Haiku For My Buddy

The rain sent you home

Early today, and I laughed,

Watching you have fun.

Summer Haiku

Almost the end of

June, the sky's burning up,and

I'm holding your hand.

Goodnight Em, See You Real Soon

It's beautiful here
In this dry sandy river,
In the hot blue light
Of the pale sweating moon.

The stars are all hanging
On bent silver paper clips,
The sun will be rising
But I'll be long gone.

I'm So Glad I Know You'll Be There At The End

There's nothing here but hot white sand
and broken glass.
How many miles away
is the ocean?

'Cos I'm tired of crawling
on my hands and my knees,
I can't remember what
standing up feels like.

But when I get there
I'm gonna dive right in,
Cold salt water
On my grateful skin.

I'll take a stick
And write your name in the sand,
Then I'll watch while the waves
Obliterate it....

One Of My Two Best Friends

Wish I could collect
Every tear you've ever shed
In a silver plate engraved
With a picture of Tara.

I'd leave it in the sun,
Watch the water drying up,
Then I'd wash the salt away
In a cool and flowing river.

It could go home to the sea,
Leave your eyes all grey and fresh,
Leave your soul unbruised
And open to the light.

I Know I Promised I'd Never Use Your Name

If I leave the party now,
I think I could leave without regrets.
I think I could hear the door latch closed behind me,
And walk down your cold grey stone steps
In the rain,
To the empty dark street with a smile on my face,
And your smooth and sandy, hot dark taste
On my tongue.

A Side Of Emily You Haven't Seen

I know my heart's broken
in seventeen places,
I know I've got scars
that will never heal.

But the blood is dripping
and staining my t shirt,
Your lips kiss the wounds,
your teeth scrape my soul.

Yet Another Stinking PBS Fundraiser Aimed At Old Farts Like Me

I was ten when these songs were popular,
"You Belong To Me," "Silhouettes On The Shade."
What a colossal load of antedeluvian bullshit!
I can't imagine living with a woman
who would let herself be treated like this.
I'd rather die alone
in the sandy cold and windy desert.
I'm so glad Emily knows
how much I love her battered broken
all forgiving soul.

A Summer Memory

This rain at 2:30 am reminds me
of a night on Greylock Mountain
in 1970, when Jill and I awoke in
the middle of the night to raindrops
in our eyes, huddled in my sleeping bag
under the northern lights.
The city below us was eaten
by cold blue green fire
while I fumbled with the buttons
on her blue denim shirt

Listening To Old Time Rock And Roll On A Late Night PBS Fundraiser

Old time rock n roll playing soft
in the tingling silver air
on this hot dusty summer night....

And I'm sitting in the schoolyard
with my friends in 1960,
just home from my first rock concert,
And I knew I'd never get enough....

And I'm sitting in a bar in Queens
in 1967 on the night I graduated high school,
drinking with my friends, a cheerleader
sitting in my lap....

And I'm sitting on a cliff over Seneca Lake
in 1971, my arm around Jill's shoulder.
The sun is going down,
and we hated to put our clothes back on....

And I'm walking through Central Park
on the morning after Halloween in 1975,
holding hands with Victoria,
all our questions answered the night before....

And I'm on Suzanne's back porch
on a cold night in 1980,
her hand so small in mine,
her eyes so happy....

And I'm sleeping on my sofa with Joyce in 1988,
a week before her 21st birthday,
her long black hair cascading
over my chest.

And I'm walking through Fort Tryon Park
with sweet Emily in 2006, long before
I knew she would be
the last true love of my life....

God bless old time rock n roll....

Haiku For The Third Of June

Hands empty, you watch

it fall through the damp air to

the hungry river.