HIGHWAY TO SAN JOAQUIN

napowrimo#30....last day for RWP .....another acrostic using...INHONOUROFRWPPOETS


HIGHWAY TO SAN JOAQUIN

in a bus on a lost dry highway
North of San Joaquin somewhere near nowhere
heading towards Dos Palos searching for words
off the beaten track on the beatnik path
never missing the missed freeways
occasionally missing the odd metaphor cafe
until we stop at the Backstreet Bar in Dos Palos
remaining strapped for cash we leave the bus
Old men in fedoras young ladies in long bamboo skirts
flashing their smile with rich paddy jaws
racing towards the crowded bar for whiskey and beer
where the bartender will read our poems
placing them beyond the reach of Ramblin Jack's
Poetry Refuge Camp
or the Big Tent Poetry Club
ejecting the wasted poems into Dylans basket
tracing our good words on his black board
so all the drunks can read as we leave for San Joaquin


with thanks..
Dana..........................bus driver
Deb............................co pilot
Nathan......................co pilot
Christine...................co pilot
Charlotte...................painter of the bus

Andy...Angie...AJV...Barbara y...Bitchy Angel...Cara...Carolee...Chanda...Chris...Dan...Derrick
Donald H...Erin...Evelyn...Francis...Gautami...Jeeves...Julie...Joanne...JD McKenzie...Leisha
Linda...Marie...Neil...Nicole...Novaheart...Pam...Rall...Rob...Robin...Red Shoe Artist...Stan Ski...
Stiletto...Shanna...Shayla...Skankin Moon...Therese...Tiel Asha
...........riding in the painted bus
...........ALL the other RWP poets following in the airconditioned bus....with more words

...........THANKS to ALL for this journey that will continue when we get the bus up and running

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS

napowrimo#29...Front page news from the sports page....Stanley Cup playoffs in.... hockey
another ancrostic poem using POETRY IN MOTION..


STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS

players from both teams restless
on their skates for another win
emerging from the shadow of the last game
two teams skating along in post season
racing towards Lord stanley
yielding nothing giving more
in all their pains up to the challenge
no love no loss or gain in rivalry
making hits above the score
only to reach passsions for hockey
taking the game to another level
intensified skating after each goal
only to lose sometimes win
never looking beyonds the Cup

ARCHITECTURE

napowrimo#28...prompt is intuition or heightened awareness. My partner is dowstairs learning new Power Cadd...a huge architect program...inspired... I wrote another acrostic poem...using ARCHITECTURE and similarities with poetry.


ARCHITECTURE

Architecture lets you explore human and natuaral environments
Rythm, paradox, and simile
Communicating with all that are open
Hiding the seen showing the unseen
Intuitively landscaping the environment
Telling nothing telling all
Economizing sound and structure
Conjuring up space without images
Travelling beyond noise and space
Until a constant tension appears
Revealing something beyond
Ending inside and outside like a poem

JUNKIE ANGEL

napowrimo#27..prompt today is write an acrostic poem....put word or words vertical...then use first letter to make word and start sentence...I used my full name JOHNWAYNEPITCHKO...



JUNKIE ANGEL

Junkie angel waiting to score
On a sidewalk outside the Plaza cafe
Hasting Street Sunday night
Never wanting to come down
Waiting for her next fix
Always playing games with the narcs
Young hooker hooked on junk
Never conserving always wasted
Eating her body with a twisted black spoon
Punctured with another dirty needle
In her broken down vein
Telling everyone to fuck off
Calling for help from everyone who doesn't care
Hugging the dark reflecions from the bloody sidewalk
Killing herself slowly with all the other hypes
Only caring for her next fix

Baseball in Havana

napowrimo#26........getting scrappy...from a scrap of an old poem not finished
this is a draft


