Regarding inertia

As long as you sit on your hands

you won't be able

to applaud yourself.

A writing tip of mine

When placing words

your way,

don’t leave any

in the way.

Away from such vanity

When a man grows a moustache,

his eyebrows want to hide in his ears.

The geometry at parties

Sometimes you're cornered

by a square.

Men

Some worry about going bald,

others go bald from worrying.

The word "if" is a seesaw waiting for you to approach it

(for Marty Grothe)

If pigs could fly

there’d be

less bacon.

If you were a bully at school,

don’t be one now.

If you keep having flings,

one day you’ll be flung.

If you’re digging your own grave,

consider what you’re using

as the shovel.

If God exists

we must appal him sometimes.

If time is money

some of us

will end up short-changed.

If you think you know everything,

try writing poems.

Where words take us

(for Adam Ford and Dennis Wild)

I write poetry—

because it puts windows where there were walls

because today is a mountain

I’d like to reduce to a few stanzas

because now is the time to write it.

I write poetry, hoping to astound myself.

I write poetry because I enjoy

coaxing words

out of the corral of my ribs,

letting them graze

upon the blank page

under the shade of an adverb.

I try to write poetry clearly, use words sparingly,

each word, a small cog or spring needed

to make the poem tick.

Don’t want to fog or flood

any readers proceeding to the end of my poem,

where they may rest

in the quiet clearing

just beyond

the last full stop.