The Good Life

When Judge Manning sat

at the bench during a motion-

hearing recess at the Superior

Court and warned

the law students to not

drink booze after taking cold

medicine, because after passing

out in your wife's lap

you'll spill your whiskey all over

the neighbor's carpet; it said something

about my American Dream,

anyway:

Get born and keep warm,

taste the good things, corn

whiskey and chicken wings, see

the pretty things, like orange blossoms

and women wearing blue polkadot

blouses in early April, and

find God in the living, marry

a pretty woman who will give birth

to two beautiful daughters and die

testate, but still leave

something -- art and love --

to the imagination.

Raleigh, NC,

4-9-2012

Arid

When I was young, I remember wondering

whether the Santa Ana River had he capacity

to become as mighty as the Mississippi.

As I stood atop Mt. Rubidoux,

the gully that separated Riverside

from Jurupa seemed wide enough,

having just read "The Adventures

of Huckleberry Finn" for the first time.

My imagination was good then.

And now, there’s a large white crane

towering over downtown in my hometown

near the watering hole where I drink

with friends after work, thinking they will build

something here. They will build something

here. They will build something here.

12/30/2010

Riverside, CA