“If it sounds like writing, rewrite it.”— Elmore Leonard

10 AM




in full sun —



catbird

phoebe

hummingbird
(between the two)



on the telephone wire

as still as






It is now October and Bob Arnold hears the catbird hanging around, the phoebe gone, and the hummingbird is memory

QUESTIONS THAT ANSWER




INDOORS



Is it raining out?

Are the leaves moving?






OUTDOORS



Is it raining out?

Are you wet?





Bob Arnold says be practical — don’t answer the phone before answering the door.









RETURN TO THE EARTH



When the one I love drives away in the morning
I blow her a kiss


When I see the oriole fly from apple tree to maple tree
I love the world


Impending rain clouds darkening the hillside to the east
— that’s morning!


I have a bathroom with a rotted floor and all facilities in place
Get down to work


I have a bathroom that used to be an outhouse
Built over an earthen floor


The house is 220 years old, what did you expect?
Return to the earth


Friends write to me this morning from all over the world
We have come this far


But it is now raining
The oriole has gone hidden


I think of friends
Standing on earth






Bob Arnold says — It don’t mean a thing / if it ain’t got that friend (swing)