The three most famous words
in human thought
“Cogito Ergo Sum”
The three most famous words
in human struggle
“Let Freedom Ring”
The three most famous words
in human exploration
“Because It’s There”
The three most famous words
in human devotion
“God Is Love”
(Beartooth Pass: August, 2021)
The One
There will come a time
when the poem you’re writing
surpasses all the others
Inscribed in your psyche
alive in your memory
—transformed and redefined
(Dreamsleep: January, 2024)
Something For Gregg
I was somewhere deep in Kansas
on a Triumph 69’
When your song came on the jukebox
and hit me from behind
I was headed for a bad place
and cared for nothing much
When I heard the song ‘Melissa,’
my heart and soul were struck
Entranced, your lyrics captured me
like nothing had before
When you sang about ‘The Gypsy,’
I headed for the door
But something made me turn around
and grab another dime
Ten more times in that diner’s booth,
still lost within your rhyme
Now back inside the bus station
and sleeping on the bench
I scratch your words into the wood,
last dollar gone and spent
My bike outside against the wall,
the kickstand was long gone
And out of gas, my hopes were dashed…
that unrelenting song
Waking up at ten unsettled,
across the street I pushed
The sign said Triumph-BSA,
the owner Mister Cush
He asked, “What’s with your motor,”
I said “Nothing—out of gas
“But worse I’m out of money,
can I sell the bike for cash?
“Would you please just buy my Triumph,
I know it’s old and worn
“It got me here through seven states,
runs great both cold and warm”
“I’ll pay three hundred on the spot,
on that can we agree?”
We walked back up inside his shop,
three bills he handed me
I thought about a bus ride home,
my thumb looked more in line
Facing East on old route 50,
my heart in deep decline
The first big rig that came along
was bound for York Pa.
The driver said “If you like dogs,
I’ll take you on your way”
In York I caught a fast ride out,
two ‘dodgers’ going North
And got back home with hat in hand,
your song to guide me forth
Two years then passed, I met my wife,
four more and our first child
We named her ‘Sweet Melissa,’
her dad back from the wilds
Now forty years have come and gone,
my beard and hair both gray
I owe you Gregg, and always will,
your song, her name—that day
(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2017)
For Gregg Allman
I sent this to Gregg in May, 2017. It\'s on his website.
We spent two days together in Richmond Virginia in
a blizzard in 1982.
To My Great Grandchildren
To my Grandchildren, those great and beyond,
whom I will never meet
Know that I love you and have seen you in the
eyes of your parents when they were very small
I’ve heard your voices in the trees, when the
wind blows softly calling my name as I walk
I’ve seen your arms reaching out to me in my
dreams, as you cry “Papa\" and then drift away
Your spirit is mine, as my spirit is yours; and no
lifetime can keep us apart
I watch over you now and will watch over you then,
whenever the need is great
I’m that voice you hear when no one else listens, and
no one else understands
And the heart that feels what you will feel, when no
one else seems to care
(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2017)