Getting Out from Beneath the Rubble

I’ve been putting it off long enough.
Yesterday I took a step towards
stirring the crowd.

I found
and relocated some
rather important tomes.
I made progress.
I approached the mammoth
and tried to saddle it
the tonnage clear
roping not an option.

Intent on putting my plan
into gear
I sorted through
the who does this belong to
the what
why and how much
dust had accumulated
reasoning that the one inch pile
could stay
but everyone else
had to go.

I don’t care for slackers.
Most of them left quietly
the days of debauchery over
they were corralled and herded
towards the car
and loaded into the trunk
next stop the LIBRARY.

The connivers next to the nightstand were next
unread in over six months
they were out of there
replaced by the next have to reads.

Then I marched upstairs
to look at the schemer pile
next to the sofa
that seemed content
to stay put.
No threats or
hysterical comments
voiced from that group
so I relented and gave them
another six months to collect
interest, which seems to be at a premium these days.

I think I will issue a press release
or have a PBS show featuring them.
You know, revive interest in the classics
get them on Oprah’s must read list

In the meantime I have
been evaluating and editing
a new
beast that I’m taming
set in Hawaii
(not mine) saved
on a flash drive
but I’m going to
have to ration myself
after all
there is more to life
isn’t there?

Hold on
I think I have a book on that
somewhere.

Habilitat's Last Saturday Poetry Slam

http://www.viddler.com/explore/habilitat/videos/43/


Featuring Connie D. and the Residents of Habilitat

Habilitat--the place of change

Habilitat--changing the hardcore into the responsible for

Who Do You Want To Be?

Brownie Bites

Rich dark chocolate squares
evoke Grandma’s warm kitchen
mouth watering memories
heaven’s triple sweet reply
to snotty little cousins.

Gratification
is eating a chewy baked
treat and cooling off
with your friends under an
red low flow fire hydrant.

Shrewd brownie judgment
demands that you sweep up crumbs
if you don’t want ants
sharing your picnic basket
or hitching a ride back home.

End Times

Human trafficking
cacophony surpasses
chirping myna birds.

Yellow sun rises
behind filthy mock dwelling
rooster crows three times.

Street rules prevail now
no apparent religion
only hungry dogs.

Blue Horizon

Blue bottle grouping
silent float on the water
pushed in by the tide
Pink and Blue gas-filled bladders
appear old warships full sail.


** Tanka

Tiki Chair

 

Sleeping it Off

 

Thirty Balls

Thirty Balls
give or take
that’s how many
I took
with me
to the Koolau Golf Course today.
Eighteen made the return trip
to wait until the next round
where if they are blessed
they will escape and find a new home
flying left
when they should’ve gone right
taking a sudden detour
deep into the lush green vegetation
dark with plovers pigeons,
cardinals and common myna
chirping on
about the many different
species of
earthworms and the sudden
onslaught of
U.F.O. Sightings
reported
in their neck of the woods.

Hawaiian Birthing Stone

 

Grasshopper

 

Enabler 101

Definition of ENABLER:
enablers are people who by their actions make it easier for an addict to continue their self-destructive behavior by criticizing or rescuing.
one that enables another to achieve an end; especially : one who enables another to persist in self-destructive behavior (as substance abuse) by providing excuses or by making it possible to avoid the consequences of such behavior



Slam Poetry shows
up at Habilitat in
the Fall. Shut my mouth.

A survivor speaks
Letters to a Prisoner
amazon.com

Denial loses
taken over by rebels
gets new perspective.

Conquer addiction
drop the victim at the curb
it’s a new classic.

Watch Olelo in
September or October
Connie D. returns.

Street Smarts—tips for the savvy woman

The steering wheel
shimmy
means your tire is
doing a rubber
strip tease
ladies
beware.

Sleeping Beauty

I write
because
the truth
is a
sleeping beauty
likely
willful
tomorrow
picketing
against
me.

Obsessed

From Mohonk New York

From Mohonk New York

Obsessed
since I quit
smoking
the scale
persuades
I promise
to have a
short memory.

K.I.S.S.

Keep it simple stupid
I say keep it short stupid
I’m getting gray
waiting for
the film
to finish
the sheets need to be changed
my dogs are howling to eat
I have a life too
Keep it short.

I need to do my workout
go to work
load the truck
and wash at least three loads of laundry.

The winds are MORE than EIGHT MILES AN HOUR
on the WINDWARD side of the island
GET a new ANEMOMETER.

Time is running
its marathon
and I’m lagging behind
I’m in the thirteen minute mile group
and I can’t understand
why you keep talking
because I can’t breathe
because I’m pudgy
and out-of –shape
And I’m going to DIE
maybe not today
but soon America
Keep it short.

Say what you mean
Mean what you say
Keep me interested
Keep it short.

Red Sunrise

 

Duck

 

Bufo Toad

 

Making Headlines

I’m calling Ripley’s
I’ve heard of walking the dog
but I can’t believe
what I just saw this morning
I can see the headlines now

Unleashed cat walks free
pet trails behind leashed Shih Tzu
captivates neighbors.

WHITE

White wedding
Dress
Veil
Doves
Rice.


White chocolate
Coconut
Whipped cream icing
Ribbons
Balloons.

Soap
Bubbles
Robes
Wine
Towel-wrapped
Geese
Origami
Paper
Snowflake.

White
Face
Paint
Threads
Magic
Lies.

White Noise
White light
Mushroom clouds
Sand
White caps
Ivory
Moon.

Chalk
Lines
Crayoned
Plaster
White
Knuckled
Outlines.

Ghost
White mothballs
(Death’s perfume
sealed
in cellophane.)