Cuttings - September
Michael P. Garofalo
September
Red Bluff, Tehama County, California
The back door
bangs shut!
September gust.
tidy garden;
her doubts
tied in a line
Dead fox head
on the road's edge--
flags at half mast.
A wet pile
of dead doves -
Labor Day sports.
Quieter now,
the cooing of doves;
unloaded shotguns.
a shallow puddle
in the slowly drying ditch -
a flopping fish
Branches filled with blackbirds
Chirping time in swaying leaves.
Spent the hour, and could be heard,
Then disappeared. Leaving silent leaves.
A huge nest of
Wasps
In the Pyracantha's claws
Sharp and still at dusk
Broadway 2000
Cats closing -
T.S. Eliot's last "Meow"
morning coffee sans sugar
sipped in silence -
still her cold shoulder
Flip flopping
horsetails;
flooded field.
suddenly
she sneezed
into the moonflower
A rooster crowed thrice,
Splitting the silence of the night.
Distant, near,
Breath by breath,
Over the edge of heartbreaks;
Facing imminent death.
Arrested in a garden,
and dead in a day;
He left behind baskets fine
All filled with bread, fish, and wine.
[The Garden of Gethsemane; Matthew 26:36-46.]
Beyond
the scarecrow's reach,
stray goats.
September - Poems, Quotes, Quips, Chores
Shriveled figs
hang
on the branch -
a hospice courtyard.
Bunches of red grapes
shriveled up --
handfuls of raisins.
campus clarion
keeps the pace for the place
time after time
(9 + 11 + 01) x Jihad = (- 3300 - 4 - 3) + shock
full of seeds
sunflowers
face the earth
Withered vines,
crispy leaves -
summertime
leftovers.
Clear-cut
------------------------------------
sunburnt shrubs, oozing stumps,
raw bulldozer ruts ::::::::::::::
I caught my step;
Stopped, reared back, eyes stuck!
The snake was still.
Midnight--
the smell of skunk
on the southern breeze.
Bad karma bleeding
over centuries of hate;
a heartless eye for a blind eye,
a toothless scream for another.
We wiped away
our tears--
late summer sunset.
[9/11/2001]
Dust gathered by chance
welcomed home by the porch -
the broom stands askance.
Sacred Heart's steeple
in the half-moon's light -
distant thunder.
Entering
the old church;
clear holy water.
Cleaning up
woodpiles
cord of walnut on the way ...
black spiders scatter.
Shadows from a slice of moonshine
Ripple down the sagging vines
Unburdened of their sweet red sex,
Withered, grotesquely bent, impotent.
Yet they live on, now as I:
Mouthfuls of wet seeds turned to chyme,
Reborn as muscles, eyes, and Mind.
eyes horizontal
nose vertical;
a mind stood up
side
down
put away the tent. my friend died.
why bother camping lakeside.
She passed away
on her journey of no return;
leaving her bottomless soul.
.....
While sitting in my den
one summer evening, reading and writing, my white cat, Ms. Q, jumped into my lap.
As I stroked her soft fur, and she purred with delight, she bit the edge of the spiral
notebook I was writing on:
I write, the cat
bites;
the spiral
notebook in hand
holds words
and tooth marks.
This cat in my
lap
purring, eyes closed, ears back -
fur on my fingers.
.....
Sunset settles on
Mount
Yolly Bolly's peak -
Summer
has gone.
Killing
3,000 people
to
sleep with 60 virgins in Allah's heaven?
Men
have one testicle too many.
Vomiting
up
the stench of burnt corpses--
cheering
zealots can't smell.
open gate
saluting
daybreak
His rice field
ripens
in September sunshine -
he died today anyway.
just like a man!
The macho metaphysics
of a bull in a Temple -
Knight of the Creatrix.
.....
Oreo is my dog, of
Shepherd-Husky mix - two years old, alert,
a wanderer, curious, a troublemaker, always hungry:
Oreo chews a wet
bone
shaded by the low arbor;
the flies wait their turn.
