every day
every time i leave my house
everywhere i go
i pin on my knapsack
twin petal-small flags
to which my allegiance is pledged
whole

these flags are not monkeys on my back
i carry them as a coat of arms
mantles of double brotherhood
they shield like second skin
to drape my dreams

one floats rainbow
the other wings tricolor
both bold with movement
i am not ashamed
of what they stand for
when their meaning is
questioned

these flags are not chips on my shoulders
i carry them as beauty spots

Father! I'm hungered! give me bread;
Wrap close my shivering form!
Cold blows the wind around my head,
And wildly beats the storm.
Protect me from the angry sky;
I shrink beneath its wrath,
And dread this torrent sweeping by,
Which intercepts our path.
Father! These California skies,
You said, were bright and bland —
But where, tonight, my pillow lies, —
Is this the golden land?
'Tis well my little sister sleeps,
Or else she too would grieve;
But only see how still she keeps —
She has not stirred since eve.

Father, I scarcely dare to pray,
So clear I see, now it is done,
That I have wasted half my day,
And left my work but just begun.

So clear I see that things I thought
Were right or harmless were a sin;
So clear I see that I have sought,
Unconscious, selfish aims to win;

So clear I see that I have hurt
The souls I might have helped to save;
That I have slothful been, inert,
Deaf to the calls thy leaders gave.

In outskirts of thy kingdom vast,
Father, the humblest spot give me;
Set me the lowliest task thou hast;

Father, I know that all my life Is portioned out for me;
The changes that are sure to come, I do not fear to see:
I ask thee for a present mind, Intent on pleasing thee.

I would not have the restless will That hurries to and fro,
Seeking for some great thing to do, Or secret thing to know;
I would be treated as a child, And guided where I go.

I ask thee for the daily strength, To none that ask denied,
A mind to blend with outward life, While keeping at thy side,
Content to fill a little space, If thou be glorified.

Father! I bless thy name that I do live
And in each motion am made rich with thee
That when a glance is all that I can give
It is a kingdom's wealth, if I but see;
This stately body cannot move, save I
Will to its nobleness my little bring,
My voice its measured cadence will not try
Save I with every note consent to sing;
I cannot raise my hands to hurt or bless
But I with every action must conspire;
To show me there how little I possess
And yet that little more than I desire;
May each new act my new allegiance prove

1. Father, hear the prayer we offer: Not for ease that prayer shall be;
2. Not forever in green pastures Do we ask our way to be;
But for strength, that we may ever Live our lives courageously.
But the steep and rugged pathway May we tread rejoicingly.

3. Not forever by still waters
Would we idly quiet stay;
But would smite the living fountains
From the rocks along our way.

4. Be our strength in hours of weakness;
In our wanderings, be our guide;
Through endeavor, failure, danger,
Father, be thou at our side!

my feet mark the passage of time
i leave off where i started
the hospital
fingering my toes

in time i am healthy
robust waiting
for the light
humming waiting

bells toll
in slow solid measures
the bolt that connects my arm whispers
and the way i sweat
in bursts and starts
in increments
i talk in measures
if and when
plan in yardsticks
less than three feet long
i will go to the wedding
the graduation is a wait and see
see and wait
for the light at sixth and somewhere

Father, and Bard revered! to whom I owe,
Whate'er it be, my little art of numbers,
Thou, in thy night-watch o'er my cradled slumbers,
Didst meditate the verse that lives to show,
(And long shall live, when we alike are low)
Thy prayer how ardent, and thy hope how strong,
That I should learn of Nature's self the song,
The lore which none but Nature's pupils know.

The prayer was heard: I "wander'd like a breeze,"
By mountain brooks and solitary meres,
And gathered there the shapes and phantasies
Which, mixed with passions of my sadder years,

no point in crying injustice
shooting off in public places
they are slack-handed and wet-eyed
with sympathy

can confession aid the process
the fellowship of mourners
propping themselves up
on heart-rending commiserations
brave corners bending
blank eyes staring

time waits for no man
it comes for you
alone you spit
yank your flaccid member
cry envious tears for
young folks caressing
at your side

strike back with amorphous ammunition
refuse the paisley-patterned despair
take the violate in hand

‘Fate gave the word, the arrow sped,’
And pierc'd my Darling's heart;
And with him all the joys are fled,
Life can to me impart.—

By cruel hands the Sapling drops,
In dust dishonor'd laid:
So fell the pride of all my hopes,
My age's future shade.—

The mother-linnet in the brake
Bewails her ravish'd young;
So I, for my lost Darling's sake,
Lament the live day long.—

Death! oft, I've fear'd thy fatal blow;
Now, fond, I bare my breast;
O, do thou come and lay me low,
With him I love at rest!