Robert Knox Verse-Virtual 2019 July

July 2019

Bionote: Anne and I recently enjoyed her retirement romp through what I'm calling "Canyon Country" in the Southwest, the Grand Canyon, Bryce and Zion. One of the many pleasures of that trip is boiled down in the first poem below. The other two come from my addiction to listening to music at my desk. I'm the author of the chapbooks "Gardeners Do It With Their Hands Dirty" and "Cocktails in the Wild," and also of "Suosso's Lane," a novel of the Sacco-Vanzetti case. If you're interested in any of these or simply wish to get in touch, email me at rc.knox2@gmail.com.

A Canon to the Canyons

Introit: The canyons are beautiful
the canyons are awesome and full
            of folk, visitors all, always cheery, never a pall
It was a fine vacation --
            a vacation from the nation!

Refrain: And nobody talked about Trump!
not a mention, or a tension, or a gibe for your attention,
or a rant, or a cant, or a guy you'd like to plant
(will he grow? will he die? turn his roots up to the sky?)
And nobody talked about Trump!

We are riding on a bus,
and it's simply full of us
there is a never a divide on our daily shuttle ride
though the accents sometimes canter,
veering slight from off-center --
here's a kid who needs a mentor
in an RV or with tenters --
Our transport never hits a bump
and it cannot be denied --
No one ever said a word about Trump!

[Refrain]

We are climbing up a hill
Elevation makes me ill, equanimity grows shrill --
But just then we find a flower with the laudatory power
to restore a weary hour
or espy a darting bird
and we share the very word -- by the sound of it absurd --
            ...humming--bird?
Just when you think you're in the dumps
the deal turns out all trumps
and you share a little bump --
            that could elevate a nation
(what a wonderful sensation...?)
Nobody talks about Trump!

Refrain: 'And nobody talked about Trump!'
not a mention, or a tension, or a gibe for your attention,
or a rant, or a cant, or a guy you'd like to plant
(will he grow? we'll never knew, but his boots stick up from snow)
And nobody talked about Trump!

Earthly Heaven

On an eastbound journey...
just back from yoga class,
recalling the three 'R's' --
Are you mindful?
Are you in the moment?
Are you checking out anyone else's bod?

I think I will sail in a tiny boat
down an ancient river, around a city with walls
and pavilions
and lots of flowers
And people playing heart-wringing, and yet so sweet
strings
Long-legged birds, and ancient instruments
with strings attached,
strung every whichway

Paradise in the morning
Heaven at night
I will fall into the sunset
and burn with delight

[after "Earthly Heaven," an instrumental song by Rachel Grimes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cprjB3_uyxU ]

From the Heart of the Universe
"I stop somewhere waiting for you." -- Walt Whitman

I am all a-tremble and believe every word
I am lifted, transported, ensnared
in a warm glow of a thousand Big Bang candles on
the birthday cake of Forever

This is when I go
this is where I heal
I pick up my burden and go
I yield and I go
I -- and we also -- go as well
            I know you then
there I will find you
there I will know you forever

*(After the song "From the Heart of the Universe" by Snatam Kaur and Peter Kater, available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXbax5qveo4

Editor's Note: If this poem(s) moves you please consider writing to the author (email address above) to tell him or her. You might say what it is about the poem that moves you. Writing to the author is the beginning of community at Verse Virtual. It is very important. -FF