sitting here feeling like a used car
one part after the other failing me
the aroma of fresh brewing coffee
wakes my brain cells
the drought laughs at the masses
teases them with a light drizzle
picture of an old lover stares at me
from its place on the mantle
her smile warm as the campfire
I sat around as a child
my room a dust garden
my hamstring pull refuses to address
the promised golden years drown
in quicksand
Israel and Palestine engaged in endless war
Putin playing death games in Moscow
proof the cave man still lives inside us
fields toiled by immigrants
now treated like criminals
the elderly a liability
the young puppets in a political game
poets once warriors on skateboards
now prisoners of pride and envy
I take refuge in the soft raindrops
the peace of solitude rides my veins
like a steamship treading calm waters
the garden of my mind is still green
poems wait to be planted in fertile soil
no drought can kill
A.D. Winans is an award winning San Francisco poet and writer. His work has appeared internationally and has been translated into 8 languages. He edited and published Second Coming Press from 1972-1989. In 2006 he won a PEN National Josephine Miles Award for excellence in literature. In 2009 PEN Oakland presented him with a Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2009 he was presented with a Kathy Acker award in poetry and publishing.
