Posted: September 4, 2024

Splakes Takes

labor day is over and there is now a cool feeling in the morning air.  today an early riser can almost close his eyes and imagine hearing frank sinatra’s voice singing about the falling leaves of red and gold.  with summer now quickly fading and the visiting tourists back home it is time to prepare for the coming upper peninsula season of long white.

last week i got my pickup truck winterized – with lube, oil change and check of the anti-freeze protection.  in a couple of days i shall call ‘rc mechanical’ and have my name placed on the winter furnace check list.

the passing summer time is a quiet period for the small press operations, however, i feel i have enjoyed modest success with my recent writing activities.

transcendent-zero press in houston, texas (editor dustin pickering) produced a new chapbook “beyond darkness.”  also, cyber-wit  press in allahabad, india (editor doctor agrawal) published a short poetry collection “one more once.”  in addition, shoe music press in lilburn, gerogia (editor gordon purkis) published a one-hundred-and-fifty-page hard cover book “slowly moving beyond heaven” with my haiku-style poetry.  plus, “bear creek haiku” in longmont, colorado (editor ayaz nielsen) recently provided ink and space to several splake poems.   finally the literary journal “trajectory” in frankfort, kentucky (editor chris helvey) had splake poems in the summer edition.

looking ahead to the coming days of enjoying the northern  keweennaw peninsula splendid autumn colors, i am planning to finish a new book length collection of splake poems titled “yooper haiku.”  the new book will be described in a future ‘splake’s takes” and i am hoping the future reader will gain a greater appreciation of god’s country in the michigan upper peninsula.

Posted: September 4, 2024

Bear Creek Haiku

heaven is right now
enjoying happiness of moment
wilderness music and  beauty

# # # #

doing serious literary research
alone with eyes close in wilderness
imagination running free in silence

# # # #

yooper ghost forest shadow
dancing in brown autumn leaves
gray sky shadow of winter

# # # #

early upper peninsula autumn
april blizzard storm turning
god’s country all over white

# # # #

Posted: September 4, 2024

Slowly Moving Toward Heaven

light breeze fanning campfire
bright flames rising in night shadows
lighting  poet’s creative dream

# # # #

quiet autumn forest breeze
pine needles soft humming
first breath of winter

# # # #

graybeard’s  spring poet tree visit
stopping twice to rest arthritic bones
prayer flag art cards poems waiting

# # # #

trout fishing with brautigan and splake
river moving slowly through forest shadows
enjoying silence without bait

# # # #

flames dancing in night shadows
wilderness ghosts hiding in darkness
poems growing out of hot embers

# # # #

Posted: September 4, 2024

One More Once

as simple as that

walking together on forest path
poet stopped and turned to speak
on brautigan perfect day

# # # #

wind blowing out

graybeard poet enjoying vintage years
still able to set up to home plate
grab pen and swing toward bleachers

# # # #

poem for daughter

lonely young woman
no longer believing in love
exciting magic of sex
marrying and raising family
college education answer
for finding satisfactory job
working at stop ‘n go market
needing to find new god
putting meaning in empty life
creating someone new

# # # #

Posted: September 4, 2024

Beyond Darkness

poem for brautigan

climbing cliffs together
breeze blowing her hair
moment stopping for light kiss
somewhere richard is smiling
graybeard poet’s perfect day

# # # #

dust unto dust

dark shadow hiking
down empty railroad bed
creosote wood ties
iron rails missing
ghost leaving footprints
in dry pine needles
carrying plastic grocery bag
with paperbacks and poems
echo of distant engine whistle
calumet central train
carrying load of ore
to torch lake stamping plant
graying poet image
like boom copper times
fading into wilderness
soon forgotten

# # # #

wannabe desires

moving past middle-aged
lifetime window shopper
always living in dreams
not buying sport car
powerful boss pickup truck
new motorcycle
sleek honda  or Harley
massive television set screen
from big box mart
taking long vacations
exotic tourist locations
hawaii alaska paris rome
getting designer jeans
shit kicking boots
fancy clothes store
entering barbershop
having styled haircut
driving past florist
not getting single rose
gift for lover
who doesn’t exist

