decision
liminal
departure
/ / /
23 September 2021
Greensboro VT
Category: Travel
surprise!
the road ends
at a boat
/ / /
6 September 2021
Essex NY
waiting to board
the ferry to VT
Buddha beside the highway
US 17 South
near Remington, Virginia
suddenly he’s there
in a glass box as large as a house
looking out serenely over the highway
spotlights above & below
who put him there?
who pays the electric bill?
who knew there’d be a Buddhist
in a van on this of all nights
needing a little reassurance
on the highway?
/ / /
6 July 2021
Greensboro VT
(recalling something I saw early in my van life)
Leave a Commentmovement
late in the afternoon on an early May day
the dance unfolds across the house
an essay at the kitchen table
grilling meat on the upstairs porch
one makes a slingshot
another searches frantically for
spare headphones because
who can live without music
the dog naps with a belly full of chicken
the cats naps with a belly full of mystery
one of the Marley kids is singing
through the Bluetooth speaker
I’m writing a poem, trying to freeze
a moment already lost to swift time
/ / /
6 May 2021
Greensboro Bend VT
a poem for myself
I’m driving through Virginia
listening to Tommy Emmanuel
on a playlist I made in different times
I was going to write this poem about you
but I decided to write it about me instead
because I need to take back your space
in my head
you used to say you liked my singing
well I like my singing too
& lots of people could love a weathered guy
who sings “King Of Wishful Thinking”
at the top of his voice
as he passes one semi after another
I’m starting to believe this road
could take me somewhere better
& in any case this is a real good playlist
/ / /
12 April 2021
Verona VA
for me
real Georgia hospitality
the first one brought me to a garage
near a grocery store
the second to a garage
near a few restaurants
one asked if I had a way to heat the van
the other made sure he found me a level place
both got me out of the rain
made sure I was safe
for no other reason than being good people
my friend said people will show you
their humanity once they see yours
he’s right & that’s what I hold onto
when the rain comes
/ / /
10 April 2021
Newnan GA
for my two tow truck drivers
beside the road, a sign:
WRONG DIRECTION?
GOD ALLOWS U-TURNS
suddenly I have tears in my eyes
if only I knew where I was headed
a few miles later the desert opens
pours away like an ocean over the horizon
don’t give your energy to fear, she says
as I have tears in my eyes again
but who will love me, I ask her
there are more things to love than just people
she tells me from a few feet away
(there’s a woodpecker in the trees)
later, driving away, I see it
a flash of white wings as it dips in front of me
I’m headed to a camping spot, alone
later still I build a fire
the rain comes shortly after
my eyes burn from the smoke
///
25 March 2021
Rothrock State Forest
Going Over San Augustin Pass
there’s a moment as the highway curves
when it looks like you’ll disappear
off the end of the Earth
lost in a pale blue sky from which
there is no returning
in the next moment you’re over the pass
spreading out before you is a basin so large
it’s as if the ground and sky switched places
far off in the distance
the pastel shadows of mountains
like an artist’s rendering
/ / /
26 February 2021
near Las Cruces, New Mexico
February night —
like static between stations:
the waves in the cove
///
7 February 2021
south of Mendocino CA