Palo Colorado Canyon

If I believed in heaven,

There’d be a foggy salt sea air…

Aerial views of a rugged coast,

As far as my eyes can stare.

I would live atop the canyon

Above the Palo Colorado Creek…

In the darkness of the redwood's shade;

My Nirvana found, that others seek.

I’d sit on the porch in the winter,

Drinking wine to ward off a shiver…

And drink wine in the summertime,

On a folding chair in the river.

I would write poetry in the morning;

Cigarettes with coffee atop the view…

This was my life three decades ago,

I’d love to start again, a new. 


Dedicated to Jackie Marshall , the ex-patriot Lodi hostess, and original "Lady of the Canyon".  Thank You for making everyone feel special and welcome. Always

Marsupial Pockets

Eyeing a wild mustard border,

A seashore bank of wild weeds…

Forests with rock out cropping:

I see shelter for wildlife’s needs.

There is life in the invisible,

The more unkempt, the most alive…

Under my piles of twigs and grass,

Is where the wild youth thrives.

Baby bunnies step from weed tunnels,

Like flares from a July fourth rocket…

Liberated from the sticks and weeds,

That provided their marsupial pocket.

Adult rabbits, robins and red wings,

Live freely in the orchard each day…

Plucking a worm or blade of grass,

Unaware new freedoms make them prey.

Marsupial Pockets

Eyeing a wild mustard border,

A seashore bank of wild weeds…

Forests with rock out cropping:

I see shelter for wildlife’s needs.

There is life in the invisible,

The more unkempt, the most alive…

Under my piles of twigs and grass,

Is where the wild youth thrives.

Baby bunnies step from weed tunnels,

Like flares from a July fourth rocket…

Liberated from the sticks and weeds,

That provided their marsupial pocket.

Adult rabbits, robins and red wings,

Live freely in the orchard each day…

Plucking a worm or blade of grass,

Unaware new freedoms make them prey.