Brian Bielefeld'sTraffic Poem

traffic is heavy
intersection lights controlling
the lanes in all directions
one row of cars gets its turn
then another

the afternoon sun is warm
windows rolled down
I sit waiting to make my left turn
watching the screen of cars passing
in front of me
their left turn brings them
within a few feet of my eyes

faces pass
stories pass
a story in each face

jaws tight or relaxed
some smiling, some sad, some singing
one head hangs out the window
emulating his dog
the dog is smiling and so is he

one woman turning left
looking right, saying something
to the man sitting next to her
this is not a happy car

another story, then another

last in line, a Harley-Davidson
a woman, long auburn hair streaming
no helmet
a face at peace in this furious traffic
an ever so slight smile

in an instant
no, it was longer
a gasp for breath
and I fall deeply in love

they say that just before
you die, your life passes
before your eyes

I see my imagined life pass
along with that motorcycle
then the light changes
and I drive on

Dick Green's "Unexpected Change" Poem

Unexpected Change


Too late to go back
To undo the words spoken
No wish does he lack
To bind the heart broken.

Take off the old mask
Head out past parts known
Don’t shrink from the task
Rethink wild oats sown.

Next chapters come slowly
New chaff from old wheat
Old memories voice quickly
Fresh paths for fleet feet.

T’is gone not for naught
Feet now on the ground
Will a new heart be caught
What’s lost can be found,

To run from a sad wind
Would only let fail
Find breezes, a new kind
Then try a new sail.


2010 D. Green

Dick Green's "Enough" Poem

If Enough

How many wandering thoughts
have run through the mill wheel
of your mind, and when slowly
swallowed by the heart have
found their place as words on a
page filled in by a too hopeful
hand. Then as the path of your
pen stops still, you wonder if
enough has been found, if
enough has been learned, if
enough has been poured into
life's waiting cup, only to hear it
emptied as an echo fading into
canyons of unbearable silence.

© 2010 DGreen

RIP Aptos Bookworks

I went by this week to see about doing a poetry group at Aptos Bookworks and sadly, they are gone.