I Got This

I got this.

Not those German .88s

But that howitzer over there

I'm your Johnnie on the spot with the can do attitude

So when you weren't looking

I pulled the string

Flipped the switch

and tweaked the knob

and off they went

all those shells down the bay

blowing up everything

all those boats

not sure if they were ours or theirs

but that aircraft carrier had to go

it was too big to not fail
I've got your warrior spirit

and when I went down to take a look

all those tanker trucks of jet fuel leaking

I had to throw the match

strike the lighter

rub the sticks

the puddles were everywhere

my feet and shoes were soaked

chocking fumes

I knew I should get away

so I walked

then I ran

then I wondered if the match lit

I thought about turning around and making sure the job was finished

but before I did

I felt myself being lifted up to the sky

gently

the warmest embrace I ever felt
(From the November 2017 Sesshin  Champaign Illinois)

The Ebb and the The Flow, But Mostly the Ebb

The ebb and the flow, but mostly the ebb
I was upstairs in a house I had forgotten long ago
with a woman
who I learned was my sister
doing what was in retrospect unthinkable
but it was intended to bring her peace
see I am like that, even in dreams
a real man of the cloth
never losing my manners

Then I was drinking coffee
in a strange place
with a flippant woman with a small crevice
between her teeth
who smiled the snarl of disdain
"you are out of control,"
she said smirking
like she knew I would resist
"when is the last time you really took care of yourself"
like a I really had a choice
then she ignored me

So to prove a point
I stepped out of the apartment building
that I had never been in
And there was a woman, or was it a man approaching me
nebulously friendly and threatening
she/he was carrying a bottle
she/he was overly animated
she/he just didn't fit into the picture

And then the action sped up
and this is the scary part
Not sure what she/he did
but I was back in the apartment building
I had unlocked the door
not a good move
then I opened the door
and even worse move

and she/he followed me in
there was nothing I could do about it
And then she/he was grabbing me in the midsection
and I knew I was in trouble
or was I
I still don't remember what happened
I must have survived
don't you think?