As we speed downtown
toward South Ferry
the window captures my image
where it hovers, perhaps forever,
leading me to wonder:
whose train-snared shades surround me?
Who went before?
Whose paths do I share?
Who are my companions?
11 May 2013
1 Train between 116th and 110th
We who judge the acts of others,
might do well to think and pause,
of what we ourselves do carry:
words spoken and unspoken,
deeds finished, deeds undone.
We would hide them from all others,
we would hide them from our friends,
we would hide them from our lovers,
we would hide them from ourselves.
Buried deep on deep inside us,
just below the surface,
carefully kept from thought and view,
still they haunt us,
shame us, scare us,
in the silence
they thrive and grow.
2 May 2013
Shire on the Hudson
I bask in the Manhattan sun,
warm against my face
and remember Ireland a year ago
with Tricia and with friends,
and rejoice with Joel and Roja
whose promises drew us across the water,
and ache for Joe who joined us there
and today grieves his brother’s death.
Disparate feelings stir, mix, tug,
today, as every day. Life.
27 April 2013
Shire near the Hudson
Death struck
One called
One went
Together wept
Nothing more
Nothing less
Love
4 April 2013
Amtrak 185
On the road to the Incheon airport,
as the sun climbed slowly over the hills,
we watched the moon dissolve
in the gentle blue sea sky and
fade from view,
making yet another
graceful exit.
Incheon
29 March 2013
Be careful.
Keep safe.
Don’t get into trouble.
If trouble comes looking for you . . .
run!
15 August 2001
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
Filed under Cleveland Heights, Poem
You smiled.
Across the room,
across the miles,
across the years,
across the veil
between the worlds,
you smiled.
At me
you smiled.
You smiled.
It was, it is,
enough.
Shire on the Hudson
29 January 2013
Battered, but unbroken,
he rises.
Beaten, but undefeated,
he rises.
Bruised, but undaunted,
he rises.
The shine long gone,
dents make his armor
appear infected
with a rusty pox.
Still he rises.
Creaks and squeaks,
from metal joints -
or human joints -
fill the air.
Yet still he rises.
There be no dragons,
no endless tasks,
no giants,
but simply living -
decent, loving,
just living,
day by day by
endless day.
And to that quest,
the highest quest,
again he rises,
still he rises.
always he rises.
He rises.
He rises.
He rises.
25 January 2013
Shire on the Hudson
Filed under Poem
In the morning,
when we gathered,
the early morning,
the cool, quiet morning,
we were not afraid.
And we sang and prayed;
we laughed and smiled;
we marched.
When we saw the hate,
fear spattered us.
When we saw the police,
fear arrested us.
When we saw the batons,
fear battered us.
When we saw the gas,
fear engulfed us.
When we saw the hoses,
fear washed over us.
When we saw the dogs,
fear snarled at us.
When we saw the guns,
fear tore at us.
In the morning,
when we gathered,
the early morning,
the cool, quiet morning,
we were afraid -
sore afraid -
sore, sore afraid.
But we sang and prayed;
we laughed and smiled;
and we marched.
Inspired, on the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.‘s birthday, by the Palestinians, Israelis and internationals who worked nonviolently to protect the village and olive trees of Budrus, and by all who use nonviolence to witness for justice, wholeness and peace.
15 January 2013
Shire on the Hudson
Filed under Poem, Current Events
