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Poetry

Order out of Chaos

Pelican Alley

Pelican Alley

While fingers caress the hissing froth

The pelican shoots the rolling trough

With a languid flap of his graceful wing

He surmounts the foamy crested thing

A side slip down its back and then

He shoots along the trough again.

Robert L. Mason

A Poem for Cora

Experience as widely as time will allow

Observe as precisely as you know how

Know the limits of your conclusions

And act in good faith to avoid confusions

See the light

Hear the music

Smell the Earth

Touch your lover

Taste the wine

Understand the context of your life.

Eschew the tangle of needless strife.

Don’t be afraid to make your place

But remember others who share your space.

See the light

Hear the music

Smell the Earth

Touch your lover

Taste the wine

It is not a fault to be pensive

Having a heart is not expensive.

Sometimes it’s good to change your act

And come about on a different tack.

See the light

Hear the music

Smell the Earth

Touch your lover

Taste the wine

Acquire knowledge as your wealth.

It’s a good idea to “know thyself”

When tackling something give it your all

And always remember to stand tall.

See the light

Hear the music

Smell the Earth

Touch your lover

Taste the wine

Granddaddy Rob

Mendocino, California

2011

She Danced

She walked slowly up the beach.

A private moment for us each.

We were the only two out there.

Of my presence she was not aware.

Against the dunes I was wedged,

And she was at the water’s edge.

There was a swirling morning mist,

And a subdued mood I could not resist.

North she went, her feet were bare,

She stopped to examine here and there.

Then sauntered out on a spit of sand.

Just as the sunlight hit the land.

It broke right through the overcast,

And lit our somber place at last.

Among the colors of a soft rainbow,

She whirled about with arms akimbo.

A rare instance of sublime elation.

Left a moving and strong sensation.

A fleeting moment I saw by chance,

And through it all she danced, she danced.

R. L. Mason

Agust, 2018

Beach House Bliss

A bright spot

Freshly dropped

From an opalescent sky.

A dashed wave

Eternally saved

The surf is heard to sigh.

The days end

Spent with a friend

Celebrated with wine.

A hummed tune

The rising moon

A moment fixed in time.

R. L. Mason

Enough!

Whoa! Stop the aging I’ve had enough.

The aches and pains and other stuff.

My memory doesn’t work with alacrity.

My vision and hearing are loosing accuracy.

I can’t walk with much velocity anymore.

It’s difficult to retrieve an object from the floor.

Hearing aids and glasses do help a bit.

A cane is useful except when I sit.

I have pills for the knee, back, and shoulder

So I’ll muddle through if I don’t get any older.

Robert L. Mason
2023