FLIGHT SCHOOL

I wanted to
Be more like
The hawks
Or falcons
Or whatever flies
In a cool
And gracious way
But I am
More like
A hummingbird
Inhaling the marrow
Out of circumstance

RON COHN
MY
EMPLOYER

The store owner
Said to me
“Peace brother”
He said
“This is retail”
But I know
Peace is not
For sale
Where there is pain
There’s no peacefulness
Peace is a fruit
Of friendship
And I know
Friends don’t exploit friends
Friends don’t let friends
Become the working poor
Friends don’t insult friends
Peace!
What a precious word
I can only hope
I can only wish
Ron speaks from
The bottom of his heart
I think a pay raise
For ALL his workers
Could be the beginning
Of the path of peace

TRAVELS

In the desert’s night
We saw the fire
Capricious spheres
Levitating and smoking

The sky became
A spectacle

A distraction
To the prayer
Of my heart

We passed truckers
Who stopped to watch
We carried on
Our way.

RECOGNIZANCE

I got on
An airplane
Up in the clouds
I did not see
Any angels
I found them
On land
Healing the hearts
Of those who grieve
I saw them in the eyes
Of those who
Hold steadfast
To hope

THE QUESTION

How are you doing?
She asked
It hurts
I answered
The marketing symbols
Were all around us
Like mosquitoes
On standing water
But I do have faith
For a better tomorrow
A painless morning
Where healing
And justice
Are one
I believe
With all my heart
That goodness
Will prevail
And the
Angels of illness
Will flee in terror
You see,
We are about

To reach
A beautiful place

GROCERY

Under the sun
Many consumers
Most of them
Tried to purchase health
I helped them
The best I could
With their search
All those shattered souls
My heart brakes
The most
For the ones
With cancer
Then I remembered
My knee has
Become a dichotomy

INSPECTOR PERKINS

Crossing the
US—Mexico border
Is a paradox
I read a sign that says

Pledge to Travelers
We pledge to cordially greet and welcome you to the United States.
We pledge to treat you with courtesy, dignity, and respect…

When the green light
Turned on
And I drove pass
The x-ray machines
The inspector shouted:

“Go ahead,
but when the world comes to an end
we are not going to help your people”

I love
My country

MY MANAGER

You need
To pick up
The pace
He said
It hurts
I replied
That’s why
I go slowly
When working
On the shelves
Pushing the RX
And thinking
Of something beautiful
Modified duty
Inside each can
Organic rights
In each of
Those lovely bottles

ACCIDENT

A distracted shopper
Dropped a can
On the store floor
Green liquid spilled
Around our feet
At first it smelled good
But then it stank
Like vomit
I sat there on my chair
Under modified duty
And I thought of negligence

ANGEL

In the night sky
It sparkles
Blinking smiles
Of friendship
I see his light
Over my house
Like a satellite

OCTOBER 24th 2005
AND A VISIT BY
AN ELDERLY GANGSTER

A suspicious
Looking fellow
Came into
My workplace
And said he was
Looking for people
Causing trouble
The ones on
The black list
He added
Then he pointed
At me and said
“Look, he’s afraid
Of being taken for a ride”
To which I replied
“Look, I am shaking
In fear”
As I moved
My arms and
My legs.

MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING

Yesterday I had
An MRI
As I laid there
Listening to
The metal banging
I thought about
The sunset outside
Descending on the Pacific
I fell I sleep
And I dreamt of
A better world

SUNDAY

The alarm clock
Robbed the rooster
Of its obligation
With electronic mantras
Piercing the day of the Lord
Aggravating my fatigue

And my pain
Deprivation of peace
Through employment
Without spiritual benefits

THE CHAIR

It has wheels
Not wings
The doctor said
Sitting work mostly
The days roll by
On black
Plastic rings
My knee is an
Open mango

DROWNED SMILES
IN AN OCEAN
OF APATHY



…I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Jesus Christ.




WORKERS COMPENSATION

When I slipped & fell
On animal blood
I was down there
On the floor
It felt like
I was in Hades
All I could see
Was someone’s
Bloody boots
And I felt impure
Like the wayward
Prophets of ancient times
Infected with blood
Sacrificed to idols of lucre
Deities that live in
Those dreadful buildings
Known as banks
I had no time to think
About cleansing rituals
Guillermo’s hand
Lifted me up
From the filth
A working man
Helping his fallen brother
Speaking to me
In the language of compassion
¿Estás bien?
¿Estás bien?
¿Estás bien?

USTEDES QUE CASI NO ESTÁN MUERTOS

Todos ustedes
Angelitos hermosos
Inocentemente indóciles
Beban el valor que añejaron
En sus corazones
En las barricas de sus recuerdos
Reminiscencias de ternura
En gravitaciones fetales

Porque es la única medicina
La única recuperación
De nuestros días
Disfrazados en noches
De las flechas de esquizofrenia
Que están clavadas
En los anhelos del éxito
Y en los sinsabores de un engaño
A control remoto
A todo color

Ustedes que aún no están
Entumecidos con espejismos farmacéuticos
Y las presencias de hombres tenebrosos
Que se esconden en rascacielos

Porque la doctrina del miedo
Es nuestro pan diario
Y la demencia es el fruto
De la cobardía
Más allá de la serenidad
Está la paz
Y un silencio estremecedor
Que sacude las lesiones de la mente
Y recoge los pedazos regados
De sentimientos destruidos

Ustedes que casi no están muertos
Que casi están vivos
Ustedes que están aquí
Conmigo.

FOLLOW UP

The doctor looks
Like a supermodel
One of the thinnest
Persons I have
Ever seen
Blond hair
And blue eyes
With a degree
To heal people
She told me
About the time
She had a MRI
And how it was
Not too bad
Nothing to be
Claustrophobic about
I asked her
If she felt like
She was inside
A casket
She said no
And asked me
To lay down
And examined
My knees
Then she wrote
Another RX
For pain medicine
And handed me
The piece of paper
Nice to meet you
She said
Likewise
I replied
Then I left.

PSALM 23

The Lord is my protection
I should not want money
He makes me to lie down
In green & pesticide—free pastures
He leads me beside
Still & unpolluted waters
He heals my soul
From the defamation of
My greedy adversaries
He walks with me in the paths
Of freedom & love
For His name sake

When I walk through the valley
Of the shadow of death
Under the snares of rich merchants
And the crosshairs of
Their hired guns
I should fear no evil
For You are greater
Than their evil motions
And You are with me
Your fairness and your friendship
Comfort me

You prepare a table of victory
Before me
In the presence of my enemies
You anoint my head with poetry
My cup runs over with feeling
Surely goodness and mercy
Shall follow me
All the days of my life
And I will dwell
In the house
Of the Lord forever.

LIKE HER

Sometimes when
I make love
I think about
A baby
Coming out of
My wife
And I wonder if
This time
She will be
A daughter
Will she look
Like me
Or will she have
Blond hair
Like her

MACADAMIAS

Those trendy particles
Look like
Dog food
Inside the
Plastic containers
The people from
The academia
Eat macadamias