b-t-c claims credit for the eclipse

modestly publicly assuming

that his latest fundraising triumph

is cause for today’s shadow play

of how he will overwhelm his opponent

Bluffo the clown omitted mention

of how it will also shade out

courtroom battles and his use

of campaign funds to pay his legal fees

but many smaller would-be-donors

already know that to be fact

                                         —poor Bluffo

sounds of water

waves sweeping in for a bow

with quiet grace or flourish

shawl or cape whipped white

as raindrops splat on metal roof

or plummet onto furrowed earth

and trickle into gurgling rivulets

streaming toward roaring, gnashing

rivers to the sea to full circle

as pounding waves or lifted

by evaporation to cling to tiny particles

and fall again as rain

each role and costume enhanced

by sound that reach our souls

b-t-c in his own b movie

 blustering foul words

lambasting all around him

blaming anyone but self

bewailed by those who wish him to fall

bravo-ed by those who use him

as bait to bamboozle opponents

who believe that in bewailing the clown

they are bombarding the agenda

                                               —poor Bluffo

b-t-c burrowing in consequences

you can pity a little boy

in the slings and throws

of a snit turned tantrum

you can pity a bloated clown

writhing under the weight

of his own antics

but unless you are helping him

grow into manhood, you had better

make sure he is somewhere

where he can do no harm

—poor Bluffo

b-t-c up in the air

you’d think the circus

would be afraid to have an airport

named for the clown who owns

the title of leader of the most

failed businesses

but Bluffo the clown’s nomenclature

is proposed as the new name for a busy

prosperous international facility

Bluffo has crashed so many times

how can we hope for a ‘soft landing’?

our b-t-c does not even merit

having a field named after him

—poor Bluffo

dreamed mountains of color and time

dreams in the night of mountains

snaggle-toothed and gray with

the mixing of complementary colors

eerie of purple muted in yellow

blue warmed by sunshine orange

earthy with flora and fauna

green and red, tinted by generations

of life and reprocessing of minerals

upheavals from depths and layers

of existences over eons

mountains explaining time

as we seldom pause to comprehend

except in dreams where busy-ness

at times distorts back toward reality

b-t-c in face paint

most clowns seem to prefer white

face paint, but not Bluffo-the-clown

though he doe prefer white faces

in practice as well as philosophy

as it used to was in the good old days

still, if he weren’t colorblind

perhaps he’d realize how

his red nose and tie

clash his orange cheeks

—poor Bluffo

b-t-c on April 1st

Bluffo the clown has this day

but he’s more than an April fool

attacking the daughter of the judge actively presiding over the case

where he’s accused of criminal behavior

although attack has always been

both offense and defense for him

perhaps not understanding that others

have power to attack as well

if that judge is constrained by duty

to neutrality, not everyone else may be

                                       —poor Bluffo

b-t-c nose scarlet

Bluffo the clown, nose scarlet

bloated, threatening to burst

with the frustration of failure

to silence multiple sources

of accusation demanding accountability

incredulous that his outrageous

impropriety yields not stuttering

agreement as it has always done

but reasonable further leverage

against him, calling it justice

no clown is above the law

—poor Bluffo

Friday

Friday

service in Spanish and English

with translations for each culture

to follow as the other is spoken

warmth of caring, joining in each verse

of “Were You There” between familiar

quotations so often heard by rote

darkening of the church as we left

in silence, quieted to being able

to let in the power of experiencing

       Hillsboro United Methodist

birds in the osprey nest

two appeared one time

but we don’t see them again

we’re hoping they were visitors

enroute to somewhere else

for our perennial pair it would be

a bit cold and chill rainy yet

to start the ritual of months

of sitting on eggs and flying off

to gather food for insatiable

wide mouths and growing flight feathers and the terror of first leap

in hopes that awkward, untested wings will sustain the next generation

and set weary parents free

until the next spring

self-blame

men who love at times feel crushed

by ‘failure’ to protect beloveds

from terrifying health issues

they cannot control

problems breathing, chest pain

sudden loss of vision

blinding headaches

“Oh, there’s nothing wrong with you”

is more a wish than condemnation

however unfeeling it may seem

denial is their unconscious dealing

with their own aching disquiet rather

than admit that the one they adore

needs their comfort and assurance

b-t-c in court

entangled in disputes with judges

bluffo-the-clown’s nose pinkens

into cherry, then scarlet, and now

purpling toward magenta

both walls of the narrowing trap

chuckle, one to watch his antics

with relief as he draws attention

from the real magawork

the other foolishly believing

he disqualifies himself

when no one really cares

            --poor bluffo

WiGs at Dundee Wine Library

laughter, camaraderie and creativity

joyous gathering of trusted friends

to reveal ourselves in story telling

and give and take advice from animals

in unfamiliar, cozy surroundings

imagination v ‘alternative facts’

imagination opens up possibilities

to be tested against verifiable

or at least agreed upon suppositions

‘alternative facts’ encloses each person

within self by closing down

our means of communication

since what say has no basis

that conveys the same meaning

to another individual

bev

whimsical artistry

whose foundation of close observation

is filtered through beauty and compassion

loving dedication

to those who give of themselves

eagerness to help

young souls to find their best selves

warmth, impishness, gentle laughter

in delight of life

            Bev Walker, we miss you

white-out assurance

white-out this morning

but merely from fog, not snow

chill from the dampness

yet i know from experience and faith

that what lurks next to me will dissipate

and the familiar objects and colors

will emerge as though regrown

what i can only barely imagine

is the terror in such conditions

of those who do not have

such self-assurance

thread

there is a whole, a vastness

that encompasses what we can know

only in part as it exists on a scale

beyond out comprehension

a pattern, a tessellation, a tapestry

that we—weak, small, limited, mortal

as we are—yet remain a part of

a segment of a thread

that contributes to the design

and the entirety

material things

Material Things

            Warm and soft, caressing my shoulders. Mom was wrapping the fluffy beach towel around my shaking, four-year-old frame. I’d again stayed playing in Lake Erie’s chill water until my skin was wrinkled, and then, knowing better, sat in the shade of the elm inventing adventures for the twig men I’d found among the rocks of Kelley Island’s sandless shore.

            “You should have come in long ago,” Mom scolded with a smile.

            “I know, Mom.” I did know. I’d even thought about it when my teeth started to chatter, but the stories those bits of wood were drawing from me were too fascinating to be interrupted by discomfort I barely felt until the trembling and shaking made me run to the cottage. I knew I’d be greeted by terrycloth baked in sunshine on the clothesline strung from the back porch to the corner of the outhouse.

            My shoulders snuggled in fluffed warmth, the rest of me could drip until all of me, too, was baked in sunlight, recovery, acceptance, security. The texture of that towel told me I was loved.   

foundation of value

self-worth, knowing i am loved

that is what i work to have all children

take within themselves to enable each

to respect self and those other uncertain beings struggling to find place in

the enormity of unsure relationships

and hints of danger

to have strength of foundation

to be able to respect us all and see

fellow humans with caring

and compassion