I Was Dreaming

I was dreaming

         I was dreaming

        drifting through consciousness  

        a dream's dream

        weary time sleeps

        the spirit searching

        dreams to hold

       dreams to believe

dreams to dream.

Ken Owen   Van Niddy Press   August 2014

A Flea On The Royal Dog

In dark of early morning

Mother Earth did tremble

from the weight of our worried dreams 

and sent a simple message

like the cranky down stairs tenant

banging on the ceiling

making her displeasure known

of the senseless racket above

that sent buildings quick to prostrate

while streets rose up like waves:

Your place in time is limited.

Your power is an illusion.

You are a flea on the royal dog.

Behave yourself 

or you may be removed 

without warning.

Ken Owen   Van Niddy Press   August 2014

Prayer of Universal Intentions

Let us choose the giving path

     that leads us from gathering

and returns us to offering 

     alms without question:

                                       let us be kind.

Let us greet someone new

     and appreciate the common 

and unique in the stories we tell

     as we open the door to our worlds:

                                                            let us share.

Let us say how we feel

     so that no emotion goes untold

and the songs of our heart are sung

     by the choir of man:

                                    let us listen.

Let us smile, laugh, and cry

     with those who suffer

and remind them they are not alone

     as we help lay down their burdens:

                                                          let us comfort.

Let us raise all spirits

     and bring light to the darkened soul

with sonnets of praise and gratitude

     of the beauty that surrounds us:

                                                     let us appreciate.

Let us heal ourselves and others

    with the power of simple offerings 

to those in need

     wherever they may be:  

                                       let us care.

Ken Owen   Van Niddy Press   August 2014

At The Tone, The Time Will Be...

I looked at my watch
and realized right away
that the time was not right

but as I watched the second hand
perform its dutiful head-down sweep 
like Mr. Hardy's grain mill mule

peacefully unaware
that the glare of the hot sun
meant it could not be 7:35

I thought...
Well, I only need to measure
a small chunk of...space

no matter if 
the start and end points
are not who they think they are.


Ken Owen   Van Niddy Press   August 2014

Prayer of Remembrance (Let There Be)

Let there be no difference 

between our lifetime of greetings 

and our last farewell,

let there be no difference

between our loving

and our suffering,

let there be no difference

between our days together

and our nights apart,

let there be no difference

between living life

and life remembered,

let there be no difference

between this world

and the next,

let there be no difference

between the beginning

and the end,

let there be no difference

in the words we said then

and the words we say now:

I love you

I forgive you

You are with me always.

inspired by and dedicated to R.W., Tiburon, CA

Ken Owen   Van Niddy Press   August 2014

My University (home schooled)

There is a book, marked and ready

to offer me a lesson 

in each room of the house

where I may find a still moment:

Kerouac is drunk again

and riffing at the kitchen table

on poetry as jazz,

a lecture on life in the year 1215 

is being given in the bath room,

Billy Collins poems 

travel easily with a glass of wine

to the back porch at sunset,

while an essay on Buddhism 

rests on the nightstand

ready to teach enlightenment 

as I begin and end each day.

My desk—-the faculty lounge

where volumes rise in dusty piles

like teachers patiently waiting

their turn at the lectern

as I review the curriculum:

'Poems by Ginsberg'

        (I don't get it, I get it, I don't get it)

'Biographies of Johnny Cash and Art Pepper'

        (why is it always drugs?)

'Atlas Shrugged' 

        (3 more chapters then drop the class...again)

'International Economic Policy in The New World'

        (for that serious student on a serious day).

So remember, dear students,

when we open our books

to the sound of turning pages

and the smell of fading time,

we open our minds

to the collective knowledge of man.

Until next time,

class dismissed.

Ken Owen   Van Niddy Press   August 2014

Alms of Dew

Dying grass 

straw-brown weeds

thirsty beggars plead for alms of dew

as mighty pines shake 

the cool grey blanket

of morning fog.

Ken Owen   Van Niddy Press   August 2014

The Endless Tear

Tis the season
of the endless tear

weeping always weeping
without relief

drying your eyes
with the heart on your sleeve

salt water sorrow
streams up from the soul.

Ken Owen.  Van Niddy Press.  August 2014

Mercy Rain

No rest content nor joy within,
confront thy demons, confess thy sins,
search the skies
for signs of Mercy Rain.

Parched and dry the barren heart,
clear horizon, time to start,
the journey long
in search of Mercy Rain.

Mercy Rain, Mercy Rain,
anoint the wounded, ease their pain,
suffering's end
begins with Mercy Rain.

The endless path will show no gain,
thirst for pleasure, fear of pain,
receive the gift
of healing Mercy Rain.

Wandering pilgrim sad and grim,
cry no more, forgive within,
bathe your seeds
of love in Mercy Rain.

Mercy Rain, Mercy Rain
anoint the wounded, ease their pain,
suffering's end
begins with Mercy Rain.


inspired by j.s. of the state of Jefferson





Ken Owen   Van Niddy Press   August 2014