12 Praises

 

Paul

Paul reminds me

to see the miraculous

to go each morning

trespassing

looking for beauty

 

Daisies

Thanks white daisies

for growing along the road

even in the things

people throw away

 

Breasts

In the bathroom

at the bowling alley

a drawing of breasts

and someone has added

Do Something With Your Wife

 

Parking Lot Bouquet

Sunday morning

we ride bikes

around the big

square of tar

five raindrops

spitbugs and bees

we are busy

gathering flowers

enough to fill

a jar

 

Quiet

After the lawnmower

dies next door

you could walk

on that silence

like a deep lush field

grown in the air

 

Paint

A new day

street painted

by the early rain

the smell of sea

and wet leaves

 

Larry

Writing poems

about the Buddha

and zen in some

little Ohio town

errands to do

the car parked

on hot tar

 

Rain

June rain

a robin

flies in front

flowers bent

bloom wet

 

Mike’s Wallpaper

Another masterpiece

500 blue flowers

hand painted

varnished yellow

to create the illusion

there’s a palace

in your rented room

 

UFOs

Now every time

I look at the stars

I’m searching for them

 

Bugs

In the garden

pulling out weeds

be careful moving

in their metropolis

 

Telephone Poles

The whole town

all our houses

connected by strings

knitted and pulled

from a ball of wire

On June 21, before Paul Piper left for China 

he asked me to write a poem of praise

every day.  These are the first twelve.

I usually write them first thing in 

the morning on the way to work.