distance

makes it hard to know

what's going on

fear makes it hard

to admit the truth

the wind was moaning

all night long last night

in the cold and dark

how can we break through

into the warm and light?

I walked outside at dawn

and… Read full post »

I know what failure

is all about, failed relationships

failed jobs

and I won't blame

anyone else, but I will say

I have had to learn

the hard way

I am much more cautious

I question myself, before

taking the leap

I see that many choices

have been unwise… Read full post »

Creative collaboration is easier said than done. I have been trying to move in this direction for a long time now, and I see that many artists, in the broad sense, want to focus on their own work and not waste time--as they see it--putting their work together with others, and… Read full post »

I dreamed that I found lost items that I abandoned in a previous house. I was afraid the landlord would be angry at me for leaving them behind but he wasn't.

I dreamed that I was putting on a presentation on the I Ching and when i arrived there was a huge… Read full post »

I feel better physically. I have made a decision about my teen novel. I am going to fashion each chapter into a short story. This will give the material more coherence and impact, I think. It is like reordering a paradigm, something writers or artists must be willing to do, taking… Read full post »

We Imagine

we imagine that we're somehow better, that we're wiser, or that we're saved and someone else is not, someone else is less worthy and needs our guidance, if only they would see thing our way

  Read full post »

"If you're gone - maybe it's time to go home
There's an awful lot of breathing room
But I can hardly move
If you're gone - baby you need to come home
Cuz there's a little bit of something  (in) me
In everything in you"

Matchbox Twenty

 

I lay in bed sleepless for a long while… Read full post »

Feeling sick today, shaky and weak. I have had a tremor in my left hand and will be seeing a neurologist. My knee problem is the ACL and significant arthritis in my right knee. I had a knee replacement on the other knee a couple of years ago and it may be needed again.… Read full post »

Poetic notes, leading up to a song lyric... 

I have a poem in me somewhere

I have a song to sing

they have to come out

I've been through trauma

I have to find some way to heal

I have a fear that's hard to express

I have a… Read full post »

A pretty good day. I sent off a poetry manuscript, phone banked for Obama, cleaned up the downstairs, saw my doc. I feel okay tonight. But tired as usual.

I don't have a poem in me tonight. It was Jung who said, "If you don't have something to create, then… Read full post »

"This time I'm gonna get it right"

Bob Seger 

The beginning of another week, and I love the feeling of starting over, the chance to get it right all over again. And I love this time of day, a fresh cup of coffee  and writing in the darkness before dawn.… Read full post »

Suddenly, in the middle of the morning, I started to feel weak, as if I had picked up some kind of virus. We came back to the motel and I slept while Linda played Spider Solitaire and checked her Facebook.

I feel much better now, relaxed and with clarity of mind.… Read full post »

seagulls and crows hang out together at McDonald's

I find a great book on shamanism at Goodwill

nice little motel  friendly staff  station tuned to the Weather Channel

glad the station not tuned to politics  need a break

after hours of sleeplessness, I finally relax

Linda in the shower… Read full post »

My wife and I are having an early Valentine's get-away in Myrtle Beach, after passing through the Corridor of Shame, which reminds me of the plight of the poor in the region where we lived for four years. I had a column published in the Asheville paper calling for less of… Read full post »

"I am not worried about the very poor"

Mitt Romney 

1 

back in rural South Carolina

at the Super 8 Minit Mart

Crack dealers and pimps hang

out beneath the no loitering sign

I sidle past them

trying to look tough

but I'm not afraid

I'm dressed… Read full post »

"I am not worried about the very poor"

Mitt Romney 

back to the Super 8 Minit Mart

at five am. As I leave the motel

walk across the parking lot

the air is cold and clean

bird cries fill the air

in this one-horse

Southern town. The… Read full post »

"I am not worried about the very poor"

Mitt Romney 

1 

back in rural South Carolina

at the Super 8 Minit Mart

Crack dealers and pimps hang

out beneath the no loitering sign

I sidle past them

trying to look tough

but I'm not afraid

I'm dressed… Read full post »

heading for South Carolina

something nagging at me

but last night Linda said she loves me

in a way I know she means it and more

she always will

I have a problem I have to work out

have to talk to someone, take action

life goes on,… Read full post »

there is a barrier

between me and someone

I can't walk away

at one time in my life

I would have given up

but I have changed

sometimes

you have to just

let it go

but with raw honesty

sometimes there can be

 a breakthrough

I realize… Read full post »

I started the day feeling physically torn apart, with trembling in my left hand that scared the hell out of me, plus severe pain in my right knee. I felt like I was falling apart. The trembling makes me fear that I am developing Parkinson's. The pain in my knee makes me… Read full post »

trembling hands, rises

I don't feel right, called the doc

need to deal with this

but not let it stop me

not focus on it so much

that it takes over

my life

fear where it is headed

stay calm, focus

find stillness inside Read full post »

A strange day, but I am okay. I did not journal as usual in the early a.m.. Maybe this threw me off. Then I met w/the Obama Regional Coordinator (Western NC) in our home. Then I found out my next political column will be published in the Asheville paper late this… Read full post »

lately

I have had shadowy dreams

I am somewhere inside the dream

but the story slips away

from my consciousness

and I cannot make any choices

it is like watching a movie

the black-and white scenes

in Pleasantville

this dream

is the opposite

of who I am

in real life… Read full post »

First a poem, then a song, and you can hear it on in a wav attachment if you email me: patrickgfrank@gmail.com 

People sometimes look at me like I'm strange

but I'm just me

like Bon Jovi says

I do things a little differently

people sometimes act nervous

when my thoughts and… Read full post »

First a poem, then a song, and you can hear it on in a wav attachment if you email me: patrickgfrank@gmail.com 

People sometimes look at me like I'm strange

but I'm just me

like Bon Jovi says

I do things a little differently

people sometimes act nervous

when my thoughts and… Read full post »