LOOKING DOWN
ON THE BOTTOM LINE

At age 78, Louie vowed to climb
"up my gully" in a "do or die"

final ascent, 9,415-foot elevation
transactions where money's useless.

More beautiful than diamonds
his High Country meant dreaming.

Unlike the executioner in Mr. Charlie's suite
who rarely accepts arguments

for sparing mountainous spines,
ancient trees, the clearest lakes.

In the law of supply and demand,
felling's obligatory and lumber gets

plundered because it's there
just for taking. Call it business.

Efficiently, quickly shipped to Japan
from American national forest.

Above cloud clusters, look back
on faces scarred by clear-cuts.


RAILROAD STREET GAMBLER

When I've been scoring
yard work horses you say I'm ready
for a gaudy escapade underneath the trailers.
Because she insists I'm not passing through
I've been exercising a big gun
even in the hushed Capitol Rotunda.
And that was it. On the other hand
he remembers my fondness
for hand-painted sushi and sake
so what will you give me
as an oddball toast screaming and crying
after playing a gold-screen impromptu?
It's true, I've been an inspired ginger etude
and once I'm dreadfully straight
you say I too easily turn into
a crisp and caramel souvenir of conception
but at least I'm not disintegrating
over any of them. In the end,
my wife stopped asking me to do it
before she left. Remember,
I'm not interchangeable until I've been lying.
No matter what, even when confronted,
you still won't find me mugging in the cellar.
Just don't forget to deal me in.

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