Bird sounds and a thought of you, sir.

Jean Michel Basquiat - Philistines - 1982

father of mine

I live fifteen hundred miles from your grave

and I am standing in a small stand of pines

it is a gray and misty day

and somewhere close by a woodpecker is working

cold feet  bird sounds and a thought of you sir

see you are not forgotten 

-----

lives of sawdust and stardust 

sweats and sweets 

vowels and consonants 

one turns this way and that way 

until direction becomes meaningless 

of course there are good things 

a dog that stays close 

springtime 

a fine meal and nap 

children laughing 

love 

-----

I can face the darkness. I can take being alone through endless time, and facing this immense universe. It's not that I am particularly strong; I'm not. But I have something to see me through. He was real. He was alive and real and had love in his heart. He was my son and I love him. And that is mine to keep. Even death cannot change it.

-----

if every passing year held a price in dollars 

would you be ashamed to know the number 

would you complain when the annual bill came due 

-----

my childhood neighborhood 

was between two huge graveyards 

and we children played in them 

soldier or hide and go seek 

friend let me tell you something 

there are no ghosts

-----

by james lee jobe 

“What you remember saves you.”

W. S. Merwin

Jean Michel Basquiat - Fallen Angel - 1981

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without horses or whiskey

Jason Scarpace

putah creek savors the moonlight 

a cool night    quiet 

there is a delta breeze 

an owl watches from an oak branch 

but doesn't ask 'who' 

moonlight shines across the moving water 

look at me   I'm still alive 

---

life is a confusing movie 

with a sudden end 

the actors are easily broken 

like chalk   like eggs 

they have no script to follow 

and there is no director 

the movie is a western 

but without horses or whiskey 

now you be quiet 

and pass the popcorn 

---

I used to try to think it all through 

     but no more 

     now I just try to feel it all 

I want to touch everything 

     and everyone 

---

when I weep 

         I want the whole world to be silent 

even the wind and the ocean 

        should just shut up for a little while

---

I have grown old but it's ok I like it 

and my wife is older than me 

but she seems younger 

I like that too 

I like so many things now 

old songs that I didn't like when they were new 

seeing someone else's footprint in the mud 

being sober all of the time 

and I especially enjoy not giving anyone advice 

that's all for now 

goodbye

poems by james lee jobe 

-----

"Hotei Bird and Monk" - Keith Abbott

Wake up, our ship has been ice-bound long enough, the time has come to sail the open seas. 

Rumi

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Digging for those bones.

Vincent van Gogh - The bridge in the rain, 1887

california farmlands 

summer 

one drop of rain 

and an orchard grows 

two drops of rain 

and the tomato crop comes in 

three drops of rain 

and we rise up in the sky 

ascending like christians 

think that they will 

here in the big valley 

rain is more powerful 

than jesus 

james lee jobe

It is surely a great calamity for a human being to have no obsessions. 

Robert Bly

peace be upon the sacramento valley 

                         my home 

peace be upon the sacramento river 

                        and tributaries 

peace be upon that which grows 

                        and lives there

                        flora and fauna

                        the people 

may the earth be healed of her scars 

                        and wounds 

may the passing years be filled 

                        with healing and life 

may it be so 

james lee jobe 

Umberto Brunelleschi

want of your hands

for want of your hands I open the darkness

that sleeps past the hot edge of the candle

this desire smells of pine trees    salt water

and death   or life    I can never decide which

the dogs are digging for those bones that they think

they remember and then their fur turns into rain

words can be like that    a glimpse of an angel    fog

in the trees the smell of desire     the want of your hands

james lee jobe

We have to talk about liberating minds as well as liberating society. 

Angela Davis

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Thanks, james 

Be perfectly brave and honest.

Shirin Neshat

after dinner

standing outside in a light rain

I am connected to all creation

a perfect imperfection

james lee jobe

Whenever I get too stressed out about the headlines I comfort myself by remembering that we all swallow spiders in our sleep. 

Whitney Cummings

What can we do with sorrow? James says not to swallow it down. Wear your sorrow on your chest, as if it were a medal for courage. Be perfectly brave and honest. People will ask if you are doing any better; don't lie. Tell them no, I am an infected sore, but I love you for checking on me. When you check on me I can hear the birds again, after a long time, singing in the far distance. 

james lee jobe

I paint objects as I think them, not as I see them.

Pablo Picasso

Shirin Neshat

in class I paid little attention

and often none at all

did it matter

my dog loves me

so does my wife

two doves visit my patio daily

every summer the jasmine

and crape myrtle bloom so lovely

I have a room full of books

and a nice reading chair

in the end I never needed

that algebra or biology

just like I said I wouldn’t

james lee jobe

QUESTIONS ANSWERED
-Li Po, 701-762

You ask why I live
alone in the mountain forest,

and I smile and am silent
until even my soul grows quiet.

The peach trees blossom.
The water continues to flow.

I live in the other world,
one that lies beyond the human.

Thanks for reading today's post here at the poetry zendo. You might consider supporting this blog with a small donation through the Buy Me A Coffee link just below. My mobility issues no longer allow me to work. Many thanks, jlj 

Sniffing the beard.

Early Autumn, 13th century, 

by Song loyalist painter Qian Xuan.

