Sunday, June 7, 2009
SOLE FISH
night
yesterday was the day before the one before that
and boy it was fun!
No time like the present
to sing cheers for joy
at nothing sacred
nothing holy
“All aboard”
said John.
Conductor John he was known as.
“Where we going boss”
she wondered
he never said
ignoring her feelings
and what she was about
“Come on
give a hint”
was what he recalled
No one traveled with them anymore
Solo Suzuki
was all he could say
Like a sole sushi on a piece of rice
alone on a plate
passersby could wonder
if it was the last piece left
or if it was the one piece ordered
by a man wanting to taste
or a poor man
rich in ideas
who could afford but one
but who could taste each molecule
and watch the rice
support the fish
draped like a shawl above
like a pillar from beneath.
I wear no shawl,
naked
my legs exposed
to the wind
passersby
see the hair
shiver
and think
(I am sure)
does he or doesn’t he
rich or poor
rich in money
or rich in ideas
poor in life
or thought
Nights come quickly some days
Bang! it is dark
you were looking away
you missed dusk
dusky senses
dusky flavors
dusty rose
but not me
I was there
and saw the sun slink south
under the earth
screaming to the horizon
see you later
I’ll be back
But then the night started in with
I am all there is
there will be no dawn
it is bleak darkness
and don’t you ever forget it
Morning becomes Electra
but last night is the end
of a past chapter
like a different kind of book
a mystery solved and done
a biography, life done
new pages new subjects new styles
like reading sports and then Shakespeare
the same night.
Heck, if that happened
all we could say is
What a night
What a night!
Friday, April 10, 2009
*************************
and This is where the president puts his energy and legal efforts-go after poor old people when your computer screws up!
WASHINGTON, Sept. 28 — A federal judge on Thursday ordered the Bush administration to halt its effort to collect $50 million from 230,000 Medicare beneficiaries who had received erroneous refunds of premiums paid for prescription drug coverage. He said many of them might qualify for waivers because repayment would cause hardship.
The judge, Henry H. Kennedy Jr. of Federal District Court here, said Dr. Mark B. McClellan, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, must immediately send a notice to every one of the 230,000 beneficiaries, stating that each has a right under federal law to request such waivers.
Federal officials had previously told beneficiaries to return the money by Saturday, Sept. 30. Judge Kennedy said the administration could not enforce that demand unless it first gave beneficiaries an opportunity to seek an exemption.
If a beneficiary requests a waiver, the government cannot try to recoup the money until the secretary of health and human services rules on the request, Judge Kennedy said in issuing a preliminary injunction sought by the plaintiffs. The plaintiffs include the Action Alliance of Senior Citizens, based in Philadelphia, and Gray Panthers, a national organization for older Americans.
Judge Kennedy said that any money already paid to the government “must be immediately returned to the beneficiaries so that they may decide whether to request waiver.”
Peter L. Ashkenaz, a spokesman for the Medicare agency, said government lawyers had not decided whether to appeal the decision. Mr. Ashkenaz said the government would do everything possible to ensure that beneficiaries continued to receive drug coverage “with the least inconvenience possible.”
Mr. Deford said beneficiaries were entitled to notice of their rights because of the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution, which states that no person shall be “deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” The administration’s refusal to provide such notice violates the Constitution, as well as the Medicare law and regulations, he said.
The Medicare law says the government shall not recover an overpayment if the beneficiary was without fault and if it would be “against equity and good conscience” for the government to recover the money.
Dr. McClellan has, in effect, acknowledged that the beneficiaries are without fault, saying the mistake occurred because of “an error in Medicare computer systems.”
At the court hearing, lawyers for Dr. McClellan and Michael O. Leavitt, the secretary of health and human services, argued that Medicare beneficiaries had no right to a waiver and therefore no right to be informed that they could fight the demand for repayment.
The erroneous refunds averaged $215 a person, and none exceeded $800, federal officials said.
Beneficiaries “have been unjustly enriched,” Marcus H. Christ Jr., a lawyer from the Department of Health and Human Services, told the court. “Nothing in the Medicare program allows them to keep that money.”
One plaintiff, Lucy C. Loveall of Franklin, Ky., pays for drug coverage by having premiums withheld from her Social Security checks. She received $161.70 from the government, representing a refund for seven months of premiums. Ms. Loveall, 65, said she could not afford to repay the money because she and her husband had total income of $2,214 a month and total monthly expenses of $3,067.
