ship jumping

For Jovie, On Your Third Birthday

2011-05-04T21:37:00.002-05:00

walking behind You down the hallway
and i am amazed that You exist,

and i am amazed
that the years we use to mark the time of You
is to You, nothing.

(the mention of presents sent you searching
for a tree to shake them under
and for the bearded man you heard
while you were bathing in december.)

i listen to you call from your bed for your mother
and i am amazed that a heart is multiplied by division,
that in creating You we were recreating us....

Let's Sneak One In For 2010

2010-12-24T19:33:00.001-06:00

and go!

shifty

Push it Down

2009-09-14T13:33:00.002-05:00

The ordering of my life that is. A two year absence in the physical world is so much more...physical.

Dates on a page, spaced apart by inches, Inches that convey so little. Inches as a measure of time. How many of these incomplete sentences will it take to cover the span of my life?

Here day, grey day and the window merely frames it.

shifty

I Didn't Say It First

2007-11-06T19:28:00.000-06:00

but, there is no new thing under the sun

also i have been writing country music
(more accurately, lyrics and melodies)
about honky tonk vampires, shotgun weddings,
and jumping off bridges. i like them.

chris h

Plato's Forms

2007-08-15T14:42:00.000-05:00

when i was a child
and we visited my grandmother
in the summer
it thunderstormed everytime.
i and my cousins slept
on the living room floor.
the lightning flashing
lit up the tree frogs
clinging to the window.
their shadows swallowed the room.

chris h

Still Alive

2007-07-25T00:09:00.001-05:00

but nothing to say

chris h

This is an Old Poem I Found

2007-07-09T01:40:00.000-05:00

i wrote this in the hot summer once...

At dawn the Calcasieu ferry goes
from nowhere to nowhere,
The road before and after
dotted with rotting black alligators.
marsh on the left, sea on the right,
from Cameron to New Orleans.

The mist is full of ghosts.
It seeps stinking from the brackish water,
wavering at daybreak
between the marshes and the gulf
before calmly marching south
across the motionless sea.

eehhhhh, i'm not near as impressed as i was
maybe you are

chris h

The Date is Wrong in My Moleskine

2007-07-05T00:33:00.001-05:00

.

it should be 6.26.07

chris h

Without Trying to Sound British

2007-07-02T13:17:00.000-05:00

about...well it doesn't really matter
how many years ago, but i made a concious decision
to spell grey with an "e" whenever possible.

it seems softer somehow, closer to what a
cloud line really is on the color spectrum,
snow in the dark, dusk reflected in water,
the jumbled weeks between arkansas fall and winter,
the grains between black and white in every pretechnicolor movie.

gray, it cuts and slashes, too metallic,
there's no mystery in the letter "a"
no love...

chris h

Are You Serious

2007-06-27T22:45:00.000-05:00

on thursday the 28th
i will celebrate my two year anniversary
it's been (and continues to be) a good run

but

sometimes at night i wake up and think
"whose leg is flung over my body...ahh i'm married"
(i relate that story in the best light)

here's to two more years

chris h

Just a Thought

2007-06-25T10:47:00.000-05:00

that Frost's A Line-Storm Song
and Tolkien's Tale of the Entwives
are remarkably similiar
in tone, feel, and sentiment.

do a little work, read the two of them
and continue my thesis in the comment section

chris h

No, it's Iowa

2007-06-21T14:49:00.000-05:00

i'm back in america
(with everything that goes with it)
if you want to hear about canada
call me and i will be happy to tell you about it.

someone asked me my 5 favorite movies
here they are in no particular order

Harvey
favorite actor James Stewart and an imaginary(?) 6 foot tall rabbit named Harvey. there are a few movie characters that i wish i could be, elwood dowd is one of them. the first time i watched it i thought it was very odd, the second time (and every time since) i thought it was beautiful. i cry a little every time. i love it for many reasons, not the least of which is because of who introduced it to me.

"The names Dowd, Elwood P., here's my card."

