Indiana Winds

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The old tree fell in the backyard
All 53 feet laying on the ground
Roots frayed and full
Indiana winds took their toll this time
Whistling over the lightly frosted fields
Stripping trees of the lady autumn winds
Snapping power cables like brittle candy
Cutting off the neighbors from the rest of the world
Rolling gravel and bending stop signs
No remorse the wind blows stronger and stronger
Shutting off the evening lifts with every single burst
Hitting my face as powerful as a cement filled hurse
The system winds through Indiana and in to Ohio
Leaving ravaged fields behind in this autumn blast
Concerted force on trees and forests
Pushing them over and moving on
A winter preview is now laying on the lawn

Time to Reflect

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Time to reflect

On decisions

That have been made

Others postponed

And delayed

–
Where I stand today

May not affect tomorrow

So how do I quite know

If this is where I should

Go

–

So many questions

Yielding very few answers

The scenery does not change

If I just choose to

Stand here

–

The past 3 years

Decisions were not bad

But if I could go back

What would I instruct

That poor young lad

–

I might say

Act with confidence

And cause

What you do not gain

Is not quite a loss

–

Move quick

And stay nimble

The world will not wait

for your heart delayed

its that simple

–

Fear holds you

Hostage at blank point

But behind the gun

Is no ammo

It holds you

Until you let go

–

Youth is fleeting

Do not become to attached

From your young wirey hands

This gift will be quickly snatched

–

But do not lose hope

There is no reason

What you lose one year

You will find stronger

In another season

–

Patience is key

But do not get complacent

Words striking and true

But you truly have to face them

–

In the end

Know your goal

Or destination

There is no minute hand

When the clock is wasting

–

Finally push back

Word hard

And stay committed

When it is all over

You will be glad you did it

–

I hope that in another few years

I can read this back

And have new wisdom

To share

–

But for now

I hope to own these truths

So that I may push on

A time to reflect

Is a time for my heart

To be reset

City Sounds

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Chains crash bursting bones beating drums in my ears
Beating with a rhythm brash and clear
Treble collides with effect onto cold reiterations
Horns smack vibrant and violent against city walls
Shouts echo fearless and homeless abound
Asking for any spare change
Or spare parts
Through train windows I see executives
Bustle busy and focused
In trendy parlors filling skyscrapers
Taxis calling out to weary customers urgently making their way home
City lights blare focusing on distracted patrons
Stopping them in cold seclusion
Wind wraps round faces and Elvis bringing chills down weathered bellies
Stares generate muscles forcing bystanders to move over
Pushed over by commercials running constantly in city calamity
Urine run off under busy tunnels shuffling people throughout the city so
Waiting tunnels push wind roaring around corners with trains convexing through dingy scab filled walks
I realize my mind wanders through the overflowing cupboard of experience
Pushing me out into the world
Thickening my skin like train under bellies full of soot and grim
This weather has tested my soul pushing me further to my destination
There is no where in this nation
That can test your tender mind and soul
Like the true city of Chicago

Portal to the Pacific

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A rainy night in Seattle
What can I say
That had not been said
All the cliches
Fatigued
And dead
But my eyes rest easy on this
Portal to the pacific
Sea swept
And beautifully terrific
Stores on the bay
Tucked in shanties
To hear what the sailors say
The luminous sunset over the water
Among the mountains
And just a bit farther
Connected to the land
The people live out their days
On a beautiful inlet in the Pacific Northwest
Where brick streets are the standard
And rain drizzle
Upon the cement sizzles
In Seattle we walk the streets
Keeping ourselves dry to keep
On a beautiful city just off the sea

Cigarettes, Dry Grass, and Rubber

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Smell the Open Road

Gas tanks filled with spring water

After an evening rain

Burnt oil

Mixed with crisp dry grass

Exhaust, rubber, and leaves

Animal carcasses and skunks

A breeze off the mountain

The clatter of a loose strut

The smell of day old coffee

Cigarettes burnt and discarded

This is what the open road

Means

The smell of the iron factories

On the southern belt of lake Michigan

Bellowing smoke into the pale virgin air

Blowing through vents

Uninvited and black

The water air carries it slowly into the sky

As tires burn

Coal burns

Into the morning sky

To the mountains north of New York

The cities production

To leave the consumer with a knife and fork

These days on the road

Go long and slow

The smell of semi barreling down the road

Reminds me of black soot wrapped in burnt grass

With a wind swept freshness

This is the open road

And what it means to me

 

Brooklyn Trees

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In Brooklyn where the young souls breathe
Stiff leather shoes polished under their feet
Hair stiff and trimmed
High heels polished and thin
Put holes in Brooklyn sidewalks
Guitars clasp loosely to curved shoulders
Meetings brief interactions pass
Conversations weave from music to politic
The hectic city life traded for slower passings
A salty falls breeze slowly rustles through the tinder Brooklyn trees
The taco stand sends an SOS of smoke
Billowing into the faces of potential patrons
Becoming them to get in line and do the same
The skyline fades as the sun resets the evening skyline
Saving my way through Brooklyn
Pinching dimes
Never a moment will there be still
As the Brooklyn trees shake
Leaves on the streets
The feet break these leaves
With every stride taken
Looking to the skies filled with a grey heather satin
On the streets just east of Manhattan

I am Me

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I am Me

No overachieving

No letting down

It’s as simple

To just be

–

I must be honest

Let go

Pick up

In the end

It is me I must answer to

–

Days when I am up

Days when I am down

There is no one else

Who can see

No one else around

–

As I must answer to myself

So must you

You are you

And that is enough

To get you through

–

The tough times

And

The good

Makes you smile

Makes life

The way it should

–

But I remember this saying

When I am tired and worn

Because it is me pushing on

Pen to paper

A new song

–

The higher power always calls

To become what we are

This equation has no

Beginning no end

I am Me

And I am content

A Mouth Full of Iron

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Just because I am broke

Does not mean that I am broken

–

The heart broken

Knows the languish for success

–

This languish can only be known

Through heartbreak and distress

–

The world around me spins

Yet I have to catch my druthers

–

In a life that is given

One must learn to rely on others

–

But that bitter irony

Creates a burn in ones mouth

–

Leaning on hopes of easier roads

Leaves the heart less than whole

–

Rust collects on the resting

One must move so no dust can begin collecting

–

Subdued Indiana terrain

Toughened the skin with winter pain

–

A mouth full of iron

Cracked on all sides

–

Makes me wonder

Whats is the next curve in life

–

What awaits

What gives what takes

–

Yet

–

Just Just because I am broke

Does not mean that I am broken

Calculated Risk

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Calculated risk
At the flick of a wrist
How much do you
Wish
Upon wondering eyes
Under luminous skies
Day in day out
Struggling yet devout
We rise to new challenges
To see new mountains beyond
Time passes under the eyes of
A new dawn
We wait for no person
Place or thing
To strike the first note
And sung we call out
In the evening
And look for new opportunities
We will arise
We will arise