_________________________

now the radio stations all sound 

like they are broadcasting from crowded cells 

in a hot prison 

showers are only once a week 

james lee jobe 

The most important point is to accept yourself and stand on your two feet.

Shunryu Suzuki

Hank Williams, So Lonesome I Could Cry, 1949

my doggo likes to sniff 

my beard after I eat 

o just imagine 

what delightful fragrances 

must linger there 

james lee jobe 

wife-o

Realize deeply that the present moment is all you ever have.

Eckhart Tolle

the garbage truck comes 

every thursday morning 

it’s how I keep track of time 

james lee jobe 

Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. 

Martin Luther King Jr.

_________________________

Thanks for reading today's post here at the poetry zendo. You might consider supporting this blog with a small donation through the Buy Me A Coffee link just below. Many thanks, jlj. 

Screaming from hell.

Pierre-Hugues Hétu

it doesn’t matter to me if the sun is up 

I wake up when I wake up 

no alarm clock 

no rules 

usually it is just before dawn 

I feed my animals and drink my coffee 

I work on poems 

I am often a bit put out 

that I didn’t die in my sleep 

as is my wish 

any night will do 

just like any day is a good day to be 

alive 

james lee jobe  

We have to dare to be ourselves, however frightening or strange that self may prove to be.

May Sarton

why did I wait so many years 

to mourn the falling leaves 

james lee jobe

Kindness is a mark of faith, and whoever is not kind has no faith.

Muhammad

Sharle Matthews

blood on the flowers 

blood in the street 

the battle is done 

and it is not just the soldiers 

who are dead 

children parents doctors 

teachers ministers clerks 

mechanics regular people 

just going about their lives 

bombs and bullets 

don’t discriminate 

james lee jobe

Mindfulness gives you time. Time gives you choices. Choices, skillfully made, lead to freedom.

Henepola Gunaratana

so maybe the noise from crows 

is really just my mother 

screaming from hell

james lee jobe

When you do something, you should burn yourself up completely, like a good bonfire, leaving no trace of yourself.

Shunryu Suzuki

Hi. James Lee here. You can help support this blog, with the small donation every now and then. Not every time you come, just sometimes. Maybe a fiver once a month. It's safe to do online and quite easy. Below is a link to 'Buy Me A Coffee.' Thanks, jlj

A melancholy that lingers.

Katsushika Hokusai

the air is low tonight pressed down to the ground
and it welcomes me like I am a victorious soldier
just home from some distant war
the ground kisses the low air and caresses it
whispering sweet love words that I cannot make out
even though I listen closely
there is moonlight starlight street lights
headlights from passing traffic
and a blue light from television sets
filtering through the windows of the houses
even with this light I cannot make out the tops of the trees
or the roofs of the taller houses
walking in this world brings me loneliness
a melancholy that lingers long after the night is over
a new day begins so what can I do
but begin again as well
so I do

james lee jobe

All of life is a foreign country.

Jack Kerouac

Deep winter, the thick of it, with no sign yet of spring. The dark at its longest, the cold at its widest. That's for me. The shivers on my back as I mount the steps of the bus, my breath is a fog, mixing with the breath fog of all the others who are lined up, waiting to board. Everyone breathing the winter air together.

james lee jobe 

Kindness is in our power, even when fondness is not.

Samuel Johnson

jlj

Since you alone are responsible for your thoughts,

only you can change them.

Paramahansa Yogananda

two valley oaks 

together we drink 

our roots move through the dark earth

toward a dampness    a creek

or an underground pool

so much drinking    now we are drunk

two old trees hoping for some music 

james lee jobe 

If you are unable to find the truth right where you are,

where else do you expect to find it?

Dōgen

Here. It's a good place to be. I no longer dream of new places to go, and I no longer miss the places of my youth. To be where I am is enough. This patch of earth. Here. This place. Home.

james lee jobe 

jlj

Thanks for reading today's post here at the poetry zendo. You might consider supporting this blog with a small donation through the Buy Me A Coffee link just below. My mobility issues no longer allow me to work. Many thanks, jlj. 

Blessed with small things.

Pablo Picasso. Violon accroche au mur. 1913.

to most minds you have nothing

rags to wear   a hovel for sleeping

if ever you could sleep   you cannot

that said   you have a life to live

and you have your next breath

breathe and make do with that

james lee jobe

We must learn to live together as brothers 

or perish together as fools. 

Martin Luther King

I walked through the rattlesnake mountains

paying no mind 

white boulders   white clouds

a patch of grass   a patch of snow

james lee jobe 

'The Wood Between' (2008) by Hiramatsu Reiji 

sins are not brands and we are not cattle

forgive yourself and start again

james lee jobe 

My music is evidence of my soul's will to live.

Charles Mingus

and when I am blessed 

it is often with the smallest of things

my grandchild's laugh

that first glimpse of the sunrise

a perfect apple 

and then again perhaps

these blessings are not that small

after all

james lee jobe

Why do you stay in prison when the door is so wide open?

Jalal Ad-din Muhammad Rumi

james lee jobe 

If you enjoy this blog, and I hope that you do, please consider making a donation through the BUY ME A COFFEE button below. (Not every time you come here, just maybe once in awhile.) It's done safely online, and just takes a moment. I could use the supplement since my mobility issues no longer allow me to work. Thanks!

james