One Dangerous Summer

(For Ernest Hemingway)

The sky was entreating
Never so icy blue
I never imagined
Would be the last of you

The ocean was dancing
To a spirited song
The reeds, too, were whistling
And humming along

You were there flying
In this cauldron of heat
Far away from the city
Far away from the street

Yet I saw something chilling
In the glint of your eye
One dangerous summer
When you said goodbye

The clouds are relentless
And they threaten to flood
The sea now dumbfounded
And full of your blood

I remember the beginning
Never closer were we
In the folds of these dunes
There lies something of me

You were there flying
In this cauldron of heat
Far away from the city
Far away from the street

Yet I saw something chilling
In the glint of your eye
One dangerous summer
When you said goodbye

Dead Serious

I want what you have
And I am dead serious
You thought you knew me
The joke is on you
You have been blind
I have been fast
I am looking to the future
You are tied to the past
You have gone running
Just as far as you can
Enough of the mirrors, the vanities
And the lies
I want what you have
I am dead serious

Once You See

She is not the brightest star
But once you see her light
Transmitted from her deepest place
There is no such thing as night

A different light, a different glow
I feel her through my soul
Something hard to quantify
And harder still to hold

She is not the galaxy
But once you see her span
The diamonds fall from high above
And trickle through your hands

Almost Blind

Too many screens
Are burning my eyes
What is behind this mirage

Colors synthetic
Science so strange
What is behind this mirage

Too long a time
With this burning inside
To move me beyond this mirage

A garden, an ocean
A blue cloudless sky
Hiding behind this mirage

A kiss in the desert
A moment unseen
Nascent behind this mirage

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Go, Ted

I just read how over Memorial Day Weekend, Ted Kennedy was sailing his yacht in a regatta off of Cape Cod. Ted Kennedy—one week after a biopsy that revealed brain cancer. Kennedy, with wife and pals by side, out on the ocean. Kennedy’s attitude: “Cancer, shmancer.” It doesn’t matter that death is a week or a month or God knows how far away, Ted just wants to enjoy life while it’s here. Raising his right arm, previously feared incapacitated, when leaving the hospital. Reading the paper in the SUV like he just woke up on a lazy Sunday morning. And now, riding in his yacht on the ocean.

It struck me that this is exactly what we as Americans love most about the Kennedy clan. These are people who live life to the fullest, with gusto and vigor, whatever circumstances may bring. Say what you will about their politics, their boozing, their womanizing, their life of privilege—when you get down to it, it’s really their lust for life that fascinates us all. Two brothers’ lives cut short by assassins’ bullets. But oh, how they lived. You may not like it, but secretly you envy it. Scandal, broken back, trial and tribulation, all in the past: Ted just wants to go out with a bang. The world still needs more Kennedys.

Peace Message

George W. Bush was in Israel yesterday delivering a speech celebrating the creation of the state, and meanwhile a missile destroyed part of an Ashkelon mall. For some reason I am eerily reminded of reports of his reading "My Pet Goat" to kindergartners during the 9-11 disasters, and of his reluctance to leave the golf course after Hurricane Katrina struck. Is there no end to this man's disconnect? Is he living on another plane? Is he leaving on the next plane?