FOUR FEATHERS PRESS ONLINE EDITION: POINTS AND LINES Send up to three poems on the subject of or at least mentioning the words point and/or line, totaling up to 150 lines in length, in the body of an email message or attached in a Word file to donkingfishercampbell@gmail.com by 11:59 PM PST on November 17th. No PDF's please. Color artwork is also desired. Please send in JPG form. No late submissions accepted. Poets and artists published in Four Feathers Press Online Edition: Points and Lines will be published online and will be invited to read at the Saturday Afternoon Poetry Zoom meeting on Saturday, November 18th between 3 and 5 pm PST.

Saturday, November 18, 2023

Mark Dixon

Into the starless dreamscape of a stone cold November night I soar on the shadows of my own imagination, tacking smoothly to starboard in my bone-weary mind until, still tethered to my hospital bed, the snores of the next patient over reel me in and deposit me back on the starched linen sandbar of reality.

Friday, November 17, 2023

Dan Garcia-Black


Watts Da?


There's never a point 

You cross someone's line in the sand

And they kick you out of the joint 

Maybe you played the wrong song 

On the juke 

Maybe your breath made somebody's girl 

Puke 

I'm told that to get along 

You've got to go along 

I prefer to go it alone 

Cause I'm bad to the bone 

B-b-b-bad Etc. 

When I arrive at a dive 

I expect 

Bad 

Bad booze 

Bad women 

Bad manners and 

Bad sex 

Not necessarily in that order 

you know that bad is just dab in reverse 

Like Brylcreem a little dab will do ya 

That dab will do you bad 

Greasy hair and sweat stained pillows 

That's what being bad gets you 

Maybe a bottle of cheap, bad liquor 

Will be enough for tonight 

And I'll forget going out 

I'd be lyin' if I said that the was any 

Point to anything out here anyway 

It's all nada 

I think Ad Nauseam is misspelled it should be

Add Nausea and shake well after drinking too much


Alicia Viguer-Espert


Power


It is the sea

what speaks to me

muffling sounds from seagulls’ wings,

and children’s voices running over sand.


Today the whiteness of a hovering cloud marks

the points where stars will appear 

                                                              tonight.

The moon playing catch up with the sun

        leans on that single cloud

                    hoping

under the shade of a pine tree that she’ll succeed 

                                                          I smile.

Timid waves lick pulverized gold 

                       for a while,

before picking up momentum             

                           forcing the undercurrent 

to churn seaweeds, hope, hostility and love inside the waters.


Calm returns,

                    a blanket of silver blinds me,

            such power I’ve seen,

       such beauty

we both carry,

if only we knew how to harness it.  





The Writers
 


A roaring sea covers the fury

of strong winds rushing to shore,

the sideways steps of starfish

and also, the voices of children

paired with murmurs of danger,

but I’m not afraid.


On the line of foam whipping the beach

I stand, 

my bare feet welcome the coolness,

while sandpipers draw stars

with their triangle digits

I write a message on the sand               

                                          with a stick, 

hoping You’ll read it.



Gia Civerolo

Avalon

ants crawled across empty paper lines


She forgot what she wanted to say

There was too much and nothing at all

The dead leaves began to fall

from the red roses in a white vase

Remembering the sad song

that played over and 

over again in her head 

She was all alone

lying next to you in bed as

ants crawled across empty paper lines







the bones of a black crow were caught in my throat 
 
The cracks on the porch cried lined tears
when they butchered the shade of the elm tree
along with every screaming face in its bark
 
Spitting small pieces across the lawn that
no longer wanted to be green
 
Excavating the twisted roots
wrapped around iron and copper
secret underworlds that
only orange cats know
 
Squirrels, tightrope walking on
the black telephone lines
condemning the chainsaw-wielding
weathered tan men
who were just glad to get paid
 
I could not look out the window pane
The Lorax would be so disappointed in me
much worse than mad
I couldn’t save a single tree, my tree
 
