Dragging the poet
through the leaves
underneath the grey skies
Past and present stewing
into a now of drunken truth.
The lyric sounds of brushing leaves
across the foot
a thread of gentleness
dragging the poet through the grey skies
through the screaming voices
screaming trucks
the logic of the buck
the logic of the construct
the logic of acquisition
the logic of .......
Dragging the poet
through the premeditation of cunning.
through the nosey past
with voices of assertion
not yet burned by sojourn
to the pools of innocence

counting mind breaths
on the slide
or leap
into no thing.
calmness
dragging the poet
into non existence
so the poet may surface once more
to drag along
through the screaming
lies of pain
through deceptions
and illusions born of the search
for place and love
past the distorted silence
of urban propriety
the silence of inane television
slipping through the walls
from 9 to 5 relaxation boom boxes
vibrating from hurriedly parked cars
adjacent to ever increasing
hum of not to distant freeways
intermittent railroad rattle
courtyard conversations
backwindow thumps
exercising dogs
moderately buffeted
by walls of isolation
as I light an incense stick
to perfume the gods before
the internal confrontation
with pain,chatter,void or ecstasy
in the corridors of the nirvana local
of the steam engine of my life.

White noise alternatives of radio
television,talking to myself,painting
inappropriate to the volume
of my intensity
the civility of my character
the quiet of my pursuit
the savagery of my passion
as I enter the bar of ribald loudness
drunk with abandon
as the muse falls downward
like the autumn leaves of wind and rain
out my window.
The sacred noise drowning the petty silence
loud enough
silent enough
for the drunken truth
that can not be challenged
in the revelry of the well of rapid interaction
The unceasing dance of Shiva
unthinking and automatic
in the market place of dreams
beyond the boundaries of home
The poet dragging himself
beyond the certainty
security
control
beyond the I Ching of family
beyond the politics of family
into the river of equality
or at least personal power.

© Douglas Berman db2000
v.1.11