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

# # # #