Halfway Home
Halfway home, views shift
From forestly vertical
(the exceptions: lakes)
To plainsly horizontal
(the exceptions: trees, towers)
Halfway Home
Halfway home, views shift
From forestly vertical
(the exceptions: lakes)
To plainsly horizontal
(the exceptions: trees, towers)
The Get Ahead
The get-ahead push
Before a three-day weekend
Requires a battle
Against this Thursday’s slacking
And the next Monday’s sucking
Workout Regrets
Suggesting to your
Trainer that you want to do
A favorite lift
Encourages him to cause
Some deep muscular regret
Rainy Days
Northfield is at the
Eastern edge of the Rockies’
Rain shadow, which means
The student union’s damp stench
Is really Montana’s fault
Dishwasher
When the family
Is all in bed, I turn on
The dishwasher and
Enjoy its clanky sloshing
I need a cat for my lap
Swallows
Swallows sweep over
The pond, cleaning up the bugs
Some, sated, turn to
Hover on the westerly
Stationary boomerangs
Tankastructions
Use a pencil and
Lined paper but leave blank lines.
Write a bad first line.
Strike it. Write five better lines.
Count your syllables correctly.
Writing Goals
Use the fewest words
Possible to convey your
Meaning. Reduce words
While preserving most of your
Meaning. Cut words, save meaning.
Hunting Camp Thoughts
I recalled the hunting camp
During this sodden green week.
Rain dripped from the eaves.
Mosquitoes hummed. Pines and firs
Palisaded the creek’s bank.
Tropical Minnesota
A rainy season
Decrepit infrastructure
An incompetent
Leader: this must be life in
A banana republic
Spring Trails
I veer down the trail
Trying not to roll over
Any sticks, in case
One is really a little
Snake, bathing in sun-warm dirt
Garage Door
What is that strange clank?
The chain shouldn’t droop like that
YouTube, hear my prayers
Well, that doesn’t seem too hard
Didn’t even need a beer