morning details

part of this nutritious breakfast:

a quiet time an hour of thought 

three sometimes four layers of

cereal in the bowl (always the 

same bowl and the one spoon)

morning details to center the day

a strong slender tower rising

to face the resilient

serial motions of standing tall

a prayer before the first bite

vitamin, juice, black coffee

the soft gentle snoring of my son

in the next room peaceful, still

birds sing familiar tunes clapping

this day this tree of living this world

at five forty-five and the morning is alive

with details.

29 March 1988

All the horses in collageland - collage by douglas brent smith

we three smiles

we three smiles   

rolling on the floor   

bounce around the room and then   

smile some more   

    

we three smiles   

making up new games   

dance around the table laughing   

at our names   

   

we three smiles   

hug and tug and grin   

praise the Lord for living in   

the world we're in.   

   

-- douglas brent smith, 10 March 1987 

newborn

the biggest smile     

     on the smallest face     

warming our hearts     

-- douglas brent smith 

instant breakfast dreams

scrambled dreams   

scattered schemes   

ideas flashed on the mezzanine   

the balcony's crowded with narrow scenes   

colorful dreaming liquid sleep   

   

poached eggs dreams   

wet and fried   

homage to the dreams that died   

rules that flutter   

into melted butter   

dreams design   

their own red line   

fried dreams my dreams   

your dreams ours   

evening slips and then devours   

sheets around us   

lights dimmed black   

shadowed visions   

on our backs   

your dream is my dream is our dream complete.    

bizarre as you are

bizarre as you are   

you know that it's true   

not everyone caring   

cares about you   

bizarre as you wish   

could you possibly be   

like hair on a fish?   

or gills on a tree?   

how much of it's youth?   

comparing the beauty   

too tight yet too loose   

impossible duty   

bizarre as you are   

absurd as can be   

so highly abnormal   

when done gracefully.   

-- douglas brent smith

 

zen touch

we touch upon

the wheel's edge 

admiring and yearning

for the endless turning

we speak about

the zen of when

the hollow meets

the solid road

but space unending

ends unanswered

the endless questions

of the snow

change the motion of our plans

touch me with your steady hands.

-- douglas brent smith

small not invisible

what i really hate is

waiting twelve minutes for the bus

and watching someone who's

only waited one minute squeeze

onto the bus ahead of

the rest of us

what i also hate is being the sixth person in line

when they open a new line

and the seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth

people get ahead of me

small problems, yes

still aggravating i guess

like an endless trip

a relentless drip

stop! pause! stay here because:

what i really love is

knowing that i am loved

and living in that love

and with so much love

what else matters?

-- douglas brent smith 

a truly eccentric person

the room changes

they enter

eyes turn heads turn new flows

over flow

a truly eccentric person looking

perfectly normal

now

we rely on that

until

that ready - steady rock - solid

presence presents change

smiling at you: in on it

lifting a secret door as

we wonder how do they know?

touching every single person

in the room

on the arm on the shoulder on the

top of the head on the lips!

opening the gates of possibility

inevitably

eccentric

 

uncle grant

uncle grant -- can't can't chant

pay now pay - for what we say

uncle chuck - can't trust your luck

tell us true - what do you do?

what's the price? the thought is nice

lift the lid? that's what we did

sign right here - and here, and here

grant three wishes - charity cheer

freestyle lifestyle paid with tax

scoop the art until it cracks

uncle grant grant us one wish

serve it up nonprofit dish

we will write your favorite book

paint your piece a proper look

film the scene that lights you up

fill the ever empty cup

uncle grant let's find the spin

show us how to cash it in.

-- douglas brent smith

 

one night on the beach

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

notes from an out of tune piano

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

poison water

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

hey you

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

anonymous, take a number

 

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

well?

he was cute and

younger than me but

not illegally younger

and wearing a tight

orange and purple 

shirt that had written

across the chest

"are you gay?" and

he smiled and i thought

"isn't everyone?"

 -- douglas brent smith

grand canyon

 

she shared some details

of the road trip with

the teen in a van

not too many intense

infraction type details

it was fill in the blanks

with too much thinking

heart wrenching imagination

like why would two people

in a van driving together

sharing inside secrets and

cheap road food not be

more than she said

playing a players game

of silence and selective

facts believable whether deceivable 

or not who could know

she met a native american guide

entering the great grand canyon

already ahead of her hiking

below the entertainer chevy chase

working up his best sweat

"losing weight for a part," he told her

he seemed nice she told me

she, so sun tanned

deeply in pain

followed the guide's instructions

scaling the canyon, seeking and

finding her peace on her own

in shorts and a shirt

a weight loss plan of her own

for that burn in her heart

immune from her lotions

medicines and potions

yet falling away as she scaled

deeper to release the one-hundred-and-ninety

pounds of disappointment

the guide set her free

with a nod for the tip

and when she returned

freedom felt better than the pain

sending her away again

without the boy

without me

free.

we share this

 

when the motion

slips into another space

explanations defy attempts to reconcile

part of the magic lives in everything

     that's ever been

     and ever is

like a wave

all of our days are part of something

more complex than we can see

so the part of you in me

and me in you goes on

some of the energy conserved in all

     that's ever drawn

     from breath lives on

-- douglas brent smith

where?

 

movements

                   from a stranger

blackouts

from the center of the soul

childlike prods

                to an undiscovered corner

tripping, tipping

                   into a hole

movements

                  as the stranger

blackouts

from the cage of ourselves

liberating touches

                on the edge of frenzy

seizing, freezing

                 short of the goal

where is the cutting edge?

one of us is bleeding.

-- douglas brent smith

bruises and band aids

pouring out along

the edge

squandered supplies

piled used and high

gaping pits

spent expectations

lost looming loops

of pride booming

need, aside

one generation's

dream passed

to the next

dented bent unrelenting

doom brittle cellophane

crisply cold outside

molded within

contents spoiled

one way of living

shot full of holes

an empty sieve

while the work

flows thru turns

bleeding weeping

slow burns.

 

sold

selling out selling out

selling out is so much fun

you look at me and whisper

you look at her and run

look into the mirror

and tell me who's the one

selling out selling out

selling out is so much fun

you say all those decisions

are driving you insane

you've got a first level problem

and a third rate brain

selling out selling out

selling out is so much fun

the dollar signs are shining

right before your eyes

reach into the money bag

and pull out a surprise

selling out selling out

selling out is so much fun.