a new song

slow steady climb

up the rocky ridge

scouts used to clear this path

now it is rock strewn

overgrown

blocked by a fallen tree

up over the shattered pine

then down into the small 

creek cut valley

drop my pack

by the door

little camp hatchet 

snaps through dry wood

flint sparks fly

warmth spreads

across the cabin floor

in the corner

an old Fender acoustic sits

six rusty strings hang loose

soon it is fitted up 

with a new heavy gauge set

low lonesome chords ring

up over the mountain top

a new song echoes

four more years

four more years...and 39 days

I'll walk out of here

dropping plaques

and ink wet cards

in my wake

stepping over

deflated yellow balloons

spinning slow

against the stairs

like Lot

like that prisoner

walking out 

that jail in Edmonton

but I won't be breaking

a store window

to get back in

I'll keep walking

out to my 4x4 ride

then drive

into the wild

deep into the wild.

silence

music carries me

up over back country road short cuts

Neil Young and Crazy Horse

blasting hard fast distorted buzz

clicked off in my parking lot spot

a day of unrelenting cacophony

a stream of non-sequitur "facts"

questions and questions 

and questions about questions

head spins

exhausted monk

out to the car

silence

all the way home

just a slight tire hum

The Monastic Heart: Bells

a bell rings

attention is called

to this moment

a thin slice of a slice 

of the never ending present

in this micro moment

I think of you

and pray