BASEBALL IN HAVANA


no pesos
I toss a baseball into
Central Park Havana
a slider
high and inside

SUNDAY MORNING

napowrimo#25


SUNDAY MORNING

slow slumberous Sunday
without breathless sleep
opening our eyes to the somber sunrise
and the fiber art on the wall
falling through the crisp linen
into the light feathers of discovery
revealing a clutch grab of abstractgion
drinking our moorning tea
with silence

DEVILS AND ANGELS

napowrim0#24..prompt was Find a Phrase...I used the Phrase " GET THEE BEHIND ME SATAN" ....from the Bible


DEVILS AND ANGELS

exhausted from a sick week in the Bronx
after listning to Grace Slick at some biker bar
heading up the Deegan Expressway covered in fog
riding Harley Low Riders
loud and pround with straight pipes
knowing heavin is just one more gear up the highway
looking to turn on
tune in
drop out at Millbrook House
to pass the acid test
with Ram Dass and the high priest Leary
Chopper Kate riding in her leather
Mother Road spinning her wheels
Ardu wearing his colors
Kesey and the Merry Pranksters behind
Jesus in his tophat leading the way
thanking God for bikers
passing through the burning ravines
and six police cars
we roar through the gate of Millbrook
passing the test
with loudspeakers blaring Jefferson Airplane
Grateful Dead
Velvet Underground and Ray Charles
having flashbacks
on politics
education
Huxley and religion
we party with profound pranksters
and Satan's Angels dressed in black leather
high
over the cuckoo's nest
blaring music and police sirens
Jesus removes his top hat and speaks
"get thee behind me Satan"

LEFT OF THE STAGE

napowrimo#23.....prompt is speaker/event that normally do not get together


LEFT OF THE STAGE

somewhere on the outskirts of Bohemia
right corner of Washington Square
a tea party rally
a GRASS roots movement
with no leader no face
just a Temple called William
with Joe the plumber and Sarah beside
preaching to the conspiracist kooks
who still want to fight the British
over the three per cent tea tax
convinced that Obama and his gangster government
are a bunch of Socialists
conspiring to control everything in their lives
with their tea cups upside down
unable to read ther tea leaves of vision
getting ready to reenact the Civil War
ignoring the left corner of the Square
where Pete Seeger is harmonizing
with the Grateful Dead
having a birds eye view through the haze
a real GRASS roots movement
led by Jerry and Janis
Woodie Guthrie , Joan Baez and Cat Stevens
Billie Holiday and Belafonte
a carnival ride for the Deadheads
singing
where have all the flowers gone
we shall overcome
we get along without you very well
inviting them to a real tea party
a real GRASS roots movement
and join the peace train
ignored by the right corner of the square

DIZZY

napowrimo#22..using the word dizzy from the wordle prompt



DIZZY


making an Afro-Cuban jazz statement
with a spanish tinge
under his beret
and horned rimmed glasses
blowing through his crooked trumpet
with his turbo charged pouched cheeks
gusting up a hurricane
deep from his lungs
syncopated lightning bolts
of be bop
a little scat singing
with plenty of sense
Dizzy

PERFECT FLAWS

napowrimo#21..prompt is perfectly flawed.........this is a DRAFT

PERFECT FLAWS


secure in my insecurities and failures
and unknow wisdom
remaining true to the cosmic game
played with all its errors
sincere in the truths never told
that succeeded the goals never scored
as nothing crossed the line of humility
barren of events between failure and frustration
within the obscurities of two souls
and unknown theories of conspiracy
sitting at my gypsy window of imagination
drinking rum with Castro
discussing how Socialism is not perfect
with battles of forgotten memories
how Pollock was perfectly imperfect
in his paintings and human failures
learning all is nothing and nothing is all
writing the impossible
perfect poetry

JACKIE

napowrimo#20...prompt was ...the hero poem ......this poem from Jan 2009


JACKIE

I first saw him on a baseball card in '48
played for the Dodgers
Robinson was his name
amongst the jeers played second base
hitting, fielding , stealing bases
was his game
his skin was black
most thought his chances were slim

from the first time he stepped to the plate
I wanted to be black just like him
he played hard in his own quiet way

with jeers gone cheers came
respect on and off the field
made Mr. Rickey smile
like baseball
politics today has changed
with a game all can play
thanks to my hero Jackie
a black lives in the whitehouse today

