Mineral striations
of green, red and brown
compressed into a sleek shape
minding its own business 
since the Precambrian Era
present for the movement of glaciers
across the landscape
unknown to me
until twenty summers ago
when I pocketed 
that formation 
of history and art
and took it home 
to hold 
as a paperweight.

Lost City


To the untrained eye
it was nothing 
But when I heard they found the lost city
covered in the sands of the high desert
I thought of
the last inhabitant
on his last night 
inside the the city walls
and how he walked away from its crumbling ruins
into the morning sun 
turning the city into a tomb

But then I had to think 
of the first person
on his first night
who settled on this hillside 
and decided at sunrise 
that he would turn his settlement into a city





Backyard


Everyone should have a backyard 
at least once in life
You can dig to China
Play badminton
Tend to your hydrangeas 
Pitch a tent 
and camp out with your best friend
Mow a lawn
Sun bathe with a cool drink
and if you wait long enough
watch the stars and galaxies reveal themselves
You can rake leaves 
and send them back into the sky 
by bonfire
And if you ever dig all the way to China
you could end up in someone's backyard.





Home Town


No one is left in my home town
My people are gone.  

But my memories are there 
right where I left them
residing in streets, schools, and fields.

I could revive the spirit of the place
but what would that matter now?

My route is now reversed
what was once a destination 
became the home town  
and the old home town 
is just another destination among many.  

I still drive the Ohio Turnpike
and near Exit Seven
there’s an urgent sensation of memory 
tugging from across the dark fields to the north.
 
But I keep going
and hoping for new roots 
in my new home town.   





Hand-Held God


Some see a surrogate 
to existence
Intimate ever 
present confidant
Mini-god that knows:
      family
      friends
      habits
      diversions
      location (at all times)
A golden ratio of handheld perfection:
iPhone, therefore I am.