The poorest Medicare beneficiaries do not have to pay premiums for drug coverage. But Mr. Deford said that many of those who did pay premiums had relatively low incomes. About half of beneficiaries have annual incomes less than twice the poverty level, he said. The poverty level is $9,800 for an individual.
and even thursday can be tuesday in some
worlds or neighborhoods
I've never been to before
but someone has
thats for sure of course
never underestimate the power of a woman
charming things are they not
love conquers all
so they say
are they right? write
ryte
whrite
come on- whats wrong with that one - white is fine
who is hoooooooo
owls know
they understand things like this
they understand whoooooo's
and whoooooooots
and senses of privacy and whooooooo am i
i mean who we are etc etc etc
if the question never goes away perhaps it becomes time to answer
it
or another
ever get a splinter
ok then you see the logic of my mind
and the evolution of my thoughts
which evolve slower than the earth but surely there is a planet or rock
revolving at dog speed
one year equals 33
slow sweet nice
hey take your time
it's only been a year and a half
or sommin like that
slur to get down get down get down
boogaloo on broad street
because it has to start somewhere and b is better than a if progress is your guide.
nite now to you
and morning to you .
tooooooo.
lets see how the day goes today -
some days go easier than others - thats just life isn't it
Good Morning! Good Morning! Good Morning!
It’s a beautiful day!
Everybody up, up, up and outta bed-
Rise and shine it's reveille time.
OK- now who's still sleeping?
don't you know it's time to move move move
groove groove groove?
Ooops! I better make sure I’m up too.
Hup two, three, four
Hup two, three, four
Hup too, three, four
Hup too, tree, fore
Hey- did someone say golf?
or was that just a tree falling in the forest
that didn't make a sound
because --- heck - you know why
but then again - where are all those people's ears that should have been listening
a Quandary- wouldn't you say
a Quandary
a Quandary
a quandary
Hell - I can say it without making it all big shottie in capital letters and all
after all, it ain't really much of anything when you get right down to it.
An apple a day keeps the doctor away
I’ve had mine already -
I suspect the day will turn out delightful
What's for lunch...
yanks tigers not lookin so good
as we like to say
Haiku:
Yesterday
Yanks 8, tigers 4
Mudville joy
my early morning on the way to work activity has inspired a song - country western - or so it seems to me - not my usual style - but not my usual early morning activity: hope ya all can imagine a nice melody and harmonies to sing along!
"Parking Here Fella Gonna Cost Ya Big Time"
A lovely morning, just past dawning in the city,
I took my car out for an early morning spin,
Called up my girlfriend on the cell phone using handsfree,
Stopped at the yellows, waived as school guards waved at me.
Thought -it's so nice out- let me bring my girl some breakfast,
I’ll run inside there, grab a coffee- donut too;
Put on my flashers - kept a sharp eye out the window,
I was so happy, coffee flowing, cake for two.
Well then I stepped outside with package smelling nicely,
Holding that little cardboard tray with two cups neat,
When out of nowhere formed the image of a fellow
Flashing some paper, smiling meekly, saying sweet:
“Can’t put a Chevy near the bevy of my meter,
Can’t put your old Dodge at the curb, its just the same,
Can’t park a Honda with a blond-uh at the corner,
I'm writing tickets, that’s the name of my game.
Can’t rest a big Ford with a wood cord near the curbside,
And for a Toyota with a boat – uh it’s the same,
Can’t park a Caddy with your daddy in the back seat
I'm writing tickets son and this one's got your name.”
The coffee flavor dropped a notch or two believe it,
The pastry tasted kinda pasty in my mouth,
The coffee cup seemed slightly hotter in my fingers
I stored the car and went to work heading due south.
So now I’m sitting at my desk and working harder,
And earning money just to pay my ticket soon,
But in my head keep running words I cannot stifle
Those words that floated toward my ear well before noon:
“Can’t put a Chevy near the bevy of my meter,
Can’t put your old Dodge at the curb, its just the same,
Can’t park a Honda with a blond-uh at the corner,
I'm writing tickets, that’s the name of my game.
Can’t rest a big Ford with a wood cord near the curbside,
And for a Toyota with a boat – uh it’s the same,
Can’t park a Caddy with your daddy in the back seat
I'm writing tickets son and this one's got your name.”
not much to say
time is a wasting
and no time to play
wonderful feeling wonderful day
plenty of sunshine heading my way
long before the night is over
but still before dawn
mornng time still
california in my mind
don't ya just hear the raindrops
don't ya just hear the sounds a yes
i'm going to california in my mind
where the hell is everyone?
here i am in fucking NJ
riding down the jersey turnpike
its dark
the ezpass lane is flashing
and i'm on ezpass street
and what the heck is it doing outside
no one nearby is dressed in camouflage but i can see them still
hiding along the steel guard rails
to keep me in line
i see them left and right
and crawling up behind me
slithering bumper guards
positioning themselves closer than before
pushing up against my car
my bumper is scratched now
bent out of shape
by what?- by pressure?- fuck pressure.
