How Did I Get This Job? - collage by douglas brent smith, 27 December 1987
i said to you
our shoes in the sand
your hand in my hand
in a trance of truth
i said to you
my best inner secrets
as the sun set
and a light breeze
caught your brown hair
remarkable
i said to you
touching your cheek with care
like a leaf
whispering what
i should have said
years ago
there is love that
may be delayed
but not denied
true then, true on that beach.
true still.
-- douglas brent smith
Chaos In The Middle - sketch by douglas brent smith (with help from Christopher Morgan Cizewski Smith.
the left hand starts
a bass line avoiding
familiar notes, for accidentals
the right hand takes a ride
let me sing of your changes (andante)
swell...swell...who can tell?
let me glissando your joys (forte!)
and then mid-transposition
the two of us harmonize
and bring all the mystery
down to size,
-- douglas brent smith
white cloud blue sky sudden darkness
odor from a distant unknown source
bitter tasting, no permission
chemicals drifted in a virgin course
like a losing hand played to a devil's trick
for no reason half the town is sick
a stranger talking in a legal voice
bottled water is the only choice
dark days dry from a ruined well
twenty square miles of obnoxious smell
poison water makes a person think
tainted life line not a drop to drink.
-- douglas brent smith
i found you before
life left any dents before
the form found flaws and
with open wonderment alive and
ready for more
you found me ready
for new forms fresh foundation
sparks! light! early morning smiles
receiving all the giving and living
ready for more
every past piece of effort faded
as we created this new kind of kiss
tighter and sweeter and slightly awkward
youthfully extending our freely found
arms around gladness hey you hey you
we found each other ready
for each other
and did not let go.
-- douglas brent smith
Celebrate the joy within what is, and then what's missing will appear. The picture is already complete.
-- douglas brent smith
i am not anonymous
i am not a number you can push around
so get off my back!
do not pigeon-hole me or
patronize me or
i'll come unglued
not the common man
i get uncommon as often as i can
so stop measuring me
reassuringly
i am not anonymous
i am not a number you can push around
so get off my back!
-- douglas brent smith