The Natural
in jr. english i wrote a paper comparing this movie to the classical epic quest. who doesn't love a larger than life story of redemption about america's pastime. every time the lights start popping at the end and the music plays, i stand up and run the bases with Robert Redford (another favorite actor). also, everytime i have a bat in my hands i am swinging for the lights.

"And then when I walked down the street people would've looked and they would've said there goes Roy Hobbs, the best there ever was in this game."

Holiday Inn
oldest on the list (1942). concocted by irving berlin (some would say primarily to feature his new song "White Christmas," which won the oscar for original song) this is my go to holiday movie. starring bing crosby, fred astaire (two more favorites, check out bing in The Bells of St. Mary's) and marjorie reynolds, this movie has it all. singing, dancing, every holiday under the sun, love lost, love found, and general all around holiday feel good. watch it for any holiday or any time you're feeling down.

"I'll capture her heart singing...

Wait til she get's a load of my dancing."

Band of Brothers
ok so it's a miniseries not a movie but if you watch them all together it's like a ten hour marathon movie (which i've done once and attempted three other times). amazing yet true story following a company of soldiers (easy company, US Army 101st Airborne division) from d-day through the end of the war. heroism, comradery, testosterone, making the world safe for democracy, it's hard to be male and not love this (but there are also about 5 places where i lose it). spielberg and hanks take a bunch of actors you've rarely heard of and eight different directors for ten episodes and produce the greatest wwII epic ever. the cinematography is excellent (think spielberg's Saving Private Ryan) and a character unto itself. while the basic neutral graininess is continued throughout, different directors take different approaches regarding first and third person camera work, steadicam and track etc. no one will ever truly capture war firsthand but this can't be a far stretch.

"We're paratroopers, Lieutenant, we're supposed to be surrounded."

ok so all i had in me was 4 so how bout a list of honorable mentions
Hoosiers "Four passes!"

Field of Dreams (i'm a sucker for three sports movies and this is the third) "Is this Heaven?"

The Life Aquatic (is it unacceptable to be our age and not love wes anderson) "You might be on "B" Squad, But you're the "B" Squad leader."

A Bridge too Far (honorable mention war movie, with gene hackman, robert redford, sean connery, laurence olivier, james caan, michael caine, anthony hopkins, others) "Hail Mary, full of Grace..."

there are others but i am tired of this game

which ones have you seen, what are your favorites

chris h

That Weather Change Feeling

2007-06-12T16:30:00.001-05:00

spent the weekend in nashville
and had a lovely time. lots of
wonderful friends (new and old) in one place.

everyone loved us, and no one loved our music.
(which was one of many sobering realizations had this weekend)
danced until i slept on the dance floor.

and driving home feeling ways i didn't
know i could feel anymore.
(and as much as i hated it i loved it)

will be in canada the 13th-19th
no phone, no internet, not much at all.
(a pen and paper, a rod and reel)

i love you all

chris h

also i pray for you that
there is more on ov ct than
whiskey and dead ends

In These Things God Reminds Us

2007-06-04T23:26:00.000-05:00

the summer road
and in every next rise
a false black drip slides
(down the contour and away)

chris h

I Killed My Layout

2007-05-30T19:23:00.000-05:00

i know all (4) of you come here
for the layout.
you probably noticed it died.
(it was an accident, i swear. my fault but an accident)
thanks johnny, it was nice while it lasted.

chris h

In Unrelated News

2007-05-25T14:53:00.001-05:00

i struggle with the telling
(of anything really)

starting and
stopping

and coming round again to say the same thing over in another way
re-wording it (repeating it)

i see the words of others
the (often lovely, sometimes beautiful) explanations
of their paths through time and space
(and their existence outside of the aforementioned)

wishing to emulate i only plod
the circles of repetition

so i've given up
resigned myself to the idea
of being one only responsible
for calling attention
(to situation, irony, pitch, or detail)

and trusting that the light (slant) i cast
will serve my purpose
that the hearer of the word
will look through the same lens
as the speaker

now for the unrelated

i bought myself a fountain pen and it has brought me great joy in the short time i've had it. the few of you who read this are all like me in that we are all old men inside-whether it be scotch, cigars, pipes, etc. i bought one for johnny as a memento of his time in america. i tell you this for no other reason than to encourage all of you to join me in this, my newest found joy.

