Winter Nights at the Gym

Moon shines through thin, foggy clouds,
a bare limb wobbles in the wind.
darkness covers my squats, dead lifts, pull downs.
anonymity feels strangely satisfying, secure.
last of the winter nights at Plate City Gym.

Every Good Gift

Every Good Gift

She is one of God's good gifts,

She blesses the sons of men,

Fishers, boaters, gazers, poets,

A swimmer desires her greatly,

She loves him long time,

He yearns her soft embrace,

Who knows the joys they share?

211 - 213

211
Nature gives Him praise,
birds and leaves and trees and sky,
to those who will see

212
tree rat runs large limb
crossing into pecan tree,
Gardner grabs gun

213
coyotes run the ridge
hunting rabbits, deer, squirrel,
danger stalks all life

Leaf

I am a leaf blown across the road.
Having lost my green, I fell.
My body thinned and holes grew 
where the pavement scraped my sides.
I gather in a heap. Rain assaults me
and the sunlight that once gave me life
now contributes to my destruction.
Worms feed on my substance. They
pass me to the earth.

Loss at Chicot VI

I finally put my grief to rest
God gave me much and He knows best
For this big swim I paid a cost
The biggest price was cookies lost

At night I turned and moaned and tossed
For cookies gone for cookies lost
My broken heart my God did heal
And has restored my earthly zeal
To train, to strain, to swim, compete
And after victory my cookies eat.

My Love Doth Wake

Cypress tees are sentinels
  who tell their tales to God.
Angels sit on their knees,
  clouds drift and block moon rays.
Frogs speak an unknown tongue,
  she warms with the rising sun.
The lengthening days break her sleep,
  the challenger returns to her beauty.
She gives him great favor.

My Licit Lover Lies in State

My licit lover lies in state,

no tears fall from my eyes.

she shall rise,

she shall invite me again.

my heart grieves not,

my soul is sound.

she shall hold me, embrace me

we dance,

we spend a day in love.

On Ponds and My Return

I just found out that one of my student's dad is a fish farmer. Actually I knew already but forgot. He wrote about it in his initial in-class essay. Today we are doing our warm up writing about catfish ponds. He lit up like a Christmas tree at that topic so I began to query him about the size of his ponds. He said he has some twenty acre ponds. Cha ching!! I asked him if I could swim and he said, "Yes." Cha ching, cha ching, cha ching!!! I really have lots of ponds already, but it is always nice to have some backups. Most likely his are too far away because I think he lives around Belzoni. But who knows, I may drive down sometimes just for a change of pace.

I really like the pond I am swimming now because it is large and well off the beaten path. Since I am now taking the dogs with me, being secluded is a good thing in part because Pee Wee chases automobiles. I never had this problem before so I don't know how to cure it, but it's dangerous for him and I would be devastated if anything bad happened to the little fellow.

Recently, my current pond was restocked with fish and a lot of them. As small as they are now, mostly that is not a problem. I did, however, run into them one day last week. They were all piled up in one corner and I was literally pulling myself through a pile of fish. Yes, I got finned but not too badly. When I told David about it, he said that's how the hybrids are. 

HYBRIDS!?!?!?!? 

Hybrids are a cross between the channel cat and the blue cat. The farmers are going that way because hybrids are tougher, more disease resistant, feed more aggressively, and grow faster. That's good for them but bad for me. That means these fish are going to grow quickly and food like crazy and if I am in the pond when the feed trick  comes by, I will get torpedoed mercilessly by fish. It's happened before and is a bit unsettling at best. It also means it won't be long before the fish and I are competing for space. In short, In will need a new pond soon. 

Actually, David has already suggested a pond for me, D 10. I drove over there once and mistakenly swam D 11. Since D 10 is currently fish free and recently repaired (that means clean), it will be a good choice. The problem is all the D ponds are low right now. When I asked David about the low water, he said they have electrical lines to run to the paddle wheels and when they finish that all those ponds will be pumped up. Now to hurry up and wait.

