Feeling pain

Causing pain

Pain in the neck.

It would be foolish to

say the pain in my right leg

caused me to act like that.

Does correlation equate

with connection?

Can coincidence

compel conclusion?

Where do we land

on the causal chain?

Can my pain excuse

even if it doesn’t cause? 

Where is the virtue in that?

September 27, 2022

When the line tangles

And the fish don’t nibble,

You need a morale booster;

Particularly in the fall 

when the fishing days are numbered.

Is it ridiculous to

Turn to the English poet

William Ernest Henley who wrote:

“In the fell clutch of circumstance 

  I have not winced nor cried aloud.   

Under the bludgeonings of chance   

  My head is bloody, but unbowed.”  

Is it enough to 

love the river – 

its beauty,

Its serenity;

Even its reticence to

give up its trout?

Why do we need to

make a morning

on the Battenkill

into a meta event?

September 22, 2022

Words make poetry.

Does it matter what they mean?

How about

River

Giver

Fish

Wish?

Below us

and above

there’s love.

It’s ours to find

if we’re open

and kind.

Best not to

search alone.

Love can be created

if we are willing

to be shown.

Old

Close

Reach

Teach

Touch

Much

Rhyme 

Time 

Chime.

Let the words fill;

Let them take us

where they will.

September 14, 2022