is there anybody out there?

before getting back to poems accepted by small presses, but not published in any book - here is another from Proverbs For The Initiated - (c) 1999 Cedar Hills Publications. Another mill poem, which has become the core of my background after graduating from Cal-State Stanislaus.

is there anybody out there? most of the numbers on this here counter (to the right) are me making some changes, updates, and viewing the blog to see what they look like. too bad i can't reset it or have it ignore the "poster". guess i could delete it and find another one if the numbers become entirely bogus ...

oh well, i'm headed back to the uncertainty of the paper mill tomorrow (still no contract, still no talks, and still no word on the sale of the paper division, though the mill manager has a meeting scheduled this week with a couple of crews, and i suspect that topic may be brought up ....

anyway- regardling the poems and this blog thingy: comments are accepted. they are lovely, really.


WE WATCHED THE LOG DECK BURN

we watched the log deck burn,
even as we held hoses that were as effective as pissing.
we laughed, even as we took rakes & shovels
to piles of bark, burning as briquettes.
we chased down flaming embers, just like keystone cops.
it did not matter.
the flames were too magnificent for efforts as ours to subdue.
the fire-fighters came, eventually,
with real hoses, real water.
in the end, it was only laughter & comics,
chasing down flaming embers half the night.
the deck, as expected, was severely damaged
but salvageable, just like everything in that damned old mill.