Dadalak Octubre (Keeping Company with October)

To My Wife Far Away
Where have all the *chunge’ gone
soaring off in angelic pairs
was it these gentle October rains
that have awakened me
while I sleep outside
out walking and stargazing
on the southern cliffs of Tinian
the Teakettle and Fishhook
constellations remind me of you
but I have no oolong left
and you are far far away
in northern Manchuria
visiting your ailing mother
the rain washes away my tears.
(chunge’ is the Chamorro word
for a white tailed tropic bird that
soars in pairs over Tinian.)
 
October Full Moon Mercy
This evening a harvest moon shines full
it is a full moon all over the world
in the seas and oceans tides give a pull
no matter what countries flag unfurled
it shines down on a world in sorrow
refugees fill camps in Asia & the Middle East
more filled in Africa and Europe tomorrow
families broken no food no water no peace
on top of all that comes a nuclear threat
insults hurled by leaders no diplomacy
causing people all over the world to sweat
lets hope and pray for some sort of normalcy
a prayer now to the gods of all world religions
Send doves of peace. Stop hatred’s divisions.
 
Yo! Ma Yoyo, Yoyo Ma, a sonnet
(for Yoyo Ma on his 62nd birthday)
Yo! Yoyo Ma, Ma Yoyo
more and more por favor
go go go go go go
take care of muscles sore
please Mister Yoyo Ma
keep it up serious and mellow
we thank your Ma and Pa
don’t stop bowing that cello
solo on J.S. Bach’s cello suites
and all along the desert Silk Road
African and Appalachian treats
Dun’s Tigers and Dragons all explode
xie xie for all those different directions
looking toward more musical resurrections.
 
Happy The Toilet Flushes
I am happy that the bathroom toilet flushes
Newton’s theory was right and gravity works
the toilet handle is used and some water gushes
a cesspool takes all from good folks and jerks
some people might call me a bit Pollyannaish
enjoying both rain and sun on a regular basis
I go for underdogs in competitions start to finish
dislike hurricanes typhoons I like atmospheric stasis
I’m not big on gold mirrors or narcissistic nitwits
happy with echoes, yodels, dogs howling at the moon
* Tallis, von Bingen, Jordi Savall give me ecstatic fits
all kinds of poems from hiphop back to Celtic rune
I’m happy that life’s music goes round and round
and that if you look joy in life can always be found.

(Thomas Tallis (1505-1585) English composer. Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179) German composer. Jordi Savall (1941 to present) viola da gamba player, medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque music.)