
I buried seeds I found
From a watermelon I ate.
My plant must be around.
I wait for red cherries so sweet.
To sit near them in dirt;
Then, I pop them into my mouth.
My bite makes them go squirt.
There’s a bull frog in here I know.
I’ll catch him warts and all.
I’ll put him in a covered box,
From which he’ll never crawl.
I have my bare feet in the mud,
So cool it seems to me.
The dirtier I get in there,
I get to jump with glee.
So hot in here under the sun
The plants just wilt all weak
As if they’ll never grow again
Big garden seems so bleak.
And then I watch the rain come down
From underneath the porch
It cools the grass and smells so nice
And now the plants won’t scorch.
What makes the tomatoes so good?
Each one gets ripe alone
I choose just which one that I want
To suck the juice and moan.
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“Furtive Glance”
When stranger’s eyes may meet in furtive glance,
Surrounding scenes determine what they see.
A skittish scurry when pairs meet by chance.
Familiar ground will mean that they won’t flee.
Security softens, so eyes advance
Exchanging thoughts instantaneously.
Unsettled places yield little but a glance.
Surrounding air then drops to chilled degree.
The eyes of beasts have a similar stance
Of warmth or cold within each one they see.
While human eyes with brains to think enhance.
What splendid difference will always be.
The truest eyes are willing ones to dance
In visions wild that make new friends agree.
To flaunt and taunt their inner moods. Romance
Those looks of love. Good life’s a guarantee.
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“Gordian Knot”
Anticipating life ahead
For mates that wrap their hearts.
A Gordian knot at wedlock;
From each one neither parts.
While waves of stress make swells at sea,
And saplings grow a burl.
Confounded jolts of argument;
Their minds begin to whirl.
Expressions gone, they hardly kiss.
Ones thought the other twists.
That strains what’s tied until it’s taut.
This bond of love persists.
The brooding pair works endlessly;
That ravel they won’t hack.
The worst of storms will soon subside.
Winds calm so that there’s slack.
Desire yearns on in time’s relief.
Such strength in braided rope.
If there’s an end to be unfurled
Without a doubt it’s hope.
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“Melba Soft”
Sun ripened fruit riding among the leaves,
Taunting a touch to the soft fuzzy skin.
Blowing branches beckon like breaths in heaves
Panting to pick the ripe peach that glows within.
Head poised high and limbs stretched to reach the top.
Toes pointed by the tantalizing source.
Heartbeats surging rush to reach that sweet crop;
Melba soft crush of desire extols love’s force.
Lusting rhythm’s repeated hot fashion
Is nature’s song call to beget the breed.
Love’s human bonds instill craving passion.
Succulent juice flows all around the seed.
Orchards are farmed where pruned saplings take root.
Rows of fruit trees come together to bear
Unions of trust in ecstatic pursuit
That fulfill ones dreams of a fervent affair.
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“Cape Cod”
A week in weather wonder Cape Cod
Where the sun burns quite hot
But soon the clouds and wind from East
Let tans at the beach go naught.
The whales feed at Stellwagon Bank
While tourist ships look on
Finbacks lazily breach the waves
In nature’s world they spawn.
A cow calf pair swims shallow to deep
To intrigue the crowd above
As if to think their show goes on
As if in courtly love.
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“Forty-nine”
This birthday finds you in the final year
Of your fifth fine decade upon good earth.
Reflections versed by a wistful chevalier.
Will horizons ahead bring times of mirth?
From school to career, wedlock and offspring
The sensual beauty grows into a bloom
Producing true love: a much greater thing
Than started when joined as young bride and groom.
Still passion needs to burst into the flame
That welds our love’s summation ever more.
Vicissitudes of life are then lulled tame.
Becalms beast to pet, bedlam to rapport.
Let’s hold a steadfast course across the sea
In waves of heat to a higher degree.
September 26, 2002
“Play in the Shadows”
A fervent backlight through lover’s minds
Casts playful shadows onto a crystal speckled foreground of laughter
Without the voices.
Those flattened silhouettes
Beckon to heed their suspect attraction
Of racy dancing images.
Their dark stealth belies the joyous motion of their union
In a time made by the yearning light
That sends them to the scene.
They share soft secrets with each other
Warding against those
That do not understand their play.
Without eyes, they see each other
Sometimes straining to discern their inner character
Against contrasting background.
Each dimensional frame of emotion
Freezes their thoughts yet warms their bosoms
Drawing lives closer to the edge.
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Halloween 2003
Who wanders the fields so cold at night?
