New poem: TEXAS RAIN AND ITS AFTERMATH

not there to see the playgrounds-turned-lakes

or hear the news stories of drowning

or of people hanging onto tree trunks

but all too aware of some people

who will experience extreme heat

plus days upon end of hard rain 

and they'll continue to say

it's not climate change

or global warming

but the Will of God

and it's never to be questioned

by mere Humans

people pounding right fists

into left hands

yelling DON'T TALK TO ME ABOUT SCIENCE

unchanging, unbending

as their certain world

becomes chaotic

New poem: DOG DAY IN THE VALLEY

it was the kind of day
where eggs could fry in the shade
as I looked for a parking place
on crowded Ventura Boulevard
where Parking Inspection cars prowled hard,
looking for every conceivable
standing-still violation
to make L.A. deficit ink turn pink
instead of blood red
at least there was a slight breeze
in Sherman Oaks
no such luck
when I came home
to Canoga Park