Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Questions: A Collection, Volume I


Do the trees 
give voice to the wind,
or does the wind 
give voice to the trees?


If rain falls back to the ocean,
are clouds held accountable 
for dereliction of duty
or do they carry immunity 
under the Law of Universal timing?


If you don't return the doctor's call
when he requests an audience,
are you tempting fate 
to stop and take notice
or just refusing to give it 
your seat on the bus?


Should I be concerned 
that drive-thru trash 
dumped on our streets 
by 3:00am drunks 
bothers me more 
than anything said or done
in Moscow or Washington, D.C.?


Since traffic 
has always been getting worse,
at some point will it stop completely 
so that we have to abandon our cars 
and walk home?


Am I the only one 
that thinks having 
the right book mark
for the right book
is important?


Do you feel the wonder 
of Universal kismet 
when a song ends 
just as you pull into 
your parking space?


Have you noticed 
that people saying
"Long story short"
can pop your 
private day dream
like a balloon?


Ken Owen   Van Niddy Press   May 2017

Monday, May 1, 2017

A Great Secret


I remember
long ago
a friend told me

     Turn your 
     suffering
     into beauty

and I thought 
at the time
she had revealed to me 
a great secret

Now
I'm wondering 
if it was a spell
that I'll never break.


Ken Owen   Van Niddy Press   April 2017


You, Quotable You


Tonight 
under a moon all alone 
in a starless sky

You and I
held each other up
by listening 

waiting quietly for our turn
to tell the same old stories
of love unrequited.

     All roads 
     seem to lead 
     back to them.

     Well, 
     fuck them anyway
     (our usual consensus).

Then 
I paused 
wondering

     how is it we could see the moon
     while ancient star light couldn't make its way
     through a haze of city lights on a clear night.

No answer came shining 
through the haze
of our cocktails 

but when you said
"...anyway, then I realized you can't 
fuck away the heartache"

I knew I should just 
be quiet and pay attention 
because we had just entered 

that part of our evening
where everything you say
is quotable.


April 29, 2017

Ken Owen   Van Niddy Press