# # # #

Posted: September 4, 2024

Trajectory

poet like spider

poet like spider
quietly weaving invisible web
collecting others lives

# # # #

mornings

morning facing broken mirror
surveying different personalities
choosing one for today

# # # #

education

spring college dropout
reeving draft notice
summer vietnam killer

# # # #

Posted: May 20, 2024

Paul Lehto

paul lehto
november 28, 1938 – februrary 1, 2023

# # # #

for paul

alas old calumet friend
“mining gazette” obituary
shocking surprise
casualty of big c
strong finnish sisu
no one knowing of illness
hoping omega house dope
easy passing
expecting to see you soon
catching up on business
discussing michigan football
fishing brautigan creek
brook trout lost
drinking coffee or whatever
telling new lies

# # #

Posted: May 20, 2024

Splake's Takes

     the most recent splake chapbook – “long white silence” – published by cyber-wit press in allahabad, india --- was dedicated to my close calumet, michigan friend paul lehto.  paul most definitely provided a new definition to sisu – the finish attitude of determination and courage in the face of great adversity.

     in addition to “long white silence” i had poems and photographs in the new UP READER, volume viii, produced by modern history press, in ann arbor, michigan.  there was also a poem in the latest edition of “glimpse” magazine, a clinton, new york small press publication.   finally, sixteen poems and several photographs were in the new issue of CLUTCH, the excellent literary journal produced by editor robert zoschke’s street corner  press in sister bay, wisconsin.

Posted: May 20, 2024

Long White Silence

artist heavy hitter
not bunting or using squeeze play
going for creative homerun

# # # # 

poet’s ashes floating in brautigan creek
pine needles humming in light breeze
dark shadow whispering not enough time

# # # # 

heaven is right here
joy of living for moment
enjoying perfect days

# # # # 

zen trout fishing wisdom
not just wading in water
becoming one with stream

# # # # 

before poet faces muse
abandon god mother sex and booze
then start writing

# # # # 

Posted: May 20, 2024

UP Reader (volume viii)

UP READER (volume viii) front cover photo

deer season opening day
pasties euchre leinenkugel farts
dreams of seventeen point buck

# # # # 

tranny-tripping early morning
battle creek city limits rearview mirror
steady hum of tires on highway
poet heading true north
crossing mackinaw bridge
returning to god’s country
solitary traveler
imagination in high gear
dreaming of brook trout beauty
campfire cold beers
owl’s warm evening welcome

# # # # 

carrying rod and reel
wicker fishing creel
flies attached to canvas hat
soaked in deep woods off
pleasant wilderness afternoon
beside brautigan creek
trophy rainbow dreams

# # # # 

early upper peninsula autumn
april blizzard storm turning
god’s country all over white

# # # # 

Posted: May 20, 2024

Freedom from Ourselves

freedom from ourselves

time for artists to forget
birthday of jesus
along with santa claus toys
his easter resurrection
hiding colored eggs
finding chocolate ribbits
also leaving  behind
memorial day veterans
july 4th holidays
time honoring nation
government history and power
waving american flag
red white and blue
for loss of young boy’s lives
eliminate  mother’s and father’s days
no longer respecting parents’
control over children’s lives
also important
turkeys pilgrims and pumpkins
thanksgiving celebrations
effectively camouflaging
brutal treatment of native people
today most of country
slaves of society’s ceremonies
living in false dreams
conforming out of habit
putting on good show
hiding dull emptiness
so important to break
with outside influences
artists becoming free
to step outside reality
embrace honesty to create
like prehistoric  painter
drawing pictures on cave walls
examining human behavior
accurately describing unknown

# # # # 

Posted: May 20, 2024

Clutch

no religious scriptures or church hymns
poet alone in wilderness shadows
where god no longer silent

# # # # 

staring deeply in fire
seeking secrets from flames
poems in hot embers

# # # # 

new instructions necessary
for making love and raising kids
need new doctor spock book

# # # # 

great american dream
computer car new clothes
strong cellphone signal

# # # # 

anal retentive weekend
washing and waxing car in driveway
later riding mower over lawn

# # # # 

after accumulating years 
of anxieties and frailties
now date myself by thunderstorms
exciting  loud thundering  explosions
slicing white lightning
happily eleven storms old and waiting

