Coupeville Ferry

Watching the ferry come and go,

There are passengers coming home;

Others excitedly, departing,

To discover adventures unknown.

Pioneer families are the royalty,

First on and off the trips afloat…

We all resent island overcrowding,

Blaming the last ones off the boat.

Sometimes I park in tourist spots,

Observing their awe of incredible views…

It renews the scenes I take for granted.

Ennui dissolves into good news.

Sometimes ...

A poet is a songwriter

Who cannot carry a tune.

A dreamer travels the universe,

While afraid to leave his room.

The world’s favorite love stories

Are written by those alone.

One making you feel most welcome,

Often has the smallest home.

Those who go the extra mile

Do so with hobbled feet.

Those holding their heads highest

Have felt great losses and defeat. 

Some with the greatest humor, 
Have suffered the greatest loss...
While most people left with nothing,
Have paid the highest cost.   

Some men can't feel forgiveness,
They possess a stone cold heart... 
Humanitarians have no boundaries
Love and acceptance is their art.

The Calaveras River

The Calaveras River flows,

Carrying history to the west.

When I was young before the internet,

It was my life, at best…

I fly fished for steel head trout,

Caught the greatest stories ever told…

Sat on the shore with a copper pan,

And filled glass vials with panned gold.

The eroded “River of Skulls” exposed,

Skeleton stacks on an ancient burial mound…

The end of an historical era collided with

The new happiness I’d found.

That day you fell into the current,

Disappearing in rapids downstream;

I celebrated you survived the flow,

Mourning later you drowned the dream.