THE LIGHT

napwrimo#19...prompt is light bulb moments


THE LIGHT

hanging from an old rotting pine tree
blowing in the blue breeze
higher than our kites
above the dead pavement
of the Santa Monica Freeway
a broken down rewired circuit
wired wrong
hanging like an ancient lock
that couldn't be picked
a tree for curious vultures
or transient cockroaches
that fill up their pockets
like wall street bankers
looking for a blazing light of change
we pull the cord of enlightenment
giving us light
to see the snakes fall from the tree

COOL CAT

naoiwruno#18..prompt tiger...or cat....sooo here it is
italicized words are titles of John Coltrane tunes

COOL CAT

watching the smoke rise
from the hard stiff chair
behind a closed window
backed by an imagination of junk
cool cats around us
the moaning of the saxaphone
wheelin and deelin
setting the pace
giant steps
both slow and fast
wailing away giving symphony
without sympathy
cutting through the bones
giving poetry a chance
to slice through the tracks
a soul trane a blue trane
travelling to the stardust sessions
beyond the dark desert of Dakar
strung out on junk
he sat down at our table
I'm the Trane he moans
I love to boogie
Village Vanguard 1959
Carnegie Hall of jazz
coolest cat I ever met


...............................NOTE...we wandered into the Vanguard March 1959...not knowing more than it was a jazz club....not knowing that Coltrane was playing.....well a fond memory of a cool cat amongst many cool cats there...

MORING FIRE

napowrimo#17 prompt using something elemental....FIRE
.....this is a draft..

MORNING FIRE

in the morning mist
hearing a gasping scream
a hurting sound of passion
beyond the edge of my mind
surprised to find
the shout was coming from me
a fire in my heart
I meditate

the raw physical energy from the universe
the glow of the embers
the heat from the sun
lightning crackling in the clouds
the molten lava of the volcanos
feeding my body with fire
calling to my mind
I meditate

ignited by some bliss
sheltered in a blazing flame
the fire roams inside me
cell by cell towards my mind
searching for inner peace
of honey, sweetness and quiet
with heart on fire
I meditate

MEMORY CELL

napowwrimo#16..prompt is ...WHAT'S THE SMELL.......remembering



MEMORY CELL


sitting inside my cell this morning
inside some mountain prison
where the reek of cat urine
and backed up sewer
seemed better than
the smell of death
becoming odorless
with my sudden loss of smell
I suddenly had wings
flying from this cell
to the banks of the Parvati River
and the mountain town of Kasol
with its spicy aroma
sitting with an Indian Sadhu
smoking hand made black hash
in his clay chillum
a medicine
in a spiritual context
Huxley's ultimate drug soma
black, oily with a sweet smell
never inhaled
never tasted but delicious
boycotting some consensus reality
remembering
from my memory cell

ON THE FLOOR

napowrimo#15 using the prompt something to do with carrying a tune....sing this to the tune I SAW MOMMY KISSING SANTA CLAUS....to your partner..to your shower...to yourself or the whiskey on the floor



ON THE FLOOR


whiskey all over the floor
big Johnny stumbling through the door
Johnny has a drink, a drink he can't share
he wants to tell someone, so he tells the chair

he saw Abby kissing the sawdust floor
underneath the bar stool last nite
she didn't see him sneek
through the door to have a peek
she thought he was passed out on the street
then he saw Abby pissing on the floor
no panties under her skirt having a leak
such a hoot it would have been
if hubbby stumbled in
to see Abby pissing on the floor last nite

whiskey and piss all over the floor
big Johnny drunk by the door
Johnny had a drink he didn't share
he couldn't see, he didn't care

CLEAVE

napowrimo#14 wrtiting about a what? a CLEAVE poem...no idea...and no time today..but here is a haiku



CLEAVE

above the noise of aircraft
optical fiber threads
Van Cleave's ploughshares


I could somewhat explain but....I don't think I will

STRUNG OUT

napowrimo#13 ...crediting the first line to Norman Dubie...."the lights of the galaxies are strung out over a dipper of gin".



