do you hear it
rain at the window

do you hear the lightened notes
of hammers on skin

tunnels fade into waterways
paths are shallow pools

we laughed at the word

damp

the understatement

all wet clothes, mops
and buckets

later he said he would have
fetched me in the truck yet

there is no vehicular access

don’t get wet, don’t get wet
again

we laughed
and carried on with the day patiently

ridding ourselves of the valuables
of no value

things from the past

james

so you know the pattern?

if the name has lowercase things
will continue a while and if uppercase

it has ended

it is with regard that I visit here
each day

it is with care that I ask after his

health

some folk don’t say much
some folk manage
quite well

really

being independent

some make mistakes

i do and avoid the capitals

main thing is to weather the storms
and visit daily

i too lean slightly

I’m a sentinel, fair Romeo
- scanning the liquid dark,
and ready to whisper alarm
at the first sign of romance.

All my #2 pencils are chewed and the erasers are gone.
Half the pages of my books have been folded.

Sections are highlighted and notes are scribbled  
all over the place!  shaking head

The page margins are jammed with doodles,  
of flowers, cats, stars, hearts and names.

flipping pages to early in the year

September doodles are all John, john, JOHN.

Who’s John? thinking back
Oh, yeah. smiling  OH YEAH.

It’s good to review the book before midterms.

My cat’s become so critical
of the pieces that I write
he kneads to express his opinion
and he always thinks he’s right.

He twitches his ear-itation
if I don't write in Senryus.
If what I write displeases him
he’s under the bed for refuge.

He’s worse than many teachers -
his reviews are seldom neutered -
he pointedly wags that twitchy tail
or cat-calls disapproval.

He laid across my laptop
for half the afternoon
‘til I promised an ode to tuna
which earned purrs of hallelujah!