Who stands bowed by pressure in a free world?
freedom oh freedom
choices, free will and dishwashing detergent in clear bottles
where the color of the soap can be changed at will
i say change the color of the bottle and leave the soap alone
this is America
we'll sing seventh inning oh beautifuls
hosannas until the yankees score some more runs
and the game is over
the world series heads home
and we can feel jilted by the taxi radio
playing shit but finding no baseball anymore
we're lost
anchorless in a slithering stream
do you trust the mooring? can you grab it with all your might and hold tight
and pull and pull and pull and stay afloat
or is it a drifting sinker in the end
i don't want to hear time will tell
i don't have that kind of time
i'm not a dog remember
tuesday is monday now
closer closer closer
but i need tuesday to slip over now and be tuesday
i need wednesday to be wednesday
and i need thursday to follow after all that arranging
i don't want to change my shoes
and i dont want to move my saddle
from one horse to another to another to another
to another to another to another
to another to another
to my mother to her mother to her mother to her mother before her
and to my father before her
tomorrow is today and coming fast and i have miles to go before i sleep
and it is not yet dawn
the sun also rises
and will the son?
"sleeeeeep"
he hears
"sleeeeeep"
it is the dawn
the sky is dark he wrote as a child
when the dawn was colder
and more shocking
and stranger than it is now
when the sky was green instead of blue
and when innocence and promise were all that lay ahead
things happen when we sleep
let me get more.
all the joys we have in store
and all the joys we have today
locked inside in a special way
but we have miles to go
before we sleep
on the joy we dream about and weep
halfway home is not enough
for these old bones are full of fluff
and half a glass is not enough
for these young bones who like it rough
its not the drink that stirs the straw
its rather straw that moves the juice
and makes one feel like
diamond jim
or lucy or steve
or that old friend Kent
the name i said long years ago
that if your baby were called so
he'd grow to be a different child
than Arnold
or bill
or elmer hyde
the sound Kent made on the ear
made a different child i always feared
i didn't know kent or any other
but it was one of my thoughts asunder
when youth
and elbow theories in my head abounded
where lots of fragrant thoughts redounded
so here i am stuck in my groove
with smiles
and such nice times to make smooth
whilst (such a word- like old sliced cheeses
feeling round my bended kneeses)
whilst i deliberate and writhe
within my skin still wanting rye
and having white or seven grain
its good my man - don't get me wrong-
why 14 hundred thousand strong
would stand on toes to get a peek of what it was that I
escheat
but why oh why does rye decry
and call me in my slumbers song
when head on pillow
hugging arms
cozy covers
and wafting charm
elude me or rather elude my thoughts or rather
feelings
those inner wants
i want i want i want i want
Henderson, the searcher , who looked and looked
and looked and looked
and finding what? he ran to mama
not his but someone's
to safety
because there were no answers?
or because the answers were uncomfortable
or because what are we anyway
or because he had not been known as Kent
not been called Kent
from infant days
from growing days
from childhood dreams and bedtime stories
and from morning rises and morning glories
he wasn't for calvary
just infantry or worse
quartermaster corp or maybe a nurse
tomorrow is the first day of my next life
Love,
Bob
good morning chicklets
smiles abound
rhymes are down
balls are round
and on the ground
smiles are smiling
all around
hugs are plentiful
tigers are making cheeks aglow so nice it
warms the cockles of my heart
as they say
and Beethoven plays tonight
boys firework watchers
delight
time to run not hide
and slippery words
stay locked inside
don't exude
hey I'm a dude
and i better start paying much more attention to snapple covers
I've been following fortune cookie
advice
but gimme snapple (or a baked apple)
or gimme hot times in the old barn tonight
No Fright!
chocolate ice cream
tasty and cold
makes my heart pitter
patter and pant
pants
oh for the love of laundry and fresh clothes
unchain my heart
and let me wash my home
sadly, mold attacks
the machines have returned to my bedroom
the flood waters are receding too slowly from my walls
one day i shall move back in
and have shiny new paint to boot
and new boots to boot too
until then
like Madeleine at the plaza
the family lumbers on in city hotels amidst the cappuccinos
and morning papers
room service
and extra keys
and 4 tv's - one apiece
but the guests must share...
pitiful i say
pitiful
instead i shall hear the philharmonic in the countryside
and float down the Delaware eating toast
and champagne
or snapple covers
on rye
for now-
bye bye.......
