JACK BURNS LIVES!

I spend many afternoons and mornings sitting in a chair in my garden, staring at the plants, the bees and other living things. I sometimes project myself into their world and at their level. What would it be like to be a frog? A bird? Or perhaps just a plant reaching for the sun. During these moments, I realize life is both beautiful and deadly, always completely fascinating. I also realize humans wouldn’t fare well if suddenly found ourselves only inches tall, naked and back to the beginning, to our earliest roots. No guns, no grocery. Just you and nature. A harrowing thought for modern man, who may once again find himself clothed in hides, spear in hand.

I sit in my chair

staring at my plants,
these fruits of my toil

projecting myself forward 
first shrinking, then cascading downward 

to the moist soil

within the labyrinth 
like a serpent I slither

through the green vines 
creeping and twisting 

along moss laden stones
slippery and still

within sinewy arms stretching upward 
yearning, reaching 

to the molten sun

my mind wanders 
sailing through

the sublime assemblage
serene peace and silence 

broken only by the hawk 
who, with ivory talons stretched downward

strikes the wren
the beautiful lethal embrace

then together, soaring upward
they travel 

to twilight
blood and feathers glistening

as they slowly disappear
nature softly whispers 

make haste, human
to the safety of thy chair

the soil is dry
sterile, devoid of life

the water is warm
salmon, no longer spawn

the birds
have flown, gone

cheery calls
fade away

replaced

by our death song

-james rochelle

The Grand Silence-In Praise of the Desert (Tipping My Cap to Cactus Ed )

we all have a
place

mine is
here

beneath
ancient monoliths bronzed
standing firm

on
waves of sultry sand
softly shifting

beside
fiery ocotillo
stretching sunward

faint sounds
like gentle notes in a song
punctuate

the grand silence
the immensity of space

the turkey vulture says
and I agree

heaven is here
nirvana is now

-beau peyton

“You know, sometimes it takes a lot more courage to live than it does to die.”
(From the film “Two Road Together,” 1961)

Thoughts on Lew Welch

I thought of killing myself
But I looked at a flower
it opened its petals
wide
to the sun
it embraced the warmth
it embraced life
and then I thought
why shouldn’t I?

postscript: I’ve always been a huge fan of Lew Welch. He’s one of the great Beat poets and very inspirational to me as a writer and as a human being. He was a giant of his generation but a tragic story. On May 23, 1971, he walked out of poet Gary Snyder’s house in the mountains of California, leaving behind a suicide note. He had carried his rifle, and his body was never found.

the nation again raises its sword
cutting downward
extinguishing all light

the tentacles of empire stretch outward
wrapping ’round
strangling all life

beneath the rubble
children emerge
looking upward

frightened
ragged
hungry
burned

begging
for food, for quiet, for love

to escape this world
this world of men

“Wilderness is not a luxury, but a necessity of the human spirit.”-Edward Abbey

The Forest

Great ethereal, enduring arms
wrap around me
keeping me
safe
from the sickness of the city
from its
liars
rulers
opportunists, peddlers and despoilers

My gentle, unforgiving refuge
nary a ruler
no lies
nothing
simply all, all that we require
to live
well
beauty
soil, shelter and sustenance

Weary, I submit myself,
her soothing call
whispers to
me
the storm within me, my unquiet
hurried mind
amity
in a lover’s embrace……