Thor, the Norse God of Thunder, had a hammer named Mjölnir. Mjölnir was considered a fierce weapon that could level mountains and summon lightning with every blow. In this poetry blog, every Thursday, (Thor’s Day), Mjölnir will forge only song - sing of the mysteries and beauties of the world.

Thursday, May 25, 2017

MUSICAL CHAIRS

Stasis is a state 
of mind. You

don’t have to 
be confined

to the chair your
in, you know.

Where you sit 
is not some

kind of 
condemnation,

even if you do 
come late 

to the party.
Don’t just stay 

where you are 
waving 

at the folks 
at the far end 

of the table.
Get up, move, 

take another seat.
It’s a celebration 

after all. Snuggle up 
to your friend closest 

to the kitchen. What’s 
stopping you? Have

some fun. When 
the music 

starts and stops 
is all up to you.

Thursday, May 18, 2017

LOSING LINES

You are chugging along,
totally in sync
with the character
you are playing,
when, without warning,
the bottom falls out,
the lines you are about to speak
aren’t there anymore.
They’ve flown the coop.
They’ve lit out for the territory.
They're gone.

So, suddenly, you are free-falling
without a safety net.
You are off-off-book.
There is no obvious next thing
to say or do.
There is only the NOW
and the how you will pull
a rabbit out of this hat.

So what do you do
when there’s nothing
but the stage you are standing on,
the glare of bright lights  
and the faces staring up at you,
watching and waiting…?
You improvise, what else!
And this shouldn’t be so hard to do,
‘cause, come to think of it,
this is what you’ve been doing
all along, every day. Every moment
is a rabbit-out-of-a-hat trick,
because you aren’t working
from a script, right?
So in a sense, your life
has been preparing you
for when you do forget your lines.

The point is:
remember each moment
is an invention,
a Pollock, a Hemingway, a Dickinson
that will bear your name.

Mind the gap. Embrace it.
Learn from it.
Because life is the lines
you write in the moment,
not the ones you’ve been rehearsing
painstakingly in front of the mirror.

Thursday, May 11, 2017

WATCHING

a vulture perched
on the side of the road
is waiting
patiently waiting
for the moment
when it will turn
the dead opossum
at its feet
into its next meal
but there's no rush
there's time, just time 
like a highway
racing by

***

a homeless man
on a bus,
his mouth a cavern
of crooked teeth,
watches a young man 
for minutes
wrestle with the tangle
his earplugs have become
until he finally says
what is it about pockets 
that has that happen
I wish I knew, says 
the young man
still working his puzzle
the jagged teeth 
flash at the answer

Thursday, May 4, 2017

RAIMENT*

I know a man
who will scour
sidewalk sales
and Thrift Stores
for the clothes
of dead men.

He’d much rather
walk in their shoes
than buy a new pair
of Hush Puppies.

This is his way
of stepping into
their legacy,
his form of gratitude,
for what came before
while ambling it
further down the road.

*Raiment is an old-fashioned word meaning clothing 
and that appears most notably in the Boy Scouts 
of America’s meal prayer, the Philmont Grace.

For food, for raiment,
For life, for opportunity,
For friendship and fellowship,
We thank Thee, O Lord. Amen.