Sunday, May 30, 2010

Gillian Welch, David Rawlings we love you


She went back to Wichita
She went back to he Ma and Pa
Reckon I saw her next to my truck
Pumpin' gas with her car packed up
And we talked as neighbours will
There waitin' for the tank to fill
Well talk about nothing or how it might snow
And how far she had to go

Goin' back where the grass grows tall
And the fields burn in the fall
Well you could still hear the night bird call
Back in Wichita

She came here in eighty-five
She came here as a July bride
But it never got easy, never got rich
Now she ain't got much of what she came here with
The good times they've all been spent
She ain't broken but she's badly bent
Now there's nothin' she wants here, nothin' that shines
She's made up her mind

CHORUS

She says For all my time well I ain't got much to show
And you could tell that man of mine and
anyone who wants to know . . .

CHORUS

Saturday, May 29, 2010


a list for monkeys:
after yawning, jubilant fruit parade and dawning
wanderers
star kites
root of moss in conversation
warm quiet soil, limited space
i will lie down now

Friday, May 28, 2010


take a train into roy orbisons brain
guitar strings, cowboy boots with wings
combs, bombshells, whistles and bells

a tapping foot grows larger and larger
until your ear melts into a bowl of tea
with caramels and fresh grass
hills bicycles and crash

being carried home by your father

Thursday, May 27, 2010


one day someone showed me a long awaited miracle
they showed me how to hold down a garlic
and smack it with the flat side of a big knife

i watched the flimsy skin shell fall away with ease

after years of struggling to grab at the fine covering of a clove

i was taught the gift of freeing up the garlic

if garlic were a girl i would take her on a swing with me
up up up into
the weightless blue momentary

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Mr. Ali Zaoua- Shoukran bazzef!



wildfires and lemon
forged plastic hearts
don't worry it only pinches for a moment.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Back for an encore - Mr. Ali Zaoua



This red coloured wine comes in thin green plastic bottles...

wine

pickles

plastic

windows

- 1680 松尾 芭蕉

Monday, May 24, 2010

Farewell my friends, Farewell my anemonies - Mr.Ali Zaoua


Today I threw the dog in the ocean...

She likes Slim Jim meat stick so much, she scratched my arm and jumped all over me and her eyes rolled back in her head like the great white shark when it attacks the scantily clad women in the movies...

I just bought some onions for a fish stew at the corner store and got the meat stick for the dog...

She tore it out of my hand, but I somehow was able to save a 5 inch section of the 13.5 inch overall length...

We went to the beach and romped...

Then we walked to the pier and I had the idea to tease her with the 5 incher and then toss it into the water so she would jump in and go for a swim...

Someone at work last week complained that she was smelly, so I thought she could use a bath...

But it sank...meat sticks don't float I guess...

So I threw her in and she swam to the shore...picking up a floating stick on the way...

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Mr. Ali Zaoua - Day 7



My Elders...

They knew what it was all about...

Way back when...

Unfortunately, I can't read their handwriting...kind of scribbly

My neighbour Gabriel, a hard jamming musician type, was at his girlfriend's house last night and when he woke up this morning and went down to his little red car, found the rear window smashed in completely...

Nothing stolen, seemingly random...

It rained pretty hard today and he had scraps of plastic duct taped to cover the hole...

When he told me the story I remembered I had an unused tarp that would work much better and offered it to him, I knew it would come in handy someday...

The dishwashing machine is playing that old Amy Denio chestnut again...the karaoke version...

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Mr. Ali Zaoua - Day 6



Sometimes things just fall right into your lap...

I'm so thankful that so many things have just fallen right into my lap...

I'm talking about the good things...

My magic magnetic lap...

Thanks lap!

Friday, May 21, 2010

Mr. Ali Zaoua - Day 5




My Dad is a good man.

Like others, there are imperfections.

He taught me a lot, by example as well as directly.

A list:

He uses tools.
I use tools.

He smokes.
I don't.

He likes a dark abode.
I like a dark abode.

As I grow older, I recognize more and more, the things he showed me and how I have learned to use that knowledge and how I have been blessed by it.

Thanks Dad.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Mr. Ali Zaoua - Day 4


My Wife says my jeans are highwater style or "floods"....

I never noticed this...

In fact, I often have to cut the ends off of new ones to what I think is an appropriate length...

I never knew how wrong I was...

We were visiting our usual spots in Ballard one day and I found a nifty pair of Seafarer bell bottoms that I tried on for a lark, to make her laugh really...

When I was a kid I thought they were pretty dumb...