Scaring those who seem to live in fright.
Halloween portends dark thoughts of fire.
Hearts quiver lust in shudders of desire.
What seems now this is gone past to then.
Time shutters frames caught still: never again
To be found in real time romantic stature.
Good grace in arms entwine warm bodies in rapture.
These scenes from inner shadows of the mind
Do taunt the psyche otherwise confined
To dream what else may come through heat
That kills the chill of the dark night’s deceit.
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“Evil Eye”
Who wanders the streets so cold at night?
Scaring those who seem to live in fright.
Halloween portends; grim thoughts are dire.
Hearts quiver fear; cursed souls cry afire.
These scenes from gloomy corners of the mind
Do taunt the psyche otherwise confined.
We dream what else may come through heat
That kills the chill of the dark night’s deceit.
That sight can’t be real it’s so close to touch.
Dare not reach to see or find out too much.
So tense are nerves each one seems to die.
What lurks in dark shadows is that evil eye!
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Mission 2000
The strength of history and tradition
Builds upon the foundation of this art.
Kwan Jan Nim has set upon that mission.
To assist, Dans and Gups must take their part.
Soo Bahk Do is how to perform a technique.
What leaders create is stillness in motion.
First harden the mind, and then the physique.
Respect each step in the journey of promotion.
Distinguished from all by power of Hu Ri
In crisp white Do Bak with ancient lapel.
In line with seniors, all juniors agree.
Endless training is the way to excel.
Moo Duk Kwan is the philosophy aspired.
Initiated action: it’s already done, sir!
From past to future is the connection required.
Convey this value for wisdom to occur.
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“Mended Wall”
When man sets nature’s rocks he builds a wall
Which lines the fields of toil that farmers make
In timeless bounds around plots big and small.
In courses, the stone soldiers will not break.
Each heft to place fieldstones into their place
Develops strength in arms and eyes to see
That rough rocked weight balanced firm by its face.
Each one ought fit the next reveals the key.
Whatever something loves a wall, knows how
It’s formed to please just as words set that way
And cast a balance, not keep out a cow.
Linguistic rows of art meant to convey.
No wonder those built wrong the frost can heave
A shaky stack the neighbors beside offending.
Amorphous fences framed will not relieve
The granger’s obliged work: forever mending.
A monumental task for comprehending
How thoughts expressed by visions do achieve.
A rhythm ringing in the mind for blending
The boulders walled straight easy to perceive.
The wall’s all done! What touchstone to portray?
The landscape is clear and ready to plow.
Will brimstone reveries thump hearts today?
Make each conquest by working hard the brow.
Strong scenes of stone will let the mind roam free.
By reaping crops grown there, locate the base
Where emblems adorn the fait accompli
And hands that till pull up so arms embrace.
Memorials in rock make no mistake
Preserving characters from days descended.
With small gaps between them, thoughts give and take
Displays of true pictures forever mended.
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“Toothless Wonder”
For weeks on end, her tooth would move
And then it got real wiggly.
She knew her top front tooth would go
The thought made her all giggly.
One day while riding the school bus,
She pulled it with her finger.
The tooth came out, oh what a treat!
Long did that great thrill linger.
She called her Dad with the news.
He said he’s on the way.
For her that took so very long,
As if it were all day.
When Dad got home he saw her prize.
Her blue eyes shined all wide.
He got out the new camcorder.
She put the tooth aside.
On film, the moment was preserved
Of when that tooth just dropped
Onto the floor; just clicked away
With it her heart then flopped.
Crawling around on hands and knees,
Whimpered did this youth.
How would the tooth fairy exchange?
So important was this tooth.
So Dad got down to help her out.
Fortunately he saw
That gleaming baby enamel
Just fallen from her jaw.
He smiled and gave it back to her
For sure she would hold tight.
But this lesson she did not learn,
And then there was more plight.
That tiny tooth would not stay still
So careless was this pup.
This time it flew onto the floor.
Again, she messéd up.
They watched that tooth bouncing around
Landing under the stove.
To where so much had long been lost,
Behind that tooth they dove.
Daddy got a ruler and light.
Find it again he must.
But very hard it was to see,
Amid that dirt and dust.
“Ah ha!” he said, “found it again.”
Sternly, he did rebuff.
So happy she could hardly hear.
As if this weren’t enough.
He put her tooth into a cup
And placed it on the table,
But Mom came in and didn’t see.
This turns into a fable.
Dad went out the door to Karate.
The house was a tumult.
The toothless wonder of this case
Was still in her exult.