Nothing remained the same, grieving
wishing they had killed 
the dilapidated house instead while
the bones of a black crow were caught in my throat






the other end of the line
 
Black telephone lines 
trace the blue of the sky
Juxtaposing white cloud shapes

Still, they could not thread
your heart back to mine
 
Black telephone lines 
dancing side by side
watching all the trains go by

Statue red rocks 
Endless black highways
Whispering green grass shimmering

Neon billboards flashing the night
Fields and fields and fields of corn

Still, they refused to bring you back to me
 
Black telephone lines
Double Dutch ropes blurring 
I could not jump into time 
and space where you are

Still, you refuse nostalgia for me
 
Trapeze artist black crows
with jewel sequence eyes
Swinging gracefully
on black line stages

Soliloquies just for me
Dialoguing back and forth
Choired songs
 
Still, you were never mine
 
No matter how many times
I pleaded with your silence
on the other end of the line

Karen Pierce Gonzalez


night lines


of city lights

out in the open


crisscross stars

searching

for new life


Mark A Fisher

humanity


he drew a line in the sand where the high tide never reached

nevertheless wind and waves ignored his artificial limit

on the following day there was no sign he was ever there




arithmetic


abstracted points in a Cartesian plane

measuring all your unknown quantities

to infinitesimal precision

making meaning out of paradoxes

and poorly comprehended connections

bounded by some pretty convex region

representing all life’s petty constraints

deriving minimal needed meaning

to maximize utility functions

getting you from A to B with interest

Lori Wall-Holloway

I create an image with ink

but not by using lines 

or geometric shapes 

drawn on a canvas

Instead, I illustrate with 

words to hopefully point 

readers to the Creator

The author of their lives


Thursday, November 16, 2023

Jeffry Jensen


Pointing Across the Imaginary Lines of Extinction


A mother came to the library in search of a third-grade dinosaur book.

I told her that I should take long meander

off a short dizzy emptiness before the stroke of midnight.

This is not what she wanted to hear.

How is this related to her question about a dinosaur book?

Maybe,it was just a mood thing that I could not shake at that moment.

In the future, I will be more cautious about blurting out random brain farts.

For all of my tumbleweed sweetness, I should definitely know better.

I do not have the lungs of an expert diver, so I must stay on dry land.

I must be careful on how I moderate my breath in front of the public.

Last night, I could feel the soft touch of a pallbearer wishing

to carry me away as I slept in my borrowed bed of joy.

No good turn seems to go unpunished by the inhaled nature of bereavement.

The love of a good mother can keep a child or dinosaur book warm and fuzzy.

Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and my community cats

have been talking about doing a turkey potluck sort of thing with me

as security against all the undesirable critters

that are famous for crashing Holiday gatherings in the neighborhood.

At this time, I must turn my attention to the next desperate mother

standing in front of me at the library reference desk.

As I bite my bottom lip, I take a purposeful stroll toward

all the man-in-the-moon books that have been showing up on our shelves.


Fred Whitlock

Dreaming Of Peace.


All nations, religions,

and communities

break apart your attitudes,

borders, and constraints

Have the courage to sacrifice

start to believe in

mutual coexistence

Let there be no more borders, 

roadblocks, or walls

between us


Start sewing those threads

no matter how thin

to form a fabric

of thought

Where cultures come together

and  are recognized

in their beauty

and traditions

Dancing to the rhythm

of peace

As struggles,  conflicts,

and turmoil dissolve 

in well thought out

solutions

Moving forward

in dignity

Peace to be seen

as the most important step

towards human survival


No more bombs 

or missiles

falling out of the sky

Let peace be back

in the atmosphere

and return it

to its natural state

no longer a collective 

battlefield


No more hate

No more harden stands

No more power plays 

Let harmony seep in

and refresh us


May we change our

vocabulary

and let peace be

the language we speak


May peace become a

solid object

that everyone

is delighted

to touch and hold

Gracefully sharing it

with each other


Oh, the dream 

of peace

never to be 

given up

Gary Justice

A loss for words


When you walk into the room

I find myself at a loss for words


I mean, I can engage in the common banter,

small talk, or throw down some game.

But that is not where I am coming from


Expression eludes me as I try to express the who and what

you are to me, which is deeper than my alphabet can speak.


