Jackie and Jack

 

In the Canyon and Garrapata,
I witnessed two idols fall,
Dissolved as if by acid,
Both by choice, with alcohol.

Jack, my surrogate father,

Was only a dream I had….
Aloof, drunk and deserting
No different from my dad.

So many conflicting memories

Under the Bixby Creek Bridge… 

I still envisioned a future,
Far beyond that Big Sur ridge.

Jack, you are still my hero,

Tarnished, but a part of me…
And then, there’s the father I hated;
Another genius, time set free.

Barriers

I unrolled barbed wire for acres

To keep the animals “Under my tree”.

I often wish now as an old man,

The fence was cut, and they ran free.

One side kept the livestock in,

The other kept predators at bay…

I see now the moral dilemma;

Risk harm or take freedom away.

If I were the horse with flared nostrils,

Inhaling the scent of a better stranger,

I would prefer the choice to run free,

Risking a future chance of danger.

Personal Pulsations

So many leave the country,

To find their place in the world…

Swept away in a heartless city,

One’s fate is where they’re hurled.

The cities have a rhythm

It ebbs and flows; a moon drawn tide

We are anonymous in the millions,

Yet still no room to hide.

The view outside my window.

Is a colorful electric dance…

Throngs of others like myself,

Followed the current for one chance.

Trailer Life

Trailers are more than a shelter,

They’re a gift from the asphalt god…

They offer the perks of a mansion,

While squatting on a rich man’s sod.

A safe house for an outlaw,

The perfect hide-a-way, ready to roll;

A cabin parked in a Walmart lot,

Cheap housing, for one on the dole.

Trailers are the safety nets,

Where falling addicts crash…

Some trailers are the dumpsters,

And the occupants, the trash.

Some trailers make it possible,

To live on a sandy beach…

There, my psyche got a fresh view,

As my youth slid out of reach.

Sticks in the Water

My favorite sticks in the water,

Under the forest,

Under the mountains…

Under the sky,

Under the setting sun.

Under the tourist’s radar,

Under populated still today…

Under maintained public access,

Under rated isolation,

Understated until today.