FIRST POSTING

Hi there,

I'm starting a new venture so bear with me as I find my way through this cyberspace world of blogging to share some of my poetry -- and at times my photos or maybe a drawing.  Okay, here goes -- three poems.

Join me!!
John

AT THE EDGE OF DAWN

It almost could have been anywhere.

The slow beat of a temple drum,
monks move to silent meditation.
Golden-eyed trucks crawl the dark,
the moon bulges towards full.
Tuk-tuks prowl early for fares,
dust hangs on the cool morning air.
A rooster ratchets the edge of dawn,
wood smoke drifts across the road.

A silent passerby nods, Sa bi dee.

As I said
it almost could have been anywhere
in this subtropical world,
but this time
it was in a small city
awakening in the mist of the Mekong.

Luang Prabang.

TRANSPORTED

Somewhere over the Rockies
flying at 29,000 feet,
no longer Baltimore, not yet Telluride,
no longer departing, not yet arriving,
emptied from past, not filled with future,
and across the aisle from me
my grandson sits quiet and absorbed,
stares into another world.

Lifted on the hollow breastbone of Now,
he too writes a poem.

FROM 37, 000 FEET

Below me
lights sprinkle the dark

houses
peopled with dreams,
despair,
the TV droning, bills to pay,
taxes to do

beds stained with sex

hoping for love.