Two Five Three Six

Letters from my ancestors
Have each spelled out ten names
Two to be used in case of emergency
Five for female spawn
Three for patriarchal ties
And six as shadows of mine own heart.

I love each one as any man can
I’ve researched each story true,
Chosen from my memory
I’ve drawn each one out, too.
I hold my head up high for them;
Each they’ve passed to me their secrets.
In my hands I see their scars
So, too, I see their years.

Through their streets I have sure walked
I’ve also gone for a ride
Sitting in the back seat
Of a stuffed full 1965 Studebaker
Heading out on summer vacation.
I’ve opened the door on Union Street
To taste homemade crabcakes and beans,
I’ve rode the long trail home
Passed Devick Lake out on the range.

So each of the names I keep at the helm
Awaiting imminent deployment,
Like roses saved in a jar
A timeless memorial stored as fondness,
An old lined sheet of blank paper
Found in the desk of y’or.

Palms (day 3204)

What brings the soul of a man
Deep within the palm of his hand?
For I have seen two men astray
Neither I tried to save.
In the grace of our Gods
We stand before each war we fought
Did we strike the hammer strong
Or lose out before our lungs
Belted loud our souls devout.
Have I faced the pain inside?
Did I let my body cry?
Was it I who charged ahead
Though each wind spoke up in dread?
Tell me sweetly in my good ear
Was I faithful to each your dream
Can I be the trusted man
Of your every step?
For I hold my palms open
To feel the warmth of every day
I have spoken out your name
In hopes it leads my heart so true
And if it shall bring my life astray
May I be the man to say
My palms are wet.

Rotting Extinction (day 3170)

There were no more ways for the buffalo to roam
Fences stopped their grazing and wild land migration
Farmers began to cultivate their food with chemicals
And soon they became desired by man for their very skin
That kept them warm through the winter
Leaving the only thing they couldn’t be robbed of
Their soul, their wild and herd driven soul
Alone, rotting on the fields forever.

Sombre Howling (day 3147)

There’s a cool cloud
Hovering around today
It’s sinking in with a density
That fogs the brain
Into thinking darkness
And hardness
Is the souls responsibility
To bare time out here
Like a grown man
And in the cool whisps of mist
The rifle cackle
Of a far off mystery
Stirs the dogs
Into a sombre howling.

Broken Arrow Peddler (day 3139)

Ten shades of a broken arrow
Stretched across the sky
Moon and sun both couldn’t hide
So they raged, no dawn, no dusk.

A peddler man came walking down
In a suit quite unknown in that world,
Had two tones of gravity
Two handfuls of pure dirt.

In each promise the hook was set
Deeper and deeper it took
Just like moon and sun,
They raged, they raged, they raged.

The end became, the gone be gone
The rules left written down
Nailed to a city square post
Discarded cloth and plastic close by.

The moon became calm and laid away
A soft silver spoon for a tomorrow,
The sun, alert, smiled peacefully
And awoke children so sewn.

Tender Choice (day 3082)

I’m resting in a pool of blood
Taken my very veins
No longer am the man I was
Lost and listless thus I lay.
Once I had dreams so high
Freedom wasn’t just a word
But way of life we embraced truly
From choices we made every day
And a mindspace free of ads.
We called our neighbour each by name
With smiles so friendly we meant
And let our hair go wildly long
A symbol of better days spent.
And in our work, we called none work
For we smiled as we took our crafts
Each craftsman became their tools
Towards a need fulfilled.
We lost this great desire for grandeur
This misleading pretense
Veiling over all of humanity
Since human has become ruled
By magnetic storage and liquid display.
We lost grandeur
And picked up gravitas
Our guiding star
Hands to our hammers.
But now, says I in earnest,
Laying in my pool of blood,
What hath become of mine choice?
So tenderly awake no more.

Defiantly Apart (day 3074)

Do you know that I’m here?
I want to know that you’re here
I want to feel your breath
Upon my naked shoulder
Staying strong
For the burden I do lay
So that I can be your man.
I want my bed to feel accompanied
By your bones that thump into me,
I want to squeeze
What your body throws at me,
And I want to believe
What I already know
The truth I have already seen
Deep within your eyes
That look back at me
Sometimes defiantly.

Wander To Withdraw (day 3049)

I wandered here as if lost
One eye on the path
The other asking my Gods
What makes a Man a Man.
I saw sunlight between the boughs
I saw spiders in their webs
I saw the great Fir’s bark
So cavernous and traversed.
I felt deep inside my heart
The partridge that took flight;
So close and thunderous,
So quickly she was off.
I saw the dam the busy Beaver built
Saw his second one too
Which made me feel like an invader
A secret nest so wild.
Then I turned at a landmark
Headed towards where I knew
And back to my familiar trail
To home I then withdrew.

Two (day 3033)

My memory woke me up;
Two dollars and loose strings
Attached to each of my morals
Dangling cheaply
To the tune of a Tom Waits album
On repeat.
I’ve gone over the top again,
My finger jammed
Into some random container
Taking up space
On my single seated table.
Two young girls
Giggled in the corner
But quickly remembered where they were,
Checked their long blonde hair
And checked their phones
Together.
Tomorrow I’ll be here again,
I’ll wear my eagle belt buckle
That reminds me
I’m more than two dollars
On the good days,
And ask the waitress
With the good smile
To kindly take this container away
For it’s killin’ my mood, man.