Three Poems

TODAY

On this sunny day in California,
When lawns are being mown,
Car metal glints on the freeway
In the parking lot outside Macys,
Blackbirds are out for tidbits,
Trees feel obligated to bring forth
Green leaves,
I eat fresh plucked strawberries
>From a Murano bowl.

Work is worship,
Matrons are airing their pregnant bellies
>From second floor balconies,
The shadow people slink past
Warehouse doors,
As birds sing at them
In disdain,
Insects pollinate flowers on dividers.

It seems easy to float away,
Routinely above the daily routine,
Cheesecakes and coffee
After an afternoon nap,
At twilight Jack Kerouac,
And vintage people in vintage cars,

At stop signs
On the way back.

UNDERSTANDING BALANCE

It is so complicated…
The dialectics of conflict,
If at all,
Between the Great American Chain Store,
And the Outlet Mall.

Machete
Between Hutu and Tutsi,
Mass murder in Darfor,
This is easy to comprehend
The severing of limb, the rivers of blood,
This is absolute, this is concrete.

Decimation is easier explained.
The subtlety lies in corn on the cob,
Barbecue and television for the soul.

The huge headed pot bellied
Rickety child,
Has but to have enough strength
To lift his hand
And chase away the fly,
>From his rheumy eye.

The infections and allergies
And river flies at summer camp
Are more difficult to control.

That is why, there is a lot to learn,
>From fly-fishing,
Or hunting elk and moose,
Winging other nuclear nations
On the loose.

But much more important
Is the vibrant pulse-beat
Of the suburban shopping mall,
Festooned with the Chinese dragon
Wearing Indonesian Reebok shoes.

Whose?

PARKED

solitude is contraindicated
in circumstances of developed penury.

sitting in a car,
staring at a star,
preserve rage,
at minimum wage,

in the apartment,
virtual cockroaches climb
an overflowing garbage bin.

baby
in pregnant belly,
hip-hop,
spiced beef mince,
weak kitchen exhaust,
where is Faust?

my community sings under a Banyan tree,
in the hot season overripe mangoes are free,
then,
there will be dancing in the rain.

take me home
sweet mother goddess,
take me home
dear elephant god,

in the Bay Area
the rent is steep,
I must sleep.