O life, you strange rubber band

1972 Jeep J4000. No special reason; I just like it.

Lumps of flesh 

Shaped into an old man 

The image of a human being 

What do I know anyway 

Just poems and dreams 

And such 

James Lee Jobe 

LINK: The Good Arabs, a poem by Eli Tareq El-Bechelany Lynch

I must take care 

The rope I climb is long enough

To hang me 

And if I should actually make it to the top 

There’s nowhere to go 

But back down again 

O life, you strange rubber band 

Up leads to down 

And then back up again 

Reason is so seldom involved 

James Lee Jobe 

Art Pepper - You'd Be So Nice To Come Home to

When hungry, eat your rice; when tired close your eyes. Fools may laugh at me, but wise men will know what I mean.

Linji Yixuan

-For Edna- 

It’s hard for me 

To remember your face now 

I’m closing in on 70 

And you’ve been gone some 40 years 

Dying at age 29 

I was told that you were cremated 

So perhaps you’ve gone the whole cycle 

Ashes, cast in a river 

Becoming part of the watershed 

Flowing downstream 

No more worries 

Joining a bay, an ocean 

Evaporation moves you along 

And tiny bits of you 

Maybe your heart 

Rise up into the air to become rain 

Pushed inland by the wind 

To fall upon the crops in the fields 

And you, Edna, nurture life this way 

And then return to the watershed again 

Cycle by cycle 

Season by season 

That’s how I’ll remember you, Edna 

As a part of Everything

You are Everywhere

James Lee Jobe 

A life has passed and nothing has been accomplished. Others call it failure. I stand alone.

Han-Shan

Meditation then strong black coffee 

Music from Herbie Hancock and Miles Davis 

Editing and blogging some poor excuses for poetry 

So starts the day, most days 

My doggo watches me 

With a look that says 

“This is a good life, friend”

And so it is

James Lee Jobe 

Pico Verde Jobe, conure and friend.

Yes, Virginia, you can support this blog safely and online. There is a Buy Me A Coffee link for a small donation, just below. Thanks! 

James