Centuries of song and poems, Images of stone and canvas,

have only captured a moment of the passion of being in our moment.


Only heartbeats speak through silk of skin;

The expression of my six senses

speak volumes of you into the infinite silence of night,

as I admire the eloquence of your slumber.


Your eyes speak kinetic energy to me,

and dimple lines in your cheek dancing a song of recognition

We have always known.

How can you put words into this?


Woman, I have been waiting for you

Since I arose from the depths and took my first breath.

I feel the other half of we that has always been inside of me.


We dance like Gardens of Eden.

Ignite our tribal fires.

Rising embers

ascending beings of light


How can words express this?

How can words express….?

How …….?


You only need to look

into these eyes……

to hear me…….




Satan Spoke


Satan.... spoke....

In beautiful lies

and Beelzebub says

in these times of our lives


Oh Lucifer claimed

you can have it your way

And the Grim Reaper... laughed...

you have a nice day


The Angels did call

I could... not... deny

It was all too real

I just couldn’t... comply


Resisting the reality,

every fiber of my bein'

so blind in the darkness

For Light of Reason


and Craving to dance

with Dionysus' treasure

Desire... my... queen...?

for a moment of pleasure?


The Passion consumed

on this wild... wild... ride

an appetitive for corruption

that’s never ever... satisfied


Oh please?... dance... my puppets...

to seduce... the muse

For the tales I twist

and the dignity I lose


Genius... writes... volumes...

of the same damn lines

of Love for lust

and the criminal minds


Though the Angel... she spoke...

in her voice of forever

While the brilliant... young.. fools...

try so hard to be clever


Ain't no... angels or devils...

or lies to believe

nor the twisted riddles

in games... we deceive...


Of the spirit and the flesh

from the garden of Eden

Take a bite of ...my apple...

of seduction and treason


To thee and thou lies

in the never and ever

Complicit and willful

in our... illicit... endeavor


OH!... Satan tried... with his

Beautiful lies....

But the mirror reflects...

What's truly... in... your... eyes!




Subtexts


Hopeful horizons

write silver

lined clouds

against the azure.

Come tomorrow,

let us shine brightly!


To shed old beliefs

and habits like leaves.

So that new growth can begin.


And the heavens opened up

exhale of indigo and azure

above the primordial

dance of DNA

every cells portending

awakening consciousness

through the expanse of

all that ever was

and ever would be

PJ Swift

Just indulge me here. I am the customer. 

You are?  asked the Toad.  That's news to me.

The Scorpion was already sitting on him.

Take me on your back across the river.  I will be the muse and you will be the poet.

Already, I don't like this game.

It's not a game. Exclaimed the Scorpion.  This is art! 

The Toad was already swimming. 

Art, he thought to himself.  Silly, but something about it did catch his fancy.

The swimming was drudgery, but after a while, the Toad had made it past the toughest currents of the river, closer to the other side.

See there you go! The Scorpion was encouraging.

Thanks, but I am not feeling any inspiration. What's the point of all this anyway? 

This is the point!  Ha ha!  Suddenly, the Scorpion stung the Toad. 

The point of his stinger was all that was needed. His poison spread.

But why?  The Toad asked with profound despondency.  Now we will both die.

Anything for art, right!  It's in my nature.

Jim Babwe

Forward


You see a tightrope

where I see a bridge

and this difference of perception

should not make us enemies,

but if you choose

fear over courage

do not be surprised

when I take no tentative steps

because enthusiasm

is better fuel than fear.


Maybe delusion blinds me

to potential consequences,

but I'm old enough to mean it

when I tell you I don't care

if you think I'm a fool.


You see a tightrope

where I see a bridge

and this difference of perception

provides me with opportunities

to meet the most interesting travelers

who may not know exactly

where they are going

or exactly how

they plan to get there,

but these are the people

who refuse to calculate asset ratios

and interest rates

while they buy gum.


Sit and giggle and point

between snide remarks

with other lazy spectators

when you see me

lose my balance and fall,

but watch me

rise to my feet,

make confident strides

to try again--

always forward.


