translated from crop circles

image: naked fool driving a johndeereaphone for alien gothic amusement, copyright ziggy zagmyer

“i swear i will never translate myself” – walt wittman

“myself translate never will i swear i” – ee cummings 

yesterday i bought a new tractor, bright green and imaginary, to drive around on my farm, also imaginary, i work hard letting everything go to seed, tomorrow i’ll draw circles in the raging thistle, postcards from an imaginary farmer  

on earth we are hopeful, we imagine life everywhere, not just farms, but cities and zoos, playgrounds and ghettos, military bases, bus stations and churches 

we imagine oceans and holy lands and great divides and bermuda triangles   

we watch the morning news, we buy lottery tickets, we enjoy weekend picnics on scenic mountain rest stops, feed the mosquitoes and perform our mating rituals, we live mostly in history books, the past is always present and right now is for planning the future 

on imaginary farms we plant the future

yesterday i found an old banjo in the barn and whipped up a funky little fertilizer song, tomorrow i’ll sing it at a barn dance, everyone barefoot and happy, every face a harvest moon, strawberries and tomatoes, potatoes and corn, bountiful and imaginary

farming is tough here on earth
always too much rain, not enough rain, always never enough pesticide or artificial flavors or cheap toys at the bottom of the cereal box, little plastic yoyos, little plastic spaceships 

some of us own and some of us rent, some of us collect novelty bumper stickers, some of us still make our own butter, we have this thing called a soul, mostly for cooking soul food

we invent the portable time-space place between our ears and the packing peanuts to fill it with 

we imagine oil wells and electric chairs and coffee grinders and millions of stray weather balloons, we imagine international space stations launching  manned missions into the unknown and angel white spacesuits with lots of pockets for secret stash snowglobe memories of home on the range

back on earth, i get the tractor stuck in a ditch, jackknifed with the disc, wheels spinning and spitting mud, all of that and apocalyptic weather reports with satellite photos of broken banjo strings 
i jump up and down on my hat
then remember i can shift gear and reverse, back up and repent, giggle and draw circles
(always, we must rotate our crops)

everything makes perfect sense here on earth, bring your beer goggles 
our language is mostly a barrier, read our traffic signals to understand our most basic religious ideals, our internet porn is high definition fustration and leaves nothing to imagination

we imagine we’re all going to hell

we imagine life everywhere

at the end of the day, i imagine my work is done, millions of circles in the fields, weeds blowing under a lazy moon, kick back on my porch, swat mosquitoes, play banjo, i imagine a love song, something satisfied and simple, something we might put on the radio, or a love letter
or a greeting card
greetings from me and my tractor, imagine a happy contraption 
bookclubs 
nightclubs 
doomsday clocks and soul food

notes: sorry, no new poems. i’ve been insanely busy working as much overtime as i can. i worked straight thru thanksgiving and plan to work straight thru christmas, no time for any reading or writing. but i just paid fifty bucks to keep this blog ad free (at least i think its ad free, if not let me know, so i can go chew on someones ass) so i figured i should post something… sorry about the repost. hope to hang with all of you again next year, enjoy the holidays and be well =)

15 thoughts on “translated from crop circles”

  1. Cut the working crap and get back to poetry. We miss you. We need you. This poem is amazing, and the overall amazing quotient here in the blogosphere is just too far down without you. Denver is lonely for her heroes!!!

    Liked by 3 people

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    1. heh, thanks brother, i wish i could, i got debt coming out my ears, and my computer finally died, i need a new one. i have no other choice around the clock. i know you and shay and joy and sunra and the others are writing awesome stuff and i’m missing it all. i will t get online again soon, but i got to get home and get some sleep, thanks! i needed to hear that

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      2. thank you sir, i appreciate, it will have to after the holidays, i jsut have too much on my plate right now and need to focus, also, my computer died, and i’m too cheap to buy a new one until after christmas, but i am coming back, promise =)

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    1. for some reason your comments always end up in spam, not sure why that is, i’m not very social media savy, so i wonder if i have my setting messed up or something, i hate that your comment go to spam… sorry about that, if you know how to fix it let me know.

      thank you, i’m glad you liked this. its about 8 years old now, sorry i’m not posting anything new, but soon, very soon. i plan on doing some reading today, and plan on hitting your blog, but if i don’t get there today, then next weekend, and if i don’t get there until after the holidays, then happy hanukkah and happy new year!

      Liked by 1 person

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      1. I’ve heard that from other bloggers. I even contacted Askimet to convince them that I was a real person and not a spambot, but so far, no luck. In any case, thanks for fishing me out of the spam folder. And no rush, totally understand when life gets complicated and busy. Thank you for the holiday wishes – all the best to you for the holidays and in the coming new year!

        Liked by 1 person

  3. Me n qbit been fightin off them haiku folks as best we can but they got us s’rounded. Qbit’s got his Gatlin Gun and I poleax ’em with a fryin pan if they get close enuf but Fort Gimsberg’s gonna fall if’n the cavalry don’t come up over yomder rise purty soon.

    Liked by 3 people

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    1. i’ma comin… and i’ma bringin my whoopin stick. thanks shay, sorry i’ve missed so much, love those word lists, i think some of my better stuff recently is a result of those lists, so please keep them going. i’ve got too much on my plate right now. all of my recent surgeries have drained my resources, i blew thru my saving pretty quick, and that money was earmarked for something special. i still have my retirement fund and my stocks, so i’m ok, but i desperately need to build that saving back up as fast as i can. also,my computer died, i’m using the public library for the time being (i forgot how much i love the library, but that’s a story for another day, not being sarcastic, i really do, but the library is not exactly convenient, i’m speading the day here so i can get some stuff, and i’m going to try to do some reading) i’m not buying a new computer until after christamas… so ima comin, i’m trying to get there, but it won’t be until early next year. i miss you guys =)

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