STRUNG OUT


the lights of the galaxies
are strung out over a dipper of gin
lost in the Gotham stars
and solace of the Hudson
beyond the city that never sleeps
below the arch of Washington Square
above the urchin avenue of the bowery
fifteen steps down
stands the Village Vanguard
Sarah
Miles
Bill Evans Trio
ghosts of the past jazz universe
calling the spirits
in a martini glass
strung out on gin

REVELATION

napowrimo#12...secret codes...my partner had this list this morning ....fence...Doctor....Clarke...Fairley...college. A secret code???...well it turns out it was a list of things for her to do today (Fairley is name of a local lawyer)......using her list of words (in red) I came up with following poem


REVELATION

leaving Black Mountain College
blinded by the longitudes of the world
looking for abstract expressions
of Pollock and Clarke Coolridge
the meshing of art poetry and jazz
unable to believe Doctor Fairley
and his theory that X is true
because this list reveals nothing
a secret code for screaming souls
anguish to punish the pied piper
that flirts with the willow tree
believing all is written in Kerouac's
Tears In The Fence
revealing nothing

ROAD NOT TAKEN

napowrimo#11.....using the prompt...things I didn't choose


ROAD N OT TAKEN


putting my foot on the pedal
laying rubber down the interstate
looking for that gravel road less travelled
of dust and dirt
to set me free
believing a road is just a road
no matter if its Seattle or San Antone
missing that exit never known
where it went
what would have been
faceless ghosts or forgotten dreams
jesus on the cross
blinded by mean beams
hearing voices of lost prisoners
never noticing the miles
screaming at the scenery
at midnight or dawn
always moving on
sometimes missing that place
never been never seen
on the road to San Antone
the road not taken

CELEBRATION

napowrimo#10..celebrating..friends....napowrimo April 2010


CELEBRATION

celebrating triumph of human imaginations
amidst pitfalls and calamities
writing every day with linguistic excitement
mystery and emotion
thirty day marathon of the creative mind
sometimes evily subversive
a slow process of subtraction one cell at a time
Howling Wolf blues with Ginsberg
like wounded animals fading into a cloak of gentleness
eating lemon chiffon cake
dancing to a gypsy guitarist under a sky of tangarine dreams
and whiskey in heaven
family of poets feeling good feeling bad
writing poetry
celebrating

WATTLE AND DOUB

napowrimo#9...using 12 prompt words (in red)...words from old poem that did not pan out (IN CAPITALS)...something that tastes terrible and sound that makes me happy.



WATTLE AND DOUB

it was shabby chic
somewhere along Queen Street
winter 1967
looking for a massage parlor
or a jug of Johnny Walker
a neon sign flickered
Wattle and Doub
or was it Doubt
I limped in anyways
DOWN SOME WOODEN STAIRS
drunk
knotted muscles hurting
on bruise control
tripping
on some slimy octopus
entering some fringe festival of poets
Becky Strum writing thoughts of you
in her scholarly tome
Ginsberg with his jar of Johnny Walker
Kerouac with his pail of soup
we started to party
it was all good
except the horific swamp soup
so we danced all nite
sweet jazz
to Moe Kaufmann's Swinging Shepherd Blues
clearing the track for Eddie Shack


.....NOTE....Eddie "clear the track" Shack played for 1967 Leafs...his last year in Toronto and the LAST time LEAFS won Stanley Cup

LOVERS NEVER GET OLD

napowrimo#8...about lovers



LOVERS NEVER GET OLD

older
no focus
no mission
staring at each other
forgetting ourselves
who we are
who we were
unable to get off our chair
tears running down our cheeks
our inner being
never to be concealed
still in love

