AD.

WALKING ON THIN ICE

do it cuz you oughter

rainwayrainway

Daily Do Done Did Again

“Whatcha doin’?”
Walking the wheel.
“Why ya walkin’?”
Cuz that’s the deal.

This daily dance in the gravity well
you think perchance it’s our hell?

Do it once
do it twice
do it every day
for life

We work this walk till warp reweaves
our daily take on earth’s unease

There’s wheel involvement
weighing the waste
realignment
and training our taste

Till bitter wind of yesterday gone
it’s to us to right the wrongs

So dampen bile
share your light
smile that smile
defeat this tripe

Or grump and groan and beef and moan
and walk a harder tone

Do it for Mr. Rogers
do it for Dr. Seuss
do it cuz you oughter
do it for good use

– Smith, 2.16.2016

I told a Facebook friend his comments to me were essentially negative put downs.

He replied: Not meant as put downs. “Giving ’em a Neg”, a millennial tells me, is usually taken as a sign of friendly joshing.

Told him in this Donald Trump negative world, there was enough nastiness out there and that negativity was no longer hip.

Thanks to Lady K’s gentle heart, I’m being slowly weaned from verbal nastiness, which part of me views as unfortunate because I have such a sharp wicked tongue . . . but the hate and negativity I see before me ain’t good for my health. I’ve pretty much stopped posting anything political or nasty, though I do slip. Even my poems have become less negative. There’s enough nasty in the mix as it is.

So fuck the nasty, me be good.

doornumber3door number 3

hissssssssses

blanketmandy

Status Report 177

Soaking in tub
talking to cat on edge
purring back at me
she abruptly looks at tiled corner
I follow
nothing there
‘You see something I don’t?”
she looks at me, whips back
“What is it, girl?”
she hunches down
flattens ears
fluffs fur
bares teeth
hissssssssses
waits in crouch
turns back
normal again
with nary an explanation

– Smith, 2.15.2016

chairbackmandy

virtual valentine

workingladyLady working on art

Be Mine, Virtual Valentine

Dawn soon to break
on love’s one winter day
but I say away
to just one
because love’s every day
mine to you
you to me
we to cat
cat sometimes to us
sometimes tooth blood claw
love driven to be forgiven
so happy me with you
happy you to me
happy three we
fine fluxation be

– Smith, 2.14.2016

catwatercat waiting on water

scrambling dusk and dawn

xmastreefire20161

The First Poet

The beat of blood
the flick of flame
the slap of feet
the circled tribe around the fire
in dancing shadow
demons dungeon dark
held by heat of heart
throat rasping
how Fox buried egg in day
how Coyote stole
and broke it
scrambling dusk and dawn

– Smith, 2.13.2016

ladyofnight

xmastreefire2016b

in quiet albino caucasian

dividingline

Status Report 176

Snow flurries muffle sky
big flakes slo-mo laze
thick like zero gravity popcorn
falling floating forever
covering cracks
hiding holes
coating dirt, defects, damage
in soft, in cold
in quiet albino caucasian
of lack in white

– Smith, 2.12.2016

darkascend

it smooths in ass shine

detail

Status Report 175

Walk stone steps forever
you cut a groove

Sit on wood often enough
it smooths in ass shine

Drip water on rock over centuries
it wears a hole

Irritate an oyster with sand
it covers it in pearl

Sometimes you need
to stay outside the lines

– Smith, 2.11.2016

bowlingballs

they wrap my want in effluvium

rusuresmith

Status Report 174

Got through another day
some how some way
still upright and taking steps
to move a bit farther from the net

They wrap my want in effluvium
toss with fish
and yesterday’s paper

Phone’s unanswered
landline dead

Tomorrow try again

– Smith, 2.10.2016

membershiprenewal

one soup to rule them all

chili1

One Soup to Rule Them All

I don’t cook
though I played one for six months
in County Jail lockup 1970
but wife is stressed and stretched and strung
with work hell so I’ve begun
making one large Dutch oven soup a week
to help feed and ease my she.

I’m good at it, find it fun.

My one recipe fits all –
for today’s chili
pour 1/4 cup olive oil in Dutch oven pan
finely chop 4 medium onions
4 carrots
4 stalks celery
11 sprigs parsley
add to pan
saute over medium flame with lid on
stirring frequently
add 1 pound fake meat soy protein mix
cook and stir 20 minutes
add 2 small cans kidney beans
1 small can black beans
1 large can diced tomatoes
couple shakes MSG, salt, black pepper
4 capfuls cream sherry
bit of water
pack of chili mix
bring to boil
lower flame and simmer 50 minutes
fill a blender with cooked beans and veggies
puree
pour back in
add frozen corn
simmer 30 minutes
eat.

Same basic flow for black bean soup
but replace chili mix with cumin
and fake meat with nothing
or navy bean soup with bay leaf and thyme
and smoked salt
or potato soup with spice of choice.

Soon I’ll can the cans
cook dry beans
cut and cook tomatoes.

Best navy bean soup I’ve had.
Pretty good chili.
Fine black bean.

Secret is simple –
more finely chopped veggies than you’d think
and slooooooow cooking.

Nature and chemistry do the rest.

– Smith, 2.9.2016

Lady has taken over the small family web design business, and trying to get a handle on scheduling 2-3 others, plus admin, plus customer relations, plus doing most of the billable coding is beating her down until she figures out the proper mix.

So I’ve also taken over most breakfasts with egg & muffin sandwiches alternating with oatmeal . . . the oatmeal’s extra tasty slow-cooked with milk, vanilla, and raisins, and sweetened with brown sugar and local maple syrup.

I already handle the laundry and dishes, as well as assorted shopping chores and errands, and usually the catbox. And I normally drive so Lady can work on her laptop or catch up on sleep in the passanger seat.

In a few weeks I’ll be 70. Strange trip. Started writing and singing blues lyrics at 56, took up romance with Lady at 59 after 20 years celibacy, and now becoming a cook in my late 60’s.

Who’da thunk it?

chili2

chili3

pillar to post

pillarpost2

Status Report 173

Work for deadline or desire?
Deadline or desire?

Everyone gotta eat
everyone gotta sleep

We go pillar to post
pillar to post
bad shelter to no shelter
wrong side of the road
dreaming mango and mint
and coconut cream
while stomach stumbles in need
pillar to post in this land
of the most with the least

– Smith, 2.8.2016

pillarpost1

we are laugh on way to light

messes

Status Report 172

The parade’s over
the ticker tape down
and I just reached the line

Sign says I can ride
if I’m this tall
but my feel’s too small

Don’t dig too deep
in the mind of meme
if you don’t like rotting meat

Best rally round the roses
pocket the prickle of prime
sublime

Remember, collaborator
it is we who provide
the mirth

Else the motor rusts
the metaphor’s over
the parable done

We are laugh on way to light

– Smith, 2.6.2016

unattendedchildren