Speaking of ponds, Wednesday I was presented with a dilemma. I had a choice to make because Wednesday is often one of my major weightlifting days. But with the weather so nice and the pond temps so high, the temptation to go swim was strong. I turned it this way and that way in my mind. Since Penny's dad was having heart surgery that day, I knew most likely we would be in Jackson Saturday thus knocking out my other main day to lift. I think the lifting is important, but given a choice swimming should win every time. I just did not want to lose an entire week of lifting.

But . . .

I went to the pond.

The dogs had a blast as usual. So did I. The pond had risen to 68, that perfect temp for me and wetsuit swimming. That is really warm enough to swim skins but at that temp I often still freeze out. So probably I will let the water hit 70 before I ditch the suit for the year. 

I made four full laps which is three miles plus, but my watch lost satellite reception once so it only showed 2.58 miles. Pee Wee, unlike Bear, made every lap with me. Seeing him up on the shore rolling and sniffing and smiling, sometime drinking really makes the swim more enjoyable. 

Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

My Licit Lover

My licit lover beckons with a wave, waves.
Like a happy hound she invites me closer. 
She laps my hands, caresses my shoulders, kisses my neck.
Her embrace soothes, energizes.
Drawing me inward she whispers,
"Stay with me and we will commune with God."
He rejoices over her like a young man,
His entrance gives pleasure.
They commune with God.

School Poem

Wrote in World Literature II class. It took thirty seconds.

Yeah.


Teacher's Burden

Glassy eyes and confused looks
compete with boredom, apathy, sleepiness
   comedy is dead
   truth unwelcome
   knowledge a foe
     feared, avoided, dreaded
School is in session
 the 
  seconds
   tick
    by.

2017

She rises from the mist, a stranger 
  new only in our minds
  full of promise, hope, uncertainty.
Resolutions are frolicking dogs
  hard running hounds
  soon to perish along life's roadways.
Good intentions are high-flying doves,
  character is the hunter's shotgun,
  the trapper's snare, the fisherman's hook.
God's grace is sufficient
  to those who trust and cling
    to those whose soul submits
      to those who softly sing.

Cat

A cat on the lap
is worth two in the bush,
and one on the bed
is worth three in the head.

Stopping by Pond on Autumn Day

Whose ponds these are I think I know.
His house is in Itta Bena though;
He will not spy me stopping here
To swim his catfish pond with cheer.

My training partner thinks it queer
To stop without a swim pool near
Between the ponds and soil of loam
Where only racoons come to roam.

He gives his phone a frown and look
As if to say I am mistook
The only other sights to see 
Are flights of ducks above the trees.

The ponds are pretty, dark and deep,
But I have training plans to keep,
And miles to swim before I sleep,
And miles to swim before I sleep.

Odes to Her

Ode to Her 1 

Lean arms reach, delicate fingers wave

She stares, beckons, flirts

Her soft surface covers secrets

A famous man lies in the depths

of her darkness,

An unknown man plied her lengths

He writes of her beauty

He sings over her with rejoicing.

Ode to Her 2

He rejoiceth over her with words

His camera captures her form

His eyes follow her comely lines.

Many pass her and never notice

the shapely hips

the long loins,

She waves and invites the strangers

She winks and smiles. Come to me

and I will give thee joy.

One man hears

He writes a date

He plans his return.

Tanka 1 and 2

Tanka 1: His Great-grandfather

He leaves home and runs
five days on the road he roams
stopping at a grave
his great-grandfather's tombstone
he kneels and cries at the sight


Tanka 2: A Worthy Walk

The day is clear, warm
We wait on friends then journey
to Ole Miss' campus
for DFM's Oxford walk
We fight one step at a time

A Poor Poem to a Rich Lake

Chicot is my swim
She also is God's large lake
I recline in her breasts
Safe in her embrace

Mistress

Her incomparable beauty is a testimony 
to the Creator of all.
Her long curves are shapely hips,
Her banks please the eye. 
Her belly makes my heart rejoice.
Her welcome arms embrace a journey 
of untold magnitude and joy. 

Enchanting Chicot

I slept on her shore and watched moon beams dance 

 on her surface like sun light plowing through a diamond.

Her deep waters harbor hordes of fish that swim

 under rows of endless piers.

She invites pleasure. 

Who can can refuse her beauty?