Veronica Jauregui

I met you for the first time on a rainy night

I had fear cautiousness of conditions 

I was conditioned before you 

You freed me in every way 

Plucked the bird out of the cage 

The bird flies freer unlimited 

Though we grow tired 

Time tires us life tires us 

Resilience comes surviving the night 

If we make it to tomorrow

We will still fight for freedom 

Freedom in every way 

There are cages we build others built for us 

Others set up to make others keep us down 

Some of our own will be made to stop us 

By their ego or mind games  

see it clear 

Freedom is free 

There is no violence to be conquered 

It just must end 

The tears fall and keep falling 

From the sky to our eyes 

Guns running out of bullets 

Money stopping its flow 

We know how to end this

We know how it ends

Wednesday, November 15, 2023

Luis Cuauhtemoc Berriozabal


My Mind is on Fire


My mind is on fire.

I hear and feel your warm

voice upon my ear.

Like a vision

for the insane you

appear in my dreams.


There is hope still in

those little deaths we call

sleep.  A flame unfolds

burning inside.  It

makes an outline around

my heart.  This false hope


keeps me smiling in

my other life, where I

could have anything

that my heart desires.

Shih-Fang Wang

Starting Point


It is a point 

That starts a line

Which can be extended 

To infinity


It is a step

That begins a journey

On a road of unknown

Holding endless dreams


It is a moment

That connects with the next

To construct time

And goes on for eternity


It is a seed of greed

That corrupts the heart

Grows into a monster

Leading to unforgivable sin


It is a kind word

That begets good will 

To dissolve hatred

Bringing long lasting peace

 


R A Ruadh

Shaping Life


To show a direction

she points her chin

toward where you should go


To show you a person

she points her chin

toward the person in question


To point your finger

is rude and disrespectful

it is what colonists do


He doesn’t like to stand in line

it’s not about waiting his turn

but a nightmare memory of childhood


He remembers residential school

square rooms and slicing whips

and how they cut your hair across


He follows the elders

dancing into the arbour

an honour not a line


We embroider and bead

traditional curving caressing designs

nature has no straight lines


We dance in a circle

weaving a basket of love

our lives are not lines


In our traditions

there are only three lines

and two points


A sacred pipe is straight

an arrow and a spear as well

only the weapons have points


Robert Fleming

 


















Carl Stilwell AKA CaLokie

Psalm 150 & All That Jazz


Hallelujah!

Praise the everything to which I am nothing!

Praise the nothing to which I am everything!


Praise the universe beyond us!

Praise the universe within us!


Praise with Freddie Hubbard trumpet tour of Cantaloupe Island!

Praise with Purple Haze from Jimi Hendrix’s electrifying guitar!


Praise with Bob Dylan’s Mr. Tambourine Man!

Praise with a Shakira - Hips Don't Lie dance!


Praise with Newport Jazz Festival secular humanists 

dancing to gospel beat of Mahalia Jackson!


Praise with Don Cornelius Soul Train line dancers introducing 

on syndicated television show latest dance moves!


Praise with Eric Dolphy playing Jitterbug Waltz on flute!

Praise with loud crashing cymbals of a Elvin Jones drum proclamations!


Praise with Willie “life-of-the-party” Bobo on conga!

Let everything that has breath

sock-it-to-me, sock-it-to-me, sock-it-to-me! 




Ode to the Period


Where the comma is hesitant,

you are resolute.


An apostrophe’s known for its omissions

and you for being thorough.


Abrupt the dash--

You get to the point. 


Ellipses enigmatic…

You translucent are.


The semicolon initiates;

you consummate. 


The following don’t stop: waves, greed and colons. 

You do.


The exclamation point is excessive

but you are stable. Yes!


Does not the question bring uncertainty

and you closure?


As the old quotation marks, “When all is said 

and done, you are there.”




I Remember Amalek*


O God of my Bible Belt fathers who through 

the prophet Samuel ordered him to say unto Saul,

“The Lord sent me to anoint thee to be king over Israel.

Now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words

of the Lord.

Thus saith the Lord of hosts: ‘I remember what Amalek 

did to Israel, how he lay in wait for him on the way 

when he came up from Egypt.

