You my father I must be far away

you wished us better things

cursed yourself with children

remembered we saw Jesus

on the Appalachian trail

taught me to laugh as you laughed

1 January 2025

I'm cold

but

I'm sweating 

 

Jeff’s in Amsterdam

Al’s in Portugal

I’m in France

dark early 

Christ they say

was born thousands

of years ago

so we drink

and eat too much

 

I know this road

but driving in this fog

anything could happen

November 2025

Back in France after six months

in Andulacia it is cold the earth

is brown the sky is gray the leaves

smell dead and except for wind

silence

 

Terminal two Lisbon

Amsterdam by lunch

one of those portraits

of some one you don’t know

on a wall in a cafe

could be Lisbon Amsterdam

one of those portraits

of some one you might

recognize from Lisbon

Amsterdam

 

Saber sold hot dogs

on the Nieuwmarkt

lived across the street

couldn’t read

a little guy who brawled

in the red light bars

got him to Egypt ignored

his constant calls back

saw him last at the Zeepost

wouldn’t look me in the eye