By Cammy Thomas

a hot air balloon
floats above my head
whether in slanting sun
or blown sideways by hurricane
always there
huge faded orange and green balloon
with a message

this could be good if you remember it
it says or
why not read a book to the end sometime
the balloon is there
as long as I’m alive
seventy seventy seventy
to the end sometime
it tugs on my scalp
helping and hurting me
to stay upright

hot air balloon roaring
as it refills with combustibles
always floats above my head
and supervises me
heading into the Psalms
trying on songs of praise
when all I see is bare reaches
empty trees empty tiger

By Luis Garcia

The Singing Nest
for Pam

In his broken world,
he’s locked in a closet of pain,
wearing gloves of stone
on his hands of rain.

In his broken world,
he takes what he needs,
and he leaves the rest
and that has allowed him
to build this singing nest.

By Luis Garcia

A Place to Call Home
for Pam

He’s said it before,
and he’ll say it again:
he’s trying hard
to get back home.

It’s a place he longs for
and a place
he once belonged,

a place within a place,
a song within a song.

By Luis Garcia

The trouble is:
always be cheerful,
and above all
give pleasure.

The trouble is:
learn how to laugh
even if you’re
dying to cry.

The trouble is:
don’t tell the truth
if you can make
more money
by telling a lie,

or to put it
another way,
if you can’t see any good,
keep the bad
to yourself.

The trouble is:
most of us are prisoners
in the land of the free.
before
The trouble is:
the masters murder
the wise men
and fool most of the fools.

The trouble is:
even the angels
break all of the rules.