You know the tomorrow they say never comes?
It’s here
how? I know you're wondering
how? how did that tomorrow that never comes arrive
like spring weather that's not here yet either
well, tomorrow sneaked its little shit foot in and then blag blah bloooog blug
its here
this is the tomorrow thing you've been waiting for
did I say dreading
our time has come and a time it is to
sing and dance and
eat jelly donuts by the peck
pick a peck of peppers
one at a time and eat the shit out of it too
wouldn't you
and wouldn't you like to be a pepper too
dah da dada
ooom di da da da da
and wouldn't you like to be a pepper too
now I am wondering
just wondering
how it is
how come it is
that
men don’t always know what side their bread is buttered on
why don’t they know it
why is it such a goddamn mystery
shit
I’m angry as hell
and not much going around about it that’s for damn sure
maybe I’ll have a blend shake
you know
papaya juice with raspberry scoundrel and aren'tja juice mixed in good
with sorrybay in lime fitting
oozed all over the top
like I give a shit what order they are going into the blender in
end with prepositions and you will have propositions you can rely on
that’s a fact
fact of life
fact of nature
back to the real facts before digression
anyone still up?
anyone still reading along?
let’s call this entry
digression
total digression from dealing
digression from reality
hey where is that painting I did right after college?
my face it was or someone’s but really mine - aren’t they all really mine
and then I cut out from a plastic bag or saran wrap
some lips and glued it over the ones I painted on that drawing or watercolor
fake smile
plastic smile
I am wearing it right this minute
smiley here!
howdy doo
- did I have red lipstick on underneath that plastic bag back then ?
cause the gloss goes on giddy smooth these days
and I don’t feel I even need the bag
sarenely smooth sara one could say
he gets an internal chuckle over saran serene
sexy aint it
like a low drifting cigarette
clinging to the edge of the lips
hanging downward
like humphrey bogart
and etta james all in one - ( I don’t know if she smokes
I know her name is power-
leave it open - its ok-
don’t have to close every door every time
or every parentheses every rhyme -
see here I am writing in what I shall now delineate as the "dumb folks" style
style where the subtleties of my mind must be explained -
can’t lay there subtle because help I need someone to see what the hell I’m talking about
because I don’t always say it out loud
and I sure as shit don’t always say it out loud to me myself and I
if you know what the hell I mean
by Irene-
run
that’s what I mean
run run run run run
make it stop
because it can’t can it run and then its done
and that was life
the journey itself not the destination
like the beautiful death poem goes
life is a journey and death a destination
and everything in between
a journey of life itself
well that’s sort of calming - perhaps by repetition itself - itself
never finish
never finish quite
ever.
explanation point. period!
new month old themes
i should have bought this piece of art at the sale last night
my kids would have liked it i'm sure
why hello there
and welcome to my resurrection blog
filled with stars and stripes galore pinafore
life is interesting these days
ticklish I’d say
interesting and ticklish
sweet
and sour
sweet
and sugarish
interesting
lets see where the robin goes
lets see where it all goes
or comes to
or evolves
or devolves
word games more than thoughts
insights
less than puns
nothing I can say or do would bring my lover home to you
interesting what moves a man
what inspires
what cajoles
what touches the inner one inside
yanks 6 tigers 1
ha ha ha
who thought we'd circle back to tiger scores again
but like autumn and spring
recycling is in
and seasonality prevails
I wonder frankly if it’s this temperate zone we live in
do they have emotional swings and moods in san diego?
how can they
why, when we have zero to 100 flips in temp
they have sun to sun from mon to sun
church could be on Wednesday there
the weather is the same
or so I who know it all of three days believe--
hell you could go to church on Wednesday there and you couldn’t tell if it were 10AM or 3 PM
the weather is the same all the time
ok and what if it’s not
postulate it
imagine it
somewhere what I say is so
imagine if somewhere everything I say is so
everything that matters not every everything
but the things that touch life everyone of those things
ha
now wouldn’t that be a hoot?
a philosopher who did more than guess
a philosopher who was right
somewhere and someplace and some time
I question george bush
who are these millions
no matter how few now
who think the man blessed and touched
and a man of wisdom purpose and correctness
I just wonder
nuff said
about that
more to say about stuff I don’t want to say however
so I’ll shut my buns and go to sleep and hide my head in the ostrich land
perhaps I need a new blog more private even than this one here
to write or sleep
now that is the question
the bed that lies before our face
the dawn that lurks nearby
the good that waits around the bend
sneaks past with the mistyped "bedn"
a hint?