Now go and smite Amalek and utterly destroy all 

that they have, and spare them not; but slay 

both man and woman, infant and suckling, 

ox and sheep, camel and ass.’” **


ELOI, ELOI…?—***

What did these children and babies have to do 

with what Amalek did to Israel a few centuries 

before they were even born that you ordered 

them to be wiped off the face of the earth?


I read both the Bible through twice before I was 15 

and was deeply disturbed by what was surely a war crime 

but the godly Bible professors at Bob Jones University, 

the college I attended during the 50’s, shrugged off

the genocide described in 1st Samuel 15:1-3 while 

insisting the scriptural point was that King Saul 

had to be punished for failing to kill King Agag 

and the best livestock of the Amalekites. 


Jesus Christ, man! What the hell was your problem? 

There still wasn’t enough screams and bloody mommy 

and baby bodies to propitiate your wrath?


I didn’t hear any cries for mercy and sword whacks either 

in the liberal commentary on the same Bible passage.

The New Interpreter’s Study Bible only remarked, 

“Samuel orders Saul to avenge the events of 

Exodus 17:8-16 through holy war which 

forbids taking prisoners or booty.”

Lord, Lord, love me.

I’m a Liberal.


When I went to BJU and later Fuller Theological Seminary, 

eminent archeologist William F. Albright was still living.

He believed the physical evidence for the historical events 

behind many Old Testament narratives had been found.


This was wishful thinking.

Excavations at Tell es-Sultan, did not find any traces 

of Jericho’s destruction during the time when Joshua 

led army of chosen people to conquer and occupy—

excuse me, enter the promised land. 


But don’t get me wrong, God almighty.

Every time I hear Mahalia Jackson sing, 

“Joshua fit the Battle of JerichoJericho- Jericho…

And the walls come tumbling down,”

O my Sweet Lord,

I’m a believer!


Anyway, there’s also no archeological evidence 

or historical records of Hebrew slaves in Egypt. 

According to Wikipedia, the “consensus of modern 

scholars is that the Pentateuch does not give 

an accurate account of the origins of the Israelites, 

who appear instead to have come together as 

a separate and distinct people from the indigenous 

Canaanite culture in the central highlands of Canaan 

in the late 2nd millennium BCE.


So with all due respect, All Knowing God, what I’d 

like to understand is how can you remember 

what never happened?


Of course you didn’t answer.

The genocide in 1st Samuel 15 never happened either. 

According to 1st Samuel 30:1–2, the Amalekites invaded 

the Negev and Ziklag in the Judean/Philistine border 

area towards the end of the reign of King Saul, burning 

Ziklag and taking its citizens away into captivity. 

The future king David led a successful mission against 

the Amalekites to recover "all that the Amalekites 

had carried away.”


Thank God, you changed your mind on collective punishment, 

when you said in Deuteronomy 24:16, “Parents shouldn’t be 

executed because of what their children have done; neither should 

children be executed because of what their parents have done. 

Each person should be executed for their own guilty acts.”


Ended conversation with evolving and elusive deity…

All shook up by fictitious account of ancient holocaust…

Turn on television…

See rubble from Israel Defense Force bombing…

Hear TV voice—

“Over 10,000 dead in Gaza…

More than 4,000 of them— 

Children…”



* A quote from 1st Samuel 15:2 by Benjamin Netanyahu

** I Samuel 15:1-3 21st Century King James Version

*** Mark 15:34

Dean Okamura


This is where We start

 

Past the line, 

You swore 

You’d never cross. 


No amount 

of contrition 

can undo … (It’s done) 


It’s done, & 

there must be 

a way to fix … (Rewind) 


But shame, fear, 

take hold, 

take control. 


Till there You are, 

crossing the line, 

You swore … (Never again) 


The illusion 

of control, 

fallacies of falsehoods, 


Hiding failures 

in shadows 

of deception … (Until) 


Every eye 

in the house 

sees You naked … (Exposed) 


It’s done, & 

the guilt hooks, 

piercing deep … (Unending) 


Let’s agree, 

We are imperfect,  

not ascendant. 


