what are the reasons

in the beginning there was chaos
it was without form and void
and then there was eden
and then there was chaos
and then there was
that theory that revolutions are
figments of our mind
useless machinations
filled with telephone poles in drifting skies
all the laughter was true
but it was meant to confuse
dwindling between safe and catastrophic
a dingle here a dingle there and the faith bump rises
but what kind of faith
is it based on fear, a sense of being threatened by others
all this meant to confuse and cloud judgment
and in the confusion you follow like minded leaders
ready to prop up your beliefs
but what if they need to be sanded
they're not quite your own
what is liberal and conservative
what is all of us
we'll never learn to understand another person's situation
it's much too complex
but there's empathy.  you got to try to understand something
where's the compassion
i don't know the way, but i stumble and try
i guess this lent i want to give up complacency
it's easy to give up pot and television
it's hard to get involved
with some sort of political action
it seems like gun violence would be a good place to start...
in middle school there was a guy who threatened to blow my brains out
each day during recess
i ignored it, gave a nervous laugh, and didn't respond
i always thought
that since i didn't react
he lost interest
but then there was my dad
my mentally ill dad
crossed the border bought a gun
who did succeed in blowing his brains out
so i guess i do know something about gun violence
at some point in my 20's
i shifted from being republican to democrat
the reasons don't matter right now
when mother died, my sister and i
made a decision to give up our family guns
we sold them all
about 10 guns
only 3 of them worked
gun practice had lost my interest
hunting was never an interest
and we sold
an entire briefcase of ammunition
estate sale gave us $1,000
and now
i am glad it is gone
no amount of ancestral heritage
would want me to continue with that baggage
and now
it's been one school tragedy after another
sometimes it hits home

denis streeter   2/25/18

the behoovers

all the poltry spotted hens
get back in line again
the traffic light out, the guns were in
gums break out in sage brush fire
all the drafts were burnt
the soiled dressing filed
the bone chipped preachers
preschool etched hives
it didn't matter how it was found
it was always better by the pound
the doctors hadn't figured
the dioxin were yoked
arrived by graveled snow
pulled by rabid rabbi
all the odd sniffs left
it wasn't beyond their boundaries
just beyond their know
it behooves them
gets up the roar and snows them in
ahem ahah amen amen
and the justice sword scours brushes
meant to beat the paddywacks
but the trombone got loose
left town with the moose
or was it the flutes and saucers
either way it shelved approval
first of two dope offerings
one at school, one at altar
but the hemming was too fine
nothing could be dressed up like that
put Solomon in a stitch
romans in a halter
the big cheese stepped down
all those golden steps
laying eggs ent easy
and the communists tell you why
lay one posy in a row, jump around, flack a boot
then the boss lays his finger on the rosary
but it's already been roasted
the pot caught the lid
smokin'
and it was downhill from here
once the judgment got afloating

denis streeter  2/11/18

storybook

the sordid solutions worked into faces
one direction to the next
working tunnels to justice
the jury is out
comatose a spell
right hand directed what left didn't know
right left unwrong
that itchy thumb
hitching a ride to the sun
wandering pictures of salads wined
it wasn't always that way
when juice spilled and picked up manners
other times windows shattered
too much construction
the baths disturbed the wrenches
the wrens disturbed the verbs
all that destruction worked into vowels
dampening towels
shores laughing to keep clam
the wilderness opened that day
officers keeping tabs
when the lightning bolt came
too much wine to succor
cannonballs
sutures the drink
in line for another
cannonballed
where shores swap letters to pictures
listening to irons
littering highways in vowels
burdening busloads of towels
snowshoes their depth
cannonball specs
horizon travels higher
in shadows a burden of war
testing shots with swings
crossbow wins
lacking understanding
that willful swing
answers war with sleeves
up to knees swiping pictures
danders to dandelion
all that blows is neutral
don't know where it stands
the mud is messy
behind shelters searching
all the pieces went black
looking for a time that itsint
but better
the officers bent way
their toothpicks are wrong
their laughter non
but made for strong sutures
setting up wind for supplies
the flies flew longer
watching wind for clues
there were pieces in the shine
i picked them up and cradled them home
they needed yearning
it was before the world began
i needed lessons

denis streeter  2/4/18