Jim Weber

II. I Wandered Through Fog

I wandered through fog today, thick-headed, 
Drooping, an unwatered plant,
Weary from having been shaken awake
By a fictitious riot that culminated
In a vicious murder by a rabid crowd,
Egged on by a soulless…

I Intended To Walk

I intended to walk this morning
In the clear, blue cold of winter,
To watch birds squabble,
Feel the wind chill my face,
And read from the book of life.
But on my way
I passed…

I Gaze Out

I gaze out the kitchen window
As I wash the lunch dishes,
Past the snaggle of branches,
Oak, pine, hackberry, and hickory,
All in their winter skeletons
Except for the hackberry
Which wears a robe of English…

Who I Am Talking To

I don’t know who I am talking to.
I imagine you to be someone
Who can read.
Well, that narrows it down a little.
And someone who would 
Read a poem.
Having culled out a…

A Box

I am building you a box
From the slats of an old swing,
One that hung on our porch
For a short time
After I rescued it 
From roadside abandonment,
Thinking it a treasure
To be cleaned up…

Night Mythology

Night mythology
Left over from someone else's youth
Who viewed this time of day
As the Rome toward which
All times lead,
The Christmas of the week 
When the presents of friendship or love
Waited to be unwrapped…

Drum Corps

A far away drum corps,
Muted by wind,
Uniformed in gray,
Beats in random cadence
All around me,
Speckling window panes
With moving prisms
That catch night lights
And spin them dancing 
To heavenly rhythms.

Reflection
1. How…

Not Half

Not half, but more than half,
A week away from a were's terror,
Lopsided of face,
Rolling up the night,
A silver tire, flattened on one side,
Cut, perhaps, by star shards
That sparkled light years ago
To…

In The Drizzle

Out into the misty night I will go
Because you asked,
Because you didn't want
To wet your hair in the drizzle,
Though you weren't planning to be seen
By anyone but me,
And I know you…

Broken Castle

Since boyhood 
I believed in you, trusted you,
Listening to your passionate prayers,
Your heartfelt singing,
Your delicate unfolding of truth's flower
As a gardener examines each petal,
As a lover explores his beloved,
And I saw in…

The Lion

I see the lion over the dome,
Flexed, crouched, ready to spring,
Jagged teeth and claws
Able to rip flesh from bone.
You, in your factless fantasy,
Thought he was there to destroy,
When he was actually there…

Napoleon

Napoleon crossed the Nieper
And claimed innocence.
He took city after Russian city,
Protesting that Alexander started it all.
His gargantuan need to be right,
To be unanswered, unopposed,
Placed his picture in the hall of shame
Where dictators…