The Magic Brush

Like Richard says

Eight times out of ten

He came home a winner

When he took ladies

To the track

So I feel similarly blessed

By a recent run of good luck

Not as measured by

Any particular outward

Signs of success such as

Millions of copies sold or

Christmas bonuses paid

Directly into my account at JPM Chase

But lately I find myself enjoying

An unaccustomed fluency with the

Composition of poetry such that

Any strenuous effort remains

More or less an afterthought

As if a sonnet could come forth

Directly hard wired from head

To wrist to page

And I find myself wondering

Just how long I may be so lucky

To keep hold of this Magic Brush

Thank you very much Chiang Yen

Able to scribble words down

Whether in notebook

Or on napkin

Or deposit slip

It matters not in the least

But somehow feeling

They are immediately

Ready for display

By having previously

Cleared the necessary rights

I have made you my accomplice too

In further pursuit of the truth

Words Scribbled at the Studio on 3/23/2012

Each of us pursues
A singular destiny
Even Gus
The one-eyed cat
Who has had the most
Limited base of experience
Of any cat that I know
Is graced with his own
Peculiar dollop
Of the Divine Presence
An insistence on being seen
And heard
Which is the lowest common
Denominator of all living things
Something we share
Even with the plant kingdom
Hey look at me over here
As Marissa herself has
So frequently observed

The Shortest Line -

This is a poem I wrote today
at the supermarket which almost
qualifies as a Whole Foods Haiku


Choose the shortest line
Says the sign on the wall
At the neighborhood market
Advice I've taken to heart
In my very own writing
Absolutely every day
There being nothing more
Compelling than truth
Writ short and sweet