just as the rain starts
I move into the garage
van life in spring time
/ / /
2 May 2021
Farmington NY
Category: Nature
deck chair flips over
ripped plastic waves like a flag
April roaring out
///
1 May 2021
Farmington NY
wild
you say “we” as if we’re there with you
over low hills or along steep gorges
but really you’re there alone
striking out into the wild world outside
& the wilder one in
you’ve proven you can climb a mountain
or slip through one of those weird British gates
the true feat is to step inside the darkness
& emerge through the tears that fall
more powerfully than any Alpine chute
no pair of boots is sturdy enough for that journey
& yet you make it repeatedly for our sake and yours
we follow your hat & the sound of your walking stick
& emerge into the dawn of our own adventures
/ / /
25 April 2021
State College PA
for Abbie Barnes
a tufted titmouse
tries to get our attention
evening leaves rustle
Going Over San Augustin Pass
there’s a moment as the highway curves
when it looks like you’ll disappear
off the end of the Earth
lost in a pale blue sky from which
there is no returning
in the next moment you’re over the pass
spreading out before you is a basin so large
it’s as if the ground and sky switched places
far off in the distance
the pastel shadows of mountains
like an artist’s rendering
/ / /
26 February 2021
near Las Cruces, New Mexico
redwoods
as high as a football field is long
unlike the field they have no goal
a perfect example of practice
///
10 February 2021
Lady Bird Johnson Grove
Humboldt County, CA
February night —
like static between stations:
the waves in the cove
///
7 February 2021
south of Mendocino CA
Salton Sea Serenade
unknown birds sing a
Salton Sea serenade
as I squish my Crocs
through unexpected mud
later I’ll wash it off
but just for a moment
— right now —
this beach and I are one
Mardi Gras Mambo Renge Kyo!
///
24 January 2021
Niland CA
Thanks to Jim Macnie for the last line.
Leave a Commentsunshine, wild horses
“you’ll for sure poop in your van”
: Ironwood Forest
/ / /
16 January 2021
Ironwood Forest National Monument
Arizona
January sun
wild birds call in the distance
on a rock in space
/ / /
15 January 2021
Ironwood Forest National Monument
Arizona
warm tea inside me:
“Let’s all go to Narnia!”
(rain drums on the roof)
/ / /
24 December 2020
State College PA
I’m watching New Girl,
trying not to think of you;
snow on frozen ground
/ / /
Jason Crane
20 December 2020
Farmington NY
100 seconds
jumpin jack flash
gimme that frackin gas
horse shoes & hand grenades
as the men in my family used to say
nobody plays horse shoes anymore
but we still chuck them bombs
are we on foot or horseback?
sneakers laced or boots strapped?
pull me up I’m sinking
like the old cartoons with one, two,
three fingers in the air
all I can say is we gotta be there by now
with the clock at 100 seconds
& just time for one more drink
/ / /
Jason Crane
18 February 2020
State College PA
Lederer Park
I walk a circular path among the oaks,
listening to the news of the world.
Not to brag, but I’m quite skilled
at going in circles. In fact it may be
the only pursuit to which I’ve devoted
ten thousand hours. You’d be forgiven
for thinking it’s repetitive, for focusing
on the sameness. But just like
Heraclitus’s river, the path changes
with each go-round, as do I.
There are several clearly marked exits
from the circle. Some days I take one,
some days another. Sometimes there’s a dog.
/ / /
Jason Crane
26 December 2019
State College, PA
Walnut Spring
it’s a black gravel path
through a lovely wood
why does it remind me
of an oil spill?
could be the sound of a plane
overhead or
the distant artificial surf
of the interstate
even what we try to protect
we end up destroying
we can’t preserve an island of forest
in an ocean of asphalt
perhaps what’s needed at first
is more destruction
fewer cute wooden bridges over
barely flowing streams
more horizons lit by the fires
of burning cities
one acre of wetland can store
a million gallons of water
how many bottles is that?
///
Jason Crane
23 October 2019
State College PA