chris h

I've Gotten to the Point

2007-05-18T12:39:00.000-05:00

that i feel comfortable with:

no capitalization
stylistic influences
alcohol
marriage
mayflower
male pattern baldness
friends in africa
multi-hued personality
selfdeprecation
work
grammatical correctness
joel winters
arkansas heat
never being the next joe dimaggio
this blog
etc.

chris h

There is no New Thing Under the Sun

2007-05-13T19:34:00.000-05:00

i'm not one to post someone else's feelings verbatim
but i come back to this poem time and again.
and i apologize if i butchered the typography

The Apple Tree in November Twilight can Sleep Now

her journey over for a season

(she did not seem to be moving, but she was).

With her humming with bees I followed her all the way.

First the girl averting her gaze, ashamed,

then her infatuation in April and the shawl of blossoms,

ceremony of her long silence after three days of rain.

I remember the dignity of her deliberations,

how she shook day after day when the downpour

insinuated perfect beauty was a waste.

How she appeared in profile, transfiguring light and shade.

Then the sudden coming together under cover of night,

which I missed (but imagine against her wishes),

withdrawal into contemplation, a windless shape-blameless.

The worry. And her giving birth.

And the pride she surely took in holding on

whisperings untranslatable to the visitor in his leather jacket

who stared up at her. What have you loved?

Where are the words for what you have done so skillfully?

I have learned purpose and endured.

--Dennis Sampson

believing that He who has begun a good work
will be faithful to complete it, in spite of me. amen.

chris h

This is the Hope We Have

2007-05-08T09:39:00.000-05:00

i have marked myself in the manner
of others who also believe

chris h

My Question to You is This

2007-04-22T19:40:00.000-05:00

what love is there in not trying?

chris h

One Day I Will Own a Bumper Sticker Business

2007-04-18T21:41:00.000-05:00

and my first sticker will say

When I Get Stuck It Will Be In The Ruts Of Hell

also when i am an evangelist i will
use a variation of this theme
in most of my altar calls

i have decided to follow Jesus

chris h

Our Nation Turns its Lonely Eyes to You; or In this Precious Game is the Promise of Our Redemption

2007-04-16T21:49:00.000-05:00

baseball season has started.
already there are blemishes
on every team's record.

but there is still hope.
september, that cruel month
of separation is still a hot summer away.

chris h

April Showers

2007-04-09T16:12:00.000-05:00

it's cold outside
and so is my heart
(a bold statement
for anyone to make)

or so i like to think...that hearts
can be cold or hot. not that my
synapses and endorphins are merely at odds
with one another.
(or their respective yangs )

chris h

Exponential Decay

2007-04-02T15:00:00.000-05:00

i don't know what it means
(and don't want to)

but

overhearing that term
in a classroom today

was for me
the closest math ever came to poetry

chris h

also excuse my gratuitous stanza breaks for meter and rhyme
(and my calling attention to the aforementioned)

Today and Now

2007-03-23T09:17:00.000-06:00

i am inspired (by jealousy?)
to post again after reading mr. s.
but again i have nothing to say,
i find it a theme, having nothing,
and wonder if commenting on having
nothing to say is in truth having something to say.

chris h

It's 2007

2007-01-22T18:41:00.000-06:00

all year long

shifty

Happy New Year

2006-12-27T12:30:00.000-06:00

i was born in 1984
my father in 1957
his father in 1926
his father in 1903

it is 2007 and all those years seem equidistant

shifty

the swell of music, the swell of water

2006-12-05T18:47:00.001-06:00

my locks are shorn
my strength is gone

shifty

generations

2006-11-20T19:57:00.000-06:00

the weather is cold now. i went duck hunting with my dad and my peepaw. he smiled alot and kept mentioning good memories. also he had so many clothes on he said he felt like a teddy bear.

