Tria Est (+3)

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)