Let’s agree, 

cutting off 

Our noses … (To spite) 


Our faces 

is needless, 

self-focused … (Destruction) 


It's done, & 

This is where 

We start. 


Matt McGee

Nag


The line Travis can’t forget tonight

is the one his so-called best, oldest friends 

claim to have once seen his baby mama snort 

off a bartender’s dick, or so goes the story better left 

in everyone’s past, like his night beneath the purple and 

blue and green lasers of a Valley strip club in 2017 

the implants used to snort two rails in an attempt 

to forget the new relationship and the baby 

who hadn’t yet bound them forever. 




Flight Path


If you sit in the parking lot late at night, 

after the last exhausted and unpaid souls 

that keep a community theatre boiling 

have finally slogged home,

and you stare into the starlit sky,

you'll see the building is directly 

beneath the southern flight path

leading into LAX.


And you might get the feeling 

someone out there

still needs a guiding light.




On the Lamb


Rolling Ventura Boulevard

dog in the backseat

a fugitive who’s never given anyone

a day of trouble.


Walker in the trunk

his best friend not returning calls

an indifferent family, loyal

only to the game of sarcasm.


The day after she’s led away

he wakes to sunlight, thinking:

today is the first day

of the end of your life.




Point A to B


Most journeys are rarely a straight line

as simple as going from Point A to B -

just ask any waitress with a Fitbit.


Shannon said “I got fourteen hundred

steps in today, all from walking around

this place over and over and over. Says 


here I burned off thirteen hundred calories

just in the last five hours, but that’s not counting

the chicken fingers and basket of fries I put away.”


CLS Sandoval

Never At Ease 

 

Perhaps it would be better as a mindless automaton, 

Than to actually grasp what is going on. 

Maybe it is best for further my heart to sink, 

Than to have to analyze and deeply think. 

 

The more I break down in this lifetime, 

The more I feel that what I have done is a crime. 

Each day my past becomes even more real, 

And this burning is all that I can feel. 

  

I have found that I am utterly useless, 

And existence is nothing more than pointless. 

Each moment, I reflect upon mistakes I have made, 

And through my misery, I incessantly wade. 

 

My mind spins around, deconstructing too much, 

And I will do anything to resist human touch. 

I look forward to my very last breath, 

That time when I can finally eternally rest.   




The Metaphor that Wished He Was a Simile 


Just as I have selected a blank page 

I discover a big black ink blot between the lines 

We’re only separated by a table and two coffee mugs 

And we’re oceans apart 

The photos record each look, every hidden glance 

Between my audio and your visual, there is a reality we will both manage to miss 

You’re sitting back, delicately observing 

As if I’m perfectly pirouetting on Pointe 

I’m actually an elephant in high heels 

Attempting to sit on a tiny red footstool 

My tutu is sagging and you keep complimenting my sense of style 

I could just say, “you’re everything” 

But I must protect my heart 

You’re taking these moments too lightly or maybe a little too deep 

We’re speaking so smoothly 

Flawlessly articulating a performance that can never actually sustain 

My heart is a pile of glass shards 

Yours might be, too 

All we need is to find the one with the matching jagged edges  

To make ourselves whole once more 

I opened one more wound 

Just to prove I’m willing to love again 

The tornados are churning and all you suggest is we close the blinds 

We’re reaching for each other and you’re threatening to just walk away 

The last thing I want to do waste your time 

The anticipation built as I combed my hair 

Chatted nervously about you with my best friend 

Carefully selected the outfit that would never reveal that I carefully selected it 

And I waited 

You never came 

Behind your smiling and my razor-sharp wit 

There are magnets locking, and you keep forcing them apart 

I deleted your words just in time for you to invade my dreams once more 

I want nothing more than for you to earn your second chance 

Of course, I never stick with a metaphor long enough to warrant a response  




Worth It 


We humans make things so damn complicated.   

Why do we pursue degrees and fill our lives  

with relationships and work or anything at all?   

What is the point?   

Who cares what happens in this life anyhow?   

You leave just the way you started:   

naked, helpless, with nothing to offer.   

What is there to motivate us but the King Himself?   