BEAUTIFUL NUN

napowrimo#7...a tanka about humor of love...or something



BEAUTIFUL NUN

shaved head
falling out of her robe
walking towards me
naked exceptionally beautiful
who doesn't desire me

HORIZONS

napowrimo#6 is inspired by my paintings


HORIZONS

my paintings explore the sacredness of place
influenced by serene prairie landscape
with the horizon a theme or metaphor
a point of stillness
reflecting back both top and bottom
some balanced energy
inviting more than describing
a tight sliver of line
where the sky meets the land
sometimes calm sometimes restless
an interplay between inner being
and physical outside world
the magnetic interval between these worlds
creating tension
between light and space
a placelessness between
the spiritual and material reality
always there

NELSON SMALL LEGS JR.

last nite I was lost in a film
a documentary
Nelson Small Legs Jr.
a martyr for his cause
residential schools
Mackenzie pipeline
abuse
native friends
dead drunk on cheap wine
shooting junk
staring at prison walls
searching for sunlight
new horizons

it is better to be sweating
in some sweat lodge
sauna near the creek
in the green forest
listening to the ravens
pow wow singing
chicken dancing
smoking peace pipes
with elders
carving better pictures
staring at cedar walls
beside the bouquet of love
with their horizons

LOOKING

napowrimo#4...using prompt inside out


LOOKING

when young I went out looking
for that elusive guitar
leaving but not knowing
of who I was
looking for the preacher outside
not seeing the spirit inside
just another suitcase
full of baggage
burning landslides
other points of view
when young looking to the outside
you belong to someone
now older looking inside
still looking for answers
belonging to me

FEAR AND HATING

napowrimo#3 for daily poem...prompt was fear or what scares you



FEAR AND HATING

a fear of travelling to some cemetery
in a long black limousine
with a group of assholes
who can't handle booze
Rush Limbaugh and the O'Reilly factor
crapping all over health care
as they nurse their rot gut
and broken souls
never confessisng to dirty hotel rooms
listening to Dr. Gonzo and Hunter Thompson
profoundly angry
arguing their shittrain of theories
about cue balls and circus people
suppressing their forest of fears
stress
violence
substance abuse
depression
insecurities of their minds
wondering what happened
to Oscar Acosta

RARE WITCH PROJECT

Using the acronym RWP


RARE WITCH PROJECT

she lived in a mysterious lair
in some spiraling mountain
frozen beyond time
her ugly face
always plastered in frown
never understanding
the laughter of Banjo and Kazooie
who lived in the flowers and meadows
with their beautiful sister Tooty
who she kidnapped because of jealousy
then she poisoned the water
cut down the flowers
turned the meadows into cemetries
tear up the gardens
Gruntilda was rotten to the core
jealous
who lied and cheated all her life
wanting the land and everyone
to be ugly as she

SHUFFLE DEMON

RWP napowrimo#1...using titles of 5 songs...at random....from my CD player
Title of songs are in CAPITALS

RIDE by Robert Earl Keen
BLUE UMBRELLA by John Prine
THE LAND OF PLENTY by Leonard Cohen
THAT DON'T MAKE IT JUNK by Leonard Cohen
TEN DAY POEM FOR SASKATCHEWAN by The Warped 45'S

SHUFFLE DEMON

dogs barked over the graveyard
everybody remaining silent
embracing the winds of change
lingering
unable to RIDE

watching the candles dim
burning in a new world
behind the door of lost chances
soaking
under some BLUE UMBRELLA

hearing the forces of yesterday
crying deep under the ground
beneath their swallowed burdens
digging
for THE LAND OF PLENTY

dumping dirt
on humpty and the dump trucks
driving down a prairie road
clunkin
but THAT DON'T MAKE IT JUNK

escaping the noisy mufflers
where the sounds of the shuffle demon
constantly change
writing
a TEN DAY POEM FOR SASKATCHEWAN