Now You Will Know

Now you will know
what it was that upsetme

Now you will know
what has got in my way

Now you will know
how I emerged once again

Now you will know
and you will see all the points
and the peaks
and the snow on them

Because I am back
and now you know

It'll Shine

I read the book and then
watched two film versions
and danged if it didn't
quite ease continued
misgivings, but you know,
things aren't really that bad!

My Feet Are Somewhere Else

Having been here in the Springs
three weeks and counting,
it's comforting to know
I haven't left Burlington behind,
not really.

No, really.
Check out the sidewalk
in front of the Border Café.
Those are my feet.
I could never completely
leave you behind.

I just wish that you'd know.

Moving Day (Part 3: 4 Minutes Remaining)

stole a final moment
on a library machine

counting down the minutes
until I'm finally in the Springs

everything is packed
everything is loaded

time
so soon
for a flight
to the new-fangled
saloon

Moving Day (Part 2: An Anticipation)

It's when you
forget what you've remembered
that you know
you're moving on
and there's no longer
a way to pretend
otherwise.

I thought maybe I'd have
other things to say
about it
but no
that's basically it

Next time
will be a
next chapter
a new day and
a new way
but the same
poet the same
song the same
dull eyes
through which
this world has seemed
so full, where
we believe
and are affirmed

once again

A Dendrochronology

The truth of it is,
only until you kill it
do you know the tree's
history

You can argue this point
say you looked at one
that was already dead
or brought down
for other reasons

But the truth of it is,
you've performed an autopsy
which are things
that are only good
to diagnose a talking point

What did you find out
except that this tree had
experienced things
before it died?

Stick your head
out from under the pile of data
and have a look at
all the rest of the evidence
and then tell me
if you can still support
a claim that suggests we've ruined a planet
in a relative handful of years
when before that time
the patterns
of global catastrophe
still held

Then I want you to admit
that we have a greater problem
at hand
a far more familiar one
in that we support our own egos
far greater than we do a planet

This planet don't need us

And I think that's
what really concerns you
because assuming we're going
to ruin it
is got to be your biggest joke

Take a bow!

And then take your seat again
and realize
that if you don't stop
taking yourself so seriously
the world is not going to
goo-goo-ga-choo!
end

But
in the end
we've got to get that message home
so we slap on those caps anyway,
gollums with their quests
that prove amusing
because they're never
the last ones
in line

Moving Day (Part 1)

Catch as catch can
if you can can
catch what I'm sayin'

who woulda
said about the
world's best secret
that it never shoulda
been exposed?

All these words that float around
are caught and caged for fun
as if that's what they were always made for.
It doesn't always seem that way
but that's what they'll tell you
so it ends up feeling better
and the guilt can be chased away
like it was never there
and all your life's dreams
will float on by
ahead of you.