How are we to compare to Him?   

Why has God put us here?   

Why should we care?   

We bear our to-do lists, accomplish what we can,  

make a little money, and then go broke.   

Why even try?   

Maybe we should all just praise God then die.   

Why not?   

I have found Christ who is worth dying for.   

I have always said that I wanted to be someone’s wife,  

raise his children,  

and grow old in his arms.   

But why?   

Honestly, what good would come of that?   

Perhaps the secret is finding someone worth living for.   

I guess I’ll be as patient as I can and wait to see who’s worth it. 


Ellyn Maybe

How to Stay Alive


Hold a musical note until it covers your soul.

Your memory will become blurred.

Loneliness is a verb.

Jump into a painting now and then.

Merge with an alphabet in the pages of a book.

When the world becomes too much remember,

The tin can line of all who have felt like that is infinite and eternal.

Like breath itself, reverberating on an ocean, taking in the breeze.


Mary Mayer Shapiro

Life’s Circle 


Security of the womb 

A safe haven 

Like an island 

Surrounded by amniotic fluid 

As embryo size enlarges 

Months proceed by 

It's time to exit 

Going towards the light 

Which points the way 

You push your head out 

And view your surroundings 

Your life consists of boundaries 

Stay on the edge 

Or go outside the box 

Start out horizontal 

Parallel to the ground 

Continue towards vertical 

Go in circles, zigzag, diagonal 

Hills and valleys 

Ride the waves, curves or broken lines 

Turbulence of life 

All points in one direction 

All lines point to the light  

Go towards the light 

Cross over the line 




Unique Views 


Looking out my magic window 

Into the past moving towards the present. Future 

Did it all start out with 

Cain killing Abel 

Evolutionary trait 

Power, bully, control, greed, jealousy 

Town, city, states, countries 

Population grew 

Ideas, philosophy, types of leadership 

Government through religion 

My way or no way 

Master races 

Eliminate the weak 

Do not get involve, save yourself 

Until it comes your turn 

Do as I say, not as I do 

Sterilizing indigenous, DNA pool shrinking 

See evil, do nothing, then you become next 

War destruction, foes then friends repeat 

Holocaust throughout the centuries, people turn a blind eye 

Eradicate, destroy, protect yourself 

There is nothing left, darkness waste 

Earth’s rotation slows down, longer summers, longer winters 

Hot sun bakes, winter freezes 

Can’t we all get along 

Agree to disagree 

No finger left to point 


Don Kingfisher Campbell

Vista Point


Pan down from vast

Baby blue sky

 

Low horizontal clouds

Over brown haze

 

Outside one can make out

Downtown skyscrapers

 

Come closer and see

Colorado Boulevard buildings

 

Looking like a village

Surrounded by trees

 

Just below the foothills

Houses, backyards, pools

 

Matchbox cars parked

On the gray veins

 

Wooden telephone poles

Veer away from hills

 

On the dusty trail

Groups of morning walkers

 

Sweaty steady runners

Water bottle equipped hikers

 

Wear wide brimmed

Earth-colored hats 

 

A father carries young

Son on his shoulders

 

White bearded man leans

On a crooked cane past

 

Agave cacti, shrub roots

Run alongside cliffs

 

Hybrid butterflies dance

Around purple thistle

 

Bee flies dart into/

Out yellow mustard

 

Spot a long spotted

Lizard in the brush

 

An empty Capri Sun

Packet on the path 

 

Clear plastic sandwich

Bag at the edge 

 

Torn portion of 500 count

Bath tissue farther away

 

Cobalt beer can rests

Amidst the bushes



 

Head Lines

 

The Egyptian Army

dissolved parliament

without me


Arcade Fire

won a Grammy

without me


Governor Brown considered

a Supreme Court appointment

without me


The Lakers lost

to the Magic

without me


(but I was watching

from a bar

in Montecito)


Poets performed

in Pasadena

with me


(only I don’t see

that in the newspaper

for some reason)


Mark Dixon

Into the starless dreamscape of a stone cold November night I soar on the shadows of my own imagination, tacking smoothly to starboard in my...