By: Duane L Herrmann

ODE TO ERN MALLEY

Do an “Ern Malley”
as the pranksters did:
assume a male persona,
pretend to be a poet,
make up new verse
in strange new ways,
and shock the others
who thought they knew
what a poem was.
Open doors which more
followed, unintentionally
creating new ways
to create
and stun the world.
Ern Malley, poet
who never was,
but always will be.

PATH OF MOONLIGHT

Follow the path
of yellow moonlight,
it will not fail.
The moon will guide,
inspire you.
Moon is above, beyond
the Earthly plane,
a beacon, a signal,
that there is more.
The moon has pulled
us to the stars,
we can follow
the path it lays.
On full-moon nights
it speaks to us
deep, deep down
to our true self.
Listen.

WORDS MOVE

Filled with words
to over flowing,
the poet speaks,
writes, shares;
he cannot refrain,
cannot be silent.
The words move him
and, sometimes,
the poet dies
when those words
challenge power,
ignorance, and ego.
But poet persists.
He had no choice.
Words do not stop
and civilization
advances eventually
as time moves on.

LONELY SCHOOL

Of hewn stone,
rock solid,
with a good roof,
essential
for preservation
of any building,
yet, not enough
when culture changes
and people move
far enough away
to not return;
now sitting alone
no trees or playground,
surrounded, close,
by inches,
to acres of wheat,
abandoned,
no further use.

INCIDENT REPORT

Report number 36.
Sunday, 4:00 pm.
routine patrol:
White pickup on shoulder,
Highway 150 eastbound
west of Pilsen Rd.
White male in shorts
and straw work hat
put bucket in truck bed.
I signaled if okay,
subject responded:
affirmative,
entered unlocked cab
drove on his way.

Summary:
incident
of no concern.