Hi-Q

To this day I remember so many things
about a grocery store called Safeway
at Southwest Ninth and Leland
on the south side of Des Moines
where I grew up

There was a 15 cent pop
vending machine
that sold a brand of soda
no longer in existence
called "Hi-Q"
there was a drinking fountain right next to it
that had properly chilled water
talk about a long tall cool drink of water

It was the neighborhood grocery
store of the late sixties
and early seventies

They sold triple packs of potato chips
in a large cylindrical package with a lid
the package was large enough
to cut out room for a large visor hole
and to be used as an astronaut helmet
in the months after the moon landing

This was an era in which the Pillsbury company
marketed a product called
"Space Food Sticks"
they were glorified flavored Tootsie Rolls
however you combine them with Tang
you have one hell of an imaginary space adventure
perhaps far greater than reality

This is where I bought my first football cards
when they came with a stick of actual bubble gum
a combination poster and game sheet
and a football game card
man I spent a lot of allowance money on those things
after I got my first tape recorder
I would use the cards to broadcast imaginary NFL games
perhaps far greater than reality

It was dawn of a processed potato chip product
called Chippos
which vanished into thin air
it was a General Foods product
and while Pringles a Proctor and Gamble effort has survived
all these years
somehow the protestations of the regular potato chips manufacturers
and there paranoia
drove Chippos to the grave of spuds
because it was in a cardboard box with a foil
inner packaging

It does my heart glad
to be able to wax poetic
about the neighborhood grocery store
of my childhood

The reality is that Safeway's at least in Des Moines
are no more
like so much from that era
Safeway eventually moved down the street to
Southwest Ninth and Park Avenue
then got bought out by Super Value
who eventually ended up in La La land

The building is still there
having morphed into
one thing after the other

However you can`t take away my memories
after all nostalgia grows on trees
and it is for us to reach up
pull off a piece of fruit
and munch on it

The Idyllic Summer

As you look back in time
sometimes you just want to reach your arms
around your own self imagined
conjured memories
and hold onto them for as long as humanly possible

Summertime

too many cans of Doctor Pop were consumed
empties rattling around
with that familiar sound
as they crash to the floor and roll playfully

back and forth the man
and the love of his life
went to rehearsal and back again
such innocent love
that I cannot hold it inside me
its emotion must be expressed
and it`s tears of joy must be allowed to spill

Its tragic enough that I can only begin to express
how I feel about this situation

If I could just be a fly on the wall
and take in the goodness of it all

Ah the music and the theatre
so blessed just to get glimpses of it
to be able to play a few songs on the jukebox
and feel the rhythm in my soul

(chirping birds in spring time
croaking frogs along the riverbank
the breeze of the day
suppresses the heat of the sun
the amount of rain
causes the grass to grow quickly

the dog plays in the dog park
to him without other dogs
to play in the park
is one big kennel
outside of the territorial ism
of peeing

I love the breeze
I love the quiet
I love the birdsong)

The reality of the poetry of this title
The Idyllic Summer
was that summer ended
the couple vacated their summer apartment
(which was furnished no less)
and broke up
busted by the frustrations of a long distance relationship

These are the perceptions of a foolish old man
unwilling to accept
to deal with
reality
and willing to spin it
like everyone else
to their own image and likeness

It was just one long
jaded poem
it was a dance and a half

I Wish to take my Dog places

I wish to take my dog places
a simple yet irrational request

He wants to go to the store
He wants to go to the restaurant
and while for a dog these are places of mischief
I can't begin to come close to solving the problem
of separation anxiety
unless these wishes are granted

I believe my dog should be able to go with me to the Latin King
he should be able to go to Dollar General
and he should be able to go the library
in particular the children's section

Now I realize that instead of getting older
I am getting younger
and instead of getting wiser
I am growing more foolish

But consider the parameters of companionship

The world needs more floppy eared friends
and less reality t-v shows about catching big fish with teeth

Our Sixties Ideologies

How dare you smash the illusions of fourty some years ago
you would uncloak these romantic visions
we have of a time frame
that was just as scary
absurd, violent
banal
as the reality of life today
only with a bit more technology

Thank goodness I can recreate that time
in my own image and likeness

WHO Am I where do I live where is my car?

To be there on the street where you live
the approximate location
within striking range

To be even considered to suit up

To be there in the prescense of a wish
that will never come true
to be in the shadow of a reality
that never is or was

I must be content to sit on the park bench
and listen to the birds chirp

To realize that we will always chase
but never catch

But where is my purple car
that I parked a few blocks away
where is that creature I wished to love
where is the dream I once had
and walked out on

I have second guessed myself
I will never rise above the feeling of being half asleep

A Fate Worse Than Winter

It was worse than a driving snowstorm
more depressing than  swirling ground blizzard

Rain in May
coupled with a wind advisory

The rain is blowing verticle

makes you want to crawl back inside the
afternoon naps dream that orginally haunted you

The dog I take care of
he doesn't want to go out in this stuff
niether do I

New Poem

                               Refuge

One of my favorite poem themes is about seeking refuge
spending the rest of the winter at a Marriot Hotel
along the skywalk
spending the rest of the summer on Lake Marie
far from the normal resort life
purchasing my mom and dad`s old place
on South West 11th Street in Des Moines

Three exemplary places of refuge
I could comfort my mom and dad`s ghosts
keep the lawn mowed and the drive shoveled

God what thoughts of absurdity and insanity

I keep doing and thinking the same things
expecting one day for there to be different results
No wonder I stay indoors
laying low
and trying to stay out of trouble