# # # # 

Posted: February 20, 2024

Splake's Takes

suddenly it is february all right and already.  while crossing out the calendar squares for this month the days always seen to quietly disappear.   so reflecting on the recent upper peninsula season of ‘long white’ the time for winter is quickly running out.  now looking ahead i am beginning to wonder if march will end like the proverbial lamb or lion.  however, measuring the unknown whatevers, ice out and coming into spring cannot be too far way.

regarding my literary publications since the last ‘splake’s takes,’ i have enjoyed modest creative success

street corner press editor robert zoschke has written and published “the splake summit,”--a third volume in his ‘the poet road series’.  “the splake summit” contains some of my recent poems, photographs of calumet and the northern keweenaw peninsula, plus the conversations between editor zoschke and myself.

in addition, i was extremely pleased to recently receive the book “yooper poetry” published by modern history press in ann arbor, michigan.  the book’s editor, raymond luczak, did a fantastic job of selecting the poems of several upper peninsula writers.  in short, i am still in awe over sharing ink and space in such an excellent publication,

plus in the last  two editions of ‘bear creek  haiku’ – issues 191 and 192 – i had a total of twenty-three poems published in daryl ayaz nielsen’s excellent literary journal.

also, cyber-wit press and editor doctor agrawal in india produced ‘behind the eight ball’ --  a new  chapbook collection of splake poems.  besides the writings in ‘behind the eight ball’ there are several poolroom photographs shot at luigi’s tavern in calumet, michigan.

finally looking to the future -- when i can successfully secure some rare rat bastard time -- a new splake chapbook “long white silence” is on the creative drawing board.  this publication will be dedicated to paul lehto, a close calumet friend who recently passed away.

Posted: February 20, 2024

The Splake Summit

mother apple pie american flag
daily praying to invisible god
obeying father husband minister

# # # # 

poet not knowing where he belongs
three rivers battle creek munsing calumet
finally discovering home in himself

# # # # 

religious truth believer
spending life embracing faith
hiding empty personality

# # # #

Posted: February 20, 2024

Summer Junkie

school out, dad busy earning next year’s 
buick, mother lost in eastern star, masonic 
politics, too old to play with neighbor girls,
i lost myself in sporting magazines, pages,
wrapped in endless ball game dreams, fantasies
always ending in victory,

distant time ago when two leagues and
sixteen teams, including the old st. louis
browns, Washington senators, era of baggy
pant uniforms, true ‘boys of summer” playing
the game for fun not dollars,

when obscure emil verban, .250 hitting
shortstop for the chiciago cubs felt lucky
to wear a jockstrap in the ‘bigs’ for a
few short seasons,

feeling part of a team, rooting for
mates to come through in the clutch, macho
game face not spoiling the few successes,

like the unrecognized poet, hoping for
a day with the wind blowing  out, feeling of
getting good wood on the ball.

# # # #

Posted: February 20, 2024

Yooper Poetry

untitled

deer season opening day
pasties poker leinenkugal farts
venison hanging in garage

# # # #

mosquito blackfly seasons
upper peninsula insurance policy
keeping civilization away

# # # #

alone in wilderness beauty
god far from other people
staring in my face

# # # #

sun casting haze over lake surface
mysterious shadows rising in morning mist
wilderness ghosts vanishing in forest

Posted: February 20, 2024

Bear Creek Haiku

graybeard poet too old
to climb new mountain summits
still alive in his dreams

# # # # 

beat poet ghost
white highway lines disappearing
running out of road

# # # # 

bottom line of creative art
is power of human heart
aching yearning loving

# # # # 

attaching poems to trees
like autumn leaves blown in wind
words scattered over the world

# # # # 

Posted: February 20, 2024

Behind the Eight ball

old cemetery below cliffs
names on grave stores worn away
lives long forgotten

# # # # 

fresh snowflakes melting in shaggy beard
standing bare-chested in winter blizzard
poet welcoming white out alberta clippers

# # # # 

climbing cliffs together
stopping moment for light kiss
brautigan and god smiling

# # # # 

poet seeking god
in poetry book pages
old rock and roll songs

# # # #