12/24 any year

 12/24 any year

there's a box and another.
another. another. another.
gifts are to let go of, and
like lottery tickets are not
to be used for investment
purposes - whatever the
diamond sellers tell you.

snippets of vintagerie 
and advice in the on-line edition

thanks to astonishing impresarios,
former foundrymen, former ...er...
politicians and eclectic artists advise,
"don't try this at home, except when
you do." you see, difficulties attend
every gestation, and fill our oh so
short summers with beguilement.

    news from a small town 52, December 2011

assigned reading

once upon a time in a land
where Chinese miners were
murdered, the literati decided
to read about the lives of their
descendents, older and newer,
to check out the traditional chow -
not the kind Americans eat – to
play the gambling games, to learn
the lives of the ones made in-
visible. this is called progress, in
between the bar fights and in-
justices. life lurches forward and
sometimes it doesn’t. growth is
hard to see except when it isn’t,
except when it is held up as
a shining example of what we
won’t tolerate here. if you
make yourself small enough, we
may just let you be, maybe even
call youfriend. but you never know
for sure. watch how we treat
each other, and then you decide.

    news from a small town 51, December 2011

wrong turn

twenty years ago, a wrong turn,
turned back any number of times,
returned to town, got a new job,
a new life, a new car – came back
to the end of the road, took
a deep breath, bounced and
jounced down the track to where
you are, got turned away at last.
now I need a new road, friend.

     news from a small town 50, November 2011

semi-feudal fiefdom (Joseph, Oregon)

there’s always a lemon floating in this
traditional style lemonade. and -
sometimes you just can’t make up
the muck that passes for reasoned
discourse here, so here goes: via
PhD, we are a semi-feudal fiefdom
in thrall, with pre-capitalistic systems
serving to protect something from
something (but we aren’t sure just
what) -  nonetheless, we will enforce
our ways, and blame you for the kids
who need milk, the mills that have
run off to richer/poorer pastures, and
the places where our pillowcases are
not recognized at the local laundry.
be still my heart: those people like
those people and so are to be pestered
with regulations and expenses – then
we’ll lower the boom anyway, hints
the realtor on the commission. but
shooting one's foot, lynching, and
bar fights are the favored means of
making a living here, because, you know
it is the tradition, but not anyone can play.

    news from a small town 49, November 2011

winter zen

half an inch of mystery -
flake by flake

white on white on white

     news from a small town 48, November 2011

mustelid news

photo-perfect, a pair of
they-aren’t-here wolverines
appear, eyes shining in the
spotlight. and now the game
department celebrates what
they pooh-poohed before -
and the old biologist who
could have said “told you so,”
just makes two more marks
on his collection of sightings –
that makes ninety possible, thirty
probable, two on digital media.

    news from a small town 47, November 2011

sonnet for the merchant's association

the merchants are thinking of disbanding
after the holiday celebrations - maybe
"We'll just go hang with the group down
the road - make it two for one in a bad
economy." that's loose in the paper, just
before the next holiday sale. time to see
will it feel good enough to keep it together. 

over coffee, they debate: "Do we feel safe
enough  to do this, knowing just how the chair 

of the gang next town down whips her group
into shape, paralyzing independent action?
and what about what they all say - behind
her back? or are we grown-ups enough 
to make the right next choice, til next time?

and there in the corner, whispering, the same
old troublemakers: "We can take over, you know."

    news from a small town 46, November 2011