She forgot where Daddy put it
And got to stay awake.
Soon Daddy would come home from class.
Lost tooth was her heartache.
“I put it in a cup,” he said.
“Where was this cup?” Mom cried.
“On the big table,” he rejoined.
This loss they all denied.
“Oh my God!” Mom exclaimed freaked out.
“Who knew that tooth was there?”
“I put it in the dishwasher!”
They all fell in despair.
If ever there be a good chance,
He groped in that machine.
A macerator and filter:
Was this thing ever clean?
“Take it all apart!” implored she.
“Inside we’ll find my tooth.”
“Forget it.” Dad said in the gunk.
For this he was a sleuth.
He probed and plied in the garbage.
How could there be more truth?
He knew the hardest thing in there
Would be that curséd tooth.
He poked around in the corner
And heard that famous click.
He handed what he found to her.
No longer was she sick.
“Oh, here’s my tooth! Thank you Daddy
For finding it for me!”
Incredulous and glad was Mom.
They all cried in their glee.
That night the tooth fairy did come
And left her lots of change.
Filial bliss ends this story.
In life that’s not so strange.
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“Ballard of a Cho Dan”
When man first stood two legs on earth
Such chaos stirred about.
To live, to eat, defend from birth
His skills were all in doubt.
In hunger, pain, distress and cold
Each day brought forth more yearn.
To thrive in life he grew more bold.
So much he had to learn.
Endeavor he must no time to sigh.
Ambivalence would never do.
From full to empty and back again
He got his first good clue.
Good balance seemed to stop the waste.
In fields, he made to sow
The seeds for ages that he faced.
Soo Bahk Do!
* * * *
With thriving crops good word did spread.
Such peace would never last
To save what future lies ahead.
Rest not within the past.
A siege upon his land occurred
Dark warriors bent to steal.
Against their weapons he was no match.
Abhorrent was his ordeal.
Defend himself and kin he must.
Be free from what’s so mean.
What’s wrong would right by actions just
And then it’s all pristine.
Philosophy would be the way.
Something called Moo Do.
Commit to train each day.
Soo Bahk Do!
* * * *
A winter foundation led his quest.
So innocent was his mind.
In white Do Bahk, he first got dressed
‘Twas then began the grind.
Strange steps and turns that went each way
In doubt, he strove to act.
His punches and blocks went wherever they may,
But soon he made a pact.
So learned was he that did command.
Sa Bom Nim was his name.
Instructor and student went hand and hand
He led in what’s no game.
Demonstrations were given again and again
Their bond began to grow
The energy within became a Zen.
Soo Bahk Do!
* * * *
Ice melts, ground thaws, the signs of spring
Relieve the winter’s dearth.
The warmth and water then did bring
Some color. What was it worth?
A hint of growth perchance to gain
Some value to it all.
His mind did learn that it’s domain
Would keep the body tall.
With courage strike, display intent.
Awareness of what surrounds.
It’s conflict that these acts prevent.
Such will shall have no bounds.
Good concentration is what it takes
To let the body flow
Into the blocks, kicks and fakes.
Soo Bahk Do!
* * * *
Lush growth extends all around.
Control becomes a fault.
Techniques seem to know no bound.
From this he must exalt.
The weeds are wild the crops still slight.
However can they compete?
The rains that come still cool the night.
His tension awaits the heat.
With every movement time will tell.
It’s how he will survive.
Soon his bosom learns to swell,
And then he comes alive.
The buds have flowered; fruits have set,
Yet growth just seems so slow.
The plants have just beget.
Soo Bahk Do!
* * * *
In summer solstice, the sun is strong.
More growth is not in doubt.
In dark and light, he sings a song.
His strength begins to sprout.
Excite! There’s heat and fire within.
His form is more secure.
A frown has turned into a grin.
It’s soon he will mature.
Slow down, he says. You go too fast.
He’s heard it again and again.
Becalm yourself to make it last,
And rise from where you’ve been.
Relax yourself, and then you’ll see.
Your warmth turns to a glow.
That force within is all your Ki.
Soo Bahk Do!
* * * *
The moon is full; the ground is bright.
He spars with check and speed.
Each step presents his might,
So now he can accede.
His spirit cries way out, “Taaay!”
By that he means get back.
Defend with art keep foes at bay
By his counter attack.
With what he’s learned, he’s gained insight
To lead along the route.
The skill of hand and foot delight
A well-deserved salute.
The harvest work has reaped the fruit
From teachings long ago
In this a most loft pursuit.
Soo Bahk Do!