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Collected Poetry

    (rd king dot net)
poetry and digital art

The Big Picture  

Groups of short poems.

  Omens, Injuries, and Money


1:  Isosceles

A tiny moth upon the wood siding
above the illumined, door bell
as I locked the front door
and moved on toward work—
Thursday, August 2nd, 2001.


2:  In Transit

Wind-waves rippling the marshland
reeds; above, the exotic, sometimes
bulbous filigree of the refinery.
Heavy weekend traffic, the toll
bridge.  Hunger approaching.


3:  Backroad Adventure

East bay pastoral:  the merely
undeveloped; a winding road
through the infrequent, coastal
trees.  Two roadside leaves
dancing in the coastal breeze.


4:  Homer, Achilles, the Silly Wandering
     of Our Desires

A slow jog after a long, heel injury
I took—through the envious back streets
of an elegant beach town.  My mind
awash; a small, off-centering pain;
one crazy male quail singing from
      a cornice.


5:  Homer, Achilles, the Meanness of the Spirit

A slow jog after a long, heel injury
I took through the envious streets
of an elegant beach town—scowling
young men brandishing surfboards;
clear plastic bottles clutched by the rich.


6:  Tales of Brave Ulysses

A slow jog after a long, heel injury
feels good—I make a second loop.
This time I notice Matilija poppies,
an old couple walking, the sea breaking
into view; and I think:  well...


7:  Homer, Achilles, Crossing Paths with the Young

A slow jog after a long injury ends abruptly
as such:  a young couple returns to their
truck.  She gets in but keeps him locked out.
Gesturing, he displays the width of his tongue
—love, it now seems, becomes imminent.


8:  Pebble Beach

Hoping to see what the sea
would reveal, we found the tide
high—so I turned my attention
to the rocky beach.  There I discovered
a handsome stone within a stone.


9:  Untitled

Love abounds in ways unseen,
unheard, unfelt, unthought,
unthanked, unspoken—lavender roses
my wife's mother buys
to place on the coffee table.


10:  Homer, Achilles, the Place We Call Home

To emigrate to a distant place
simply for the weather is a choice
someone in the family must make.
As kin, we risk our one possession;
we draw straws to see who gets
      tied to the mast...





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