i bought a new friend

I finally did it! It took two shopping trips a more cash than I thought it might, but I finally found my new friend. I bought a guitar!

Not just any guitar. It's an Art & Lutherie. Made in Canada, eh? I looked at Taylor, Takamine, Ephiphone, and Seagull. The Art & Lutherie is made by Godin who also makes Seagulls. Not high end, but in came down to feel and sound quality. I'm not sure why, but I was drawn to it.

A man came in with his two young sons, had them strum a couple (they didn't know how to play) and bought a $1800 Epiphone. I bet they shopped for a total of 6 minutes. Maybe I was being a bit analytical or over thinking the whole thing, but I took my time.

The store is also where I'm going to take lessons, so I'm waiting on a call today for them to pair me up with a teacher. I can't wait to get to know my new friend.

...the call

i had prayed boldly about my family's health
and all of those things that so easily
fall from my lips

a continual stream of the familiar
having seen Him come through time and again
afraid to challenge something new

the weakness was in me bound in silver chains
of my own inability to see the treasure just
outside my cell door

even behind my eyelids in my dreams i felt His hand
but in my physical shell where numbness barely
allows a tug from the supernatural i heard the small ring

awoke to sunlight, smiled and lifted my face to the Son
turned my head and as I glimpsed the phone
it rang

Robe Rules

Not sure what category this thread falls under. It should probably go with personal hygiene, fashion, or perhaps personal consideration of others.

As the alluring title suggests, I am in need of either formulating or being made aware of some rules regarding robes. I understand and have adhered to certain rules such as not drinking (heavily) before noon, not wearing white before Memorial Day, and not filling up the pool until after the first frost. Having the opportunity to work from home typically four out of five days per week, I find myself rolling out of bed, grabbing a cup of coffee, and spending most of the day sitting in front of my laptop in my robe. The issue comes from the looks I get and sometimes the feeling of scumming around.

I like showering as much as the next guy, but I typically work out in the afternoon or very late at night. Showering in the morning and again later just seems like a waste. I'm fairly new to the Green Living movement, so I can use water usage as an argument for staying in my robe.

One of my Twitter pals @Worshipcity suggested that a robe can be considered an "indoor jacket". According to him, "you can wear it all day long...inside. You step one foot outdoors in 1 and it's to the Looney Bin!". I like that rule...except it gets broken when I go to grab the paper or the mail at lunch. Look left, look right, look left again -- then sprint to the mailbox before the neighbors catch a glimpse of a green flannel blur.

Rules are made for breaking. ROBE WEARERS UNITE!!!

Guitar Shopping

God has removed every excuse from my repertoire not to push forward on my music project. After starting my own business, I now have time and money to burn (so to speak).

I'm looking for a new guitar. I've got one circa 1987 from Sears. I think it was about $100 at the time. It's a killer - finger killer that is! I'm not sure why they make learner guitars so hard to play. Maybe they do it to weed out the wannabes. The ones I have seen on-line that I'm willing to invest in are between $200-$400. My bro has an $800 Epiphone, but until I get to the place where I think I can invest a decent amount of time to learning, I'll stick with something on the lower end.

I can read music and have self-taught myself the Hal Leonard beginner books. I pick them up and play for a couple weeks until my fingers can take no more. That's when I set the guitar down for a while. Typically a few years at a time. Then I start all over again. I've been writing some songs and I'm ready to put them to music.

The place I'm at currently is frustration at not having an outlet to sing. Whether it's being under-used or not knowing how to use me, I'm not quite sure. So God has made it uncomfortable enough for me and fired me up so that I'm ready to create opportunities to use my gift.

real treasure

you cut me
adding insult to injury
cologne ripped from the pages
of a magazine

you mock me
the muffled sound of bubbles
magnifies the cheapness of champagne
in sterile styrofoam

you control me
with relentless mind dulling pictures
broadcast for days upon days
through the dish on the trailer

you taught me
that each person holds treasure
in their eyes based on want
but needs are filled by the heart

my addiction

the curve of your yawning trap
filled with steaming essence
from Brazilian earth and sun

poured out for the forgetting of sleep
staining clothes, teeth, and attitudes
injecting your jittery goodness

allowing me to speak with dullness
on my tongue with neurons firing
faster than I can blink

by the third cup i have gone from
luxury to need - unhealthy habit
sending skull crushing pain in its place

green mile

the wry smile
with the bony leg of a cricket
wedged in the corner of your grin

eyes shut tight as you take
another hard swallow of
crunchy exoskeleton

heart racing, thorax squeezed
looking down the abyss of the lizard
through one thousand lenses of your compound eye

simple systems

our stars cross
sharing dust
our trajectories
forever changed

our new shape
gaining mass
spins off
three little moons

watching our rotation
orbits change
eventually breaking
free from gravity

trio of planets
eventually creating
a new cluster
in our space

nothing for sure

the steady cascade of rain
from a faucet left on by
an absent-minded God
rather than the worn gray blanket of clouds

slowly fading the weathered
gray fence to a deep rich burgundy
i could have told you
it would happen

just as when i see the once wind-lodged branch
lifeless - an amputated limb - broken
and know its future will take it
to the brush pile beside the retired shed

As sure as each kernel of corn
will be delivered from the cob
to our year-round resident
squirrel's cheek

The rain's predictability mocks my ability
to know so much...spending my days
searching for answers
except for knowing my future

perhaps the fence, the corn, maybe even the squirrel,
but especially the rain
look at me knowing only one thing for sure
what will become of me

Mix it up

So I originally intended this to be a site exclusively for giving my poetic creative side somewhere to dump. Though I have several poem buds started, they are taking some time to bloom, so while I work through the details...

I have been reading Ted Kooser, Poet Laureate of the US and former Pulitzer Prize winner, most recently. His poetry reminds me of Billy Collins, but in a more matter-of-fact, slightly depressed, and less humorous tone.

Ted Kooser's The Poetry Home Repair Manual is my current read. I hesitate reading any "how to make your poetry better" books because I don't believe there are any formulas needed for expressing yourself if you truly want to define your own voice. However...Ted's advice for reading as much as you can thereby understanding language and how to better communicate to an audience by standing on the shoulders of others is priceless. I agree with his notion that, "we teach ourselves to write the types of poems we like to read". It's the same with music. If I am interested in jazz, I wouldn't go out and pen a heavy metal rock anthem. So I am enjoying his book.

I'm putting the finishing touches on a poem about Zippy, my son's anole. Hopefully by week's end.