a typo?
a joke?
bed draws longingly at my half waked state
"give in" it cries
will I?
come on
come with me it ooozes
will I? shall I?
hating sleep like it is death
i'll fight the good fight
and say "stuff it" beddy
as if this debate mattered to the world
like "have an apple"
have another apple
have a green apple?
or have a red apple?
is it my age or is it now universal?
green apples are bad make you sick connote stomachy issues of not wholesomeness
red on the hand of another however
is wholesomeness
tinged with the evil of the witch
but other than that
wholesome
the reason for the doctor away
goodness and good deeded
irrespective of the actual taste or goodness today
so hard it is for a leopard to change its spots
or for perception to catch up with reality
or for reputation to heal itself and conform to truth
red. green. i dread the sound of one and love the other
time to ask the kids in the office
the granny smith generation
what life means to them
ha ha ha ha ha
nite now.
I wonder why I didn't just write
"I'm still a dude today"
I much prefer that.
Cat in the Hat
this morning
at dawning
theres a new day come
this morning
at dawning
theres a new day a cum
its happnin
this rappnin
and i know it wont be undone
halllay wood
hallley woooooood
hallly woood
hold the may o good
this mornin
at dawnin
and i wish i were good
this morning
at dawnin
and I wish glue were good
saturday
alllll the time now
saturday
and i call all the time now
when you feel my heart go down
when you feel im lonely
when you feel i'm on the ground
when you start to know me
call me up
call me on the telly
call me up
call me from my belly
boy its growing all the time
sometimes growing smaller
boys its growing all the time
some times in the morning
hally wood today
michael graves tomorrow
frank caesar pelli
hallywood to gather
never tire of yesterday
someone ate my pickles
never tyre from eternity
someone stole my dickles
this morning
at dawning
in anew day
day
this morning
at dawning
im nude today
hallly wood
halllliwood
halllli wood
hallliwood
can you hear my song inside
can you feel my rhythm
can you come with me for a ride
can you drive my bosom
its anew day
its new york
its a nudie boots calling
it’s a new day it’s a new play
its a newt gingrich morning
hally wood
everything is groovy
haaaaallylood
everything is bluesy
blue cheese is one weird sucker
the song is over
the dream never dies
like household flies
why look up and see what ive written
when i can play with a little kitten
why raise my eyes to see what i wrote
when i can play with a billy goat
i better hitch my wagon to a star
call the garage and order my car
put on my shoes and go for a run
be outside and have some fun
i meant to say put on my sneakers
and look for streakers
but lets not go there now
lets not get started and how
we are keeping this tune under wraps
no- did you think i was still under wraps?
i'm out
coverless
noody boots actually
eating fruits
on line fruits
jellies too
good for me and good for you
sugarless not bitter its true
hey i can wear socks you know
i pulled my formal over the calf black socks up
over my suit pants yesterday morning
at dawning
when i was dressing with my boychick in the room
and told him i was going to wear my socks and pants
like A-rod today
a good way to go to the office
ready for anything that comes my way at third
quick flip to 2nd or long heave from deep in the hole to first
hell - someone hits a grounder to me near my desk
i leap - i'm ready
and when i'm at the plate
looking for pitches
or just looking
i'm in top form for striking
not out
but striking
driving
hitting the big ones
the bombs the dingers into the stands
goodbye
holy cow
the days are counting down
faster and faster and faster
theres a song in my heart
theres a rhythm in my brain
and in my gait
and in my carriage
but not really in my life
the scooter died -and the TV guys said he lead a perfect happy life
what about me
of course what they didn't know didn't matter
because he seemed to
seemed happy and enjoying life and full of enough pleasure and accomplishment to last a lifetime
which it did
and what about me
what will anyone -if they even cared- say about me in my passing fancy
just that "he was"
he came he didn’t conquer
didn’t mess up the sheets too bad
didn't make too much noise
smiled from time to time
wasn’t here a lot of the time so i didn’t really know him
oh - he was here everyday?
guess i must have missed him
yea- wonderful guy
we sure will miss him
that ryan - yea we'll miss him a lot - ryan
or was it brian?
ha ha ha - types like brain! he sure was
a smart whipper snapper
for what the hell that was worth
never did crossword puzzles i hear
they say they made him cross
Ruth then scooter
i live in slight partial fear of death these days
why oh why do i see wills and trusts and funerals and shivah calls
where we delight in the visits with the living
and inside mourn the dead and our own mortality
thank god i have little boys and can still watch them
evolve into men
and fill them with all the love i have inside
and wish them well
and good lives and happy futures
and health
health for all of us.
The end.