The dog pounced
on the broken-winged dove,
Eyes still alive!
The scattered
feathers
of a dead mourning dove;
blood in the dog's lair.
Cool wind at our
backs,
a whiff of summer drifts by -
the dogs' noses rise.
.....
.....
Lake Almanor is a large
scenic mountain lake in nearby Plumas County. Douglas fir, ponderosa pine,
Western red cedar and manzanita grow right down to the rocky shoreline. Mt. Lassen
and Brokeoff
Mountain, the remnants of ancient Mount Tehama, all volcanoes, loom above all at the
northwest end of
the lake. Lake Almanor is a recreational haven for families from the hotter North
Sacramento Valley.
Water skiers
racing by
Motorboats on Labor Day -
Their waves slap the shore.
Small boys
throwing stones
gathered from volcanic shores -
the lake swallows more.
Gurgling streams
-
Mount Lassen's snow
melts
down.
From the
mountain's breast
Mill Creek, Deer Creek, Battle Creek flow ....
Feeding crops below.
.....
Restless bull
wants his cows -
gate locked.
Full moon
not up--
I stumble forward,
blind.
ditch Full
pumps Humming ...
Work Begins
The train's
blaring horn
runs beyond the tracks and streets -
startling us.
Sparrows bathe
and dance
in the spray of the sprinkler;
the sun dries their wings.
Lined along
barbed wire
shitting cows staring me down -
I piss and stare back.
Green Yellow Tan
Brown -
The wilted leaves fallen down;
Crunched by her shoes.
Daylight peeking
in
through the parted window blinds;
I pull up my pants.
Fishing guides
sip coffee
chatting about the Chinook holes -
trolling for clients.
Snarling heat
Refusing to retreat -
Dog Days
Dragonflies mating,
hovering over puddles -
thirsty for loving.
After nightfall
the winds die away -
clear summer sky.
The fifteenth foul fart
rumbled down my bloated gut -
chewed chili beans.
Lightening
bolts:
cutting purple thunderclouds
covering blue mountains.
A few cards
short of a full deck;
he played well anyway.
The freight
train rumbles by: a few almonds drop,
Star Thistles quiver, off steel wheels bounce rocks.
Logging rigs and river
Roaring down Klamath Canyon;
Cold rain falls.
The hungry dogs
bark at the back door;
the cat circles her bowl.
September - Poems, Quotes, Quips, Chores
Leaf after leaf
turns yellow;
the fall of summer.
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Haiku Poetry
Links, References and Guides
Cuttings
Footsteps on the Stones of Epiphanies
Short Poems by Michael P. Garofalo
Haiku, Couplets, Senryu, Free Verse, Quatrains, Fragments
Master Index
Comments About the Poetry Notebooks of Mike Garofalo
One
Short of a Baker's Dozen
- Michael P. Garofalo
Sonnets, 10-16 Line Poems
Body
as Audience
by
Ann Gleeson
Author Index to Haiku Poems on the Net
Quotes for Gardeners
Quotes, Sayings, Proverbs, Poetry, Maxims, Quips, Clichés, Adages, Wisdom
A Collection Growing to Over 2,700 Quotes, Arranged by 130 Topics
Many of the Documents Include Recommended Readings and Internet Links.
Compiled by Michael P. Garofalo
Pulling Onions
The Quips and Observations of a Gardener
Copyrighted © 1999-2002 by Michael P. Garofalo. All rights reserved.
I Welcome Your Comments, Ideas, Contributions,
and Suggestions
E-mail Mike Garofalo in Red Bluff, California
A Short Biography of Mike Garofalo
Michael P. Garofalo's Poetry Notebook II
Cuttings: September - Summer Days
76K, 12 September 2002, Version 4.9.
The History of Gardening Timeline
Short Poems and Haiku by Michael P. Garofalo
