Zuihitsu

[judih]

show tunes, dylan, stevie wonder
i listen, because i can

[the mingo]

Mark - sun coming up here, had to wear a long sleeve shirt for the first time on yesterday's afternoon ride - jammin' autumn here even though the leaves are still green - I have seen fallen leaves here and there on my rides, mostly brown & dry - the nights have gone cool -

The planet jammin' to it's own roll ...

[the mingo]

show tunes, dylan, stevie wonder
i listen, because i can

... head full of words - i have torn sentences to pieces, used the pieces to assemble buildings for wandering spirits, wild things, things without names ...

what a far-flung nippy blink
to come out night
in a rat tight cave

... languages from inner space ... i listen too - to the Indians out at Standing Rock Rez protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline - what prayer is this, i think, to see a big Sioux man on a big horse, his coup stick in his hand, as he approaches a line of state troopers - lifted my heart off the ground - these are the sons & daughters of 500 years of genocide & oppression out there trying to wake the rest of us up ... they are out there drumming, dancing, praying - and more are coming even as the harsh realities of a Dakota winter stares them all in the face - i have never seen anything like this in my lifetime, not even in the 60's

whatever the future, judih, i think it is a good day to live and to listen - because we can

[judih]

as people round these parts say on the Sabbath: "amen" my mingo friend
may we have the courage to listen

[the mingo]

* *

[the mingo]

www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYo1RwcOs90

[the mingo]

beat father
larger questions aside
can i read deep enough
past the abandoned houses
reap wide enough
in my own words

[WIREMAN]

the beat of
put it round
cycles endless
Han Shan blessed
ryokan tested
never basho'd
nor hoe'd beneath
the soil
here today
gone manana
simple fact
no brag
many complications
simply the fact......all hail Mongolia

[the mingo]

the beat of
put it round
cycles endless
Han Shan blessed
ryokan tested
never basho'd
nor hoe'd beneath
the soil
here today
gone manana
simple fact
no brag
many complications
simply the fact......all hail Mongolia

zuihitsu ... "follow the brush" ...
some days a joy
some days not as simple
as it sounds
... so I must be
on the right trail -
go straight on 'til I drop
is the only choice
welcome every doubt as
a good sign
and Mongolia too

[the mingo]

a walk in the country skinny monkeys translate the works of fallen leaves - russian girls with wild eyes want just an intimate talk will it lead to marriage ? do i want to be married to a russian ? i think i'd rather marry
some Venezuelan woman who
writes poetry by the hour and
paints too -

- or a zen nun with thin lips or maybe a mystic perhaps who grabs the nearest newspaper
and says we can make poetry
out of this !

[WIREMAN]

...fizzed, phased, and fumigated ....treachery shows no bounds. The destruction of everything you knew was wrong is the Dog Star. The hounds lay peaceful tonight, football game muted on the tube. There but for the grace of a whim, he dreams of cookies.....

[WIREMAN]

zuihitsu
it's what we do for sure
I thought it was jam
but I'm feeling
more tender these daze
acceptance the key
all hail Mongolia!

[the mingo]

writing ...
what a keen theory
or crash site -

- a crowded bird telling the bizarre plant of moving out of downtown to some bucket home with a milk account and free running drains - I'm elated that I'm not a bird having to carry any nestling's shit away from the nest in my mouth ... when people talk about wanting to be a bird they are just talking about the flying part, not the all-round reality which is the way most of our conversations about anything go -

Due to prevailing conditions such as these, my advice to myself is: try not to talk, better yet, don't speak at all.

[the mingo]

superhighways lifework
bedrock weathercock
supermarket shoelace
underestimate fireball *Poof*
watchmaker schoolbus
foreclose anymore crosswalk
waxwork bankroll - washout !
newsbreak - supersonic
the winters in wisconsin
ain't like the ones in maryland
the flies grow fuzz all over themselves
and sit very still

[the mingo]

I started out reading poems I remembered from before. It was after midnight, the rain had passed. I began writing to get things started, I came to a comma and made a note of that, then put the comma into what I was doing. I know there really is a bridge out there in the dark & I want to get to that bridge and this is what you have to do.

I don't have to worry about ending up on an island. My worries are much closer to home.