shifty

life is love is life

2006-11-12T19:11:00.000-06:00

no deer to be killed
face rapped off
all i can post is partial lists

shifty

sometimes absence is nice

2006-11-01T17:20:00.000-06:00

the leaves have changed
i have been to south dakota and watched a blizzard blow in
ducks are flying
halloween is over
futuro boots show soon
cayla's birthday soon (nov 9th, she will be 24)
thanksgiving
i have glitter on my hands from the soap in our bathroom
also they smell like blackberries or something

in five years i will be my father's age at my birth

shifty

the great pumpkin

2006-10-13T09:08:00.001-05:00

there was frost in the low spots this morning
so keep 'er between the ditches

sitting on the front porch of my house last night
the cap'n asked me, "where is the center of the town of Mayflower?"
i told him, "you're sitting in it."

then we walked to the post office sans lighter

shifty

suds and smoke

2006-10-11T17:09:00.000-05:00

i like to think that suds and smokes make my life better
that those things make a decent substitute or replacement
for love and creativity...

i'm at a time in my life where i can't really express
to anyone, including myself, how i really feel.

i can't finish thoughts

shifty

thank you moon

2006-09-27T14:07:00.000-05:00

your slow death and resurrection
your monthly wink goodnight

shifty

shapes

2006-09-20T10:22:00.000-05:00

last night in arkadelphia i watched lots of moments
in my life, time and place, friends and relations, then and now.

it's funny how the mind triggers certain things, like squirelling
away a bottle of old tennis shoes in the back of thrio's with
good friends...and the mind misplaces others, like dancing on a
school bus in the rain.

vernacular calls life a circle, i have friends who call it
a triangle. i think a triangle is closer to the truth; one that
is drawn with those battery powered squiggle pens from grade school.

shifty

the sun sets in the west, or how my mother revealed to me the origins of rainbows and the moment seemed beautiful and not sappy

2006-09-14T17:42:00.000-05:00

mom, the sun has really faded all the dustjackets
on the books in this case. and the fabric on this chair.
i always wonder where the color goes when the sun fades it.

it goes to make rainbows.

shifty

and this is the hope we have

2006-09-05T14:22:00.000-05:00

that Christ died, was buried, and rose again
the third day according to the Scriptures.

i have a wife, a job, a home,
what need do i have for
Faith and Grace and Redemption?

all the more as we see the day approaching.

pray for us sinners, now and in the
hour of our death, Amen.

shifty

i call myself

2006-08-30T18:00:00.000-05:00

i saved poems i wrote on another computer
now i can't find them again, maybe if i went through
the last 2 and a half years of my xanga site, maybe if
my adoring fans would send me copies they saved on their
computers.

also i think i will sign my posts and comments here as

shifty

editorials killed the radio star

2006-08-30T17:40:00.000-05:00

if my typography or italics drives you crazy i apologize, it is only meant to group my thoughts.

when hurricanes or tornadoes or tsunamis or wars or...
come along and do the things that they do,
then in turn, people come along and do the things that they do.

and the newspapers write about all of the things that get done.
bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, and good things that people do.
bad gets the most attention, but good gets some.

when good gets the attention that it gets, it gets it like this,
"the inherent goodness of humanity", "the basic desire of people to do good",
"the human spirit shines through", "insert editorial hyperbole here".

i think that lessens people.

people do bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, and good things.
they do the bad things because they are bad. they do the good things
in spite of being bad. that makes the good things all the more good.

i think

chris h

hardwood floors

2006-08-15T17:00:00.000-05:00

my wife and i have been looking for a house to live in
i (she does too) like old houses
i grew up in one, maybe that's why,
or maybe because they are old, and i am not

chris h

ships and tacks and ceiling wax

2006-08-07T12:43:00.000-05:00

the capt. told me to jump ship
i asked how high
this bone is a complex fracture
(the most beautiful kind of break)

but still

chris h