to class likewith Charles Ives

for Mark Francis & ASA

students in nolittle chaos dabble
clatteryak funny words yakity fall
flutter scratchity steps so ruff
on one no step al mismo thump

scrappy stimble jumbo splat
chitty chat flitting bumpy eyes flirt
egads oh zooks a grumpy zap
ricking rawling gefidling stomp

I’ve charlied sharpsandflats
at ivied walledup swirllie wobbles
a drewmarc flat falls a punny dribble
steppy stip stap shuffle whap

nod ruthers muzzak hath charlie said
yokes and yanks we’ll have nonof that
they hoppity hip into danceways scrambled
gathering the byways into one for all —

chatterfeet happy they flattery stamp

mr. crowley's trebuchet

a variation on a theme by William Carlos Williams

I heard that
a large rock
crashed through your roof
this morning

and landed
thunderously
in your freshly
drawn bath

forgive me
my trebuchet
is unusually
efficient today

Sophie's bark

I love the dusky sky
that spreads out evening
the western rim stays blanched
longer than it seems it should

for this cordial interlude
palms mesquites ash and
palo verdes become perfect
two dimensional props that
outline a naked sky between
sunset and darkness

birds settle in their trees
little knots with paper
wings emerge to display their
mercurial but suddenly
elegant movements to snag
their evening meals

quail scurry to their hideouts
music leaks out my back door
my neighbor’s white lab Sophie
barks reassuringly before

night’s silky darkness
lights a twinkling sky