But, they fit my curves quite surprisingly well and I had to get them...

I wear them a lot now...I even looked for a "backup" pair...

I rode my bicycle down there recently and stopped in the same place I got the Seafarers...

What luck, I found two other versions of bell bottoms with even better fit and looks!

Do yourself a favour, some advice from Mr. Ali Zaoua: go and get yourself some wide flaring bell bottoms...they will make your life better!

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Mr. Ali Zaoua - Day 3


Whipped cream piled high on a large bowl of tapioca pudding...

With a couple of maraschino cherries on top...

Provided with a big smile by Kiki and/or Stella at the Early World on San Vicente in Brentwood...

When I was a kid we would visit my grandfather "Granpa Andy" on the weekends and have breakfast there...

There was a parade every year and he would drive his Lincoln Continental in it with us kids in the back...there were horses and other stuff...

Kiki & Stella...

I'll never forget those two ladies...even though i can't remember exactly what they looked like...

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Mr. Ali Zaoua - Day 2


This is the leader of my people, wearing a suit.

I am grateful for the leadership and benevolence of our dear leader.

Offerings of fine cheese and fancy olives are always welcomed by our leader.

Offerings may be sent to this address, addressed to "Our Dear Leader":

9755 King George Boulevard
Surrey BC V3T 5E6
Canada

Monday, May 17, 2010

Introducing Guest Blogger: Mr. Ali Zaoua


I am grateful for my old JVC XL-P90.

She was squarish and flat and had very good sound.

She had flat batteries as well, shaped like a stick of gum.

There was also a docking station with a little remote control.

I miss her, she was my first portable CD player and we had good times together.

I don't know where she went, but I hope she is doing ok.

Sometimes late at night I still think of her.

She didn't last very long on batteries.

She had a sleek faux leather coat.

I liked to listen to her a lot.

I wish she were still here,

with me.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

this plus gypsy movies makes for a farout time


garlic sexy prawns:

1lb raw shrimp
1/4 cup butter
2tbsp lemon juice
1tsp parsley
1tsp chives
3/4tsp seasoned salt
3 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp tarragon leaves
1/8 cayenne

shell and devein shrimp. melt butter in skillet; add lemon juice and seasonings. saute shrimp in hot herb butter over medium heat 8 minutes or until pink, turning once. serve hot!

Friday, May 14, 2010

honeysuckler


started a two week dream journal
woke up and scribbled onto the paper

we are working together
in the same building
but have different jobs


and

chocolate, coffee, cinnamon
swirling in a rectangular bowl
the coffee is too weak
should i serve it to him?


This morning I swung my legs out of bed
and was facing the mirror
long messy hair
a face
the thought:
thank you for another day of life

Wednesday, May 12, 2010


my love is on a road
riding a bicycle

tulips
wind
rush past his ears and
eyelids

i wonder about his thoughts:
drums?

pink wine?

the color of the grass?

my heart stretches out to him from here...

Tuesday, May 11, 2010


meatballs are fun to make
beef pork breadcrumbs and egg
allspice salt pepper
and other stuff too.
they don't seem very healthy
but they are balls
small
and somehow fun
to eat

moving on...

i broke through a spider web on the way up the stairs
i said
"hey! do you mind, this is the way to my house..."
how silly of me.

it's all
all of our house
one big room
that goes on and on

hey wheres the television?

one day i am going to die
and i appreciate when
i remember this

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Friday, May 7, 2010

Thursday, May 6, 2010

i'm one of those people who get everything they want


shadows shaped like cats
mothers
bad homemade cards
soil, bluebird babies being eaten by a black cat
loading my car up with plants

thank you body
body that can carry heavy bags of soil
two at a time upwards
step after step after steep step
times five

look down
do you have hands?
i do
and i am grateful for them
i can feed myself
i can touch my lover

what would life be like for me to not have hands
after having them for so long?
i do love my hands and am grateful to have them around.

yesterday i spent a few hours in paradise
i strung tiny dry white flower puff things
onto a blade of grass
this is where the idea of beads came from
a passage for thread to move through
or a fine stem of grass

everything i look at is so alive

that which we call an arbutus
pulsates in the bright blue space
i seem to understand right now
and i am rapt by its presence

i could go on and on and on
trying to name it
staying still and watching it unfold seems to work

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

i am walking down a road
and the baby eagles swing past in the wind
the sun still sets
each little white daisy closes in on itself for the eve

puffy dandelion balls glow in the bright grass

the dogs legs are wet and muddy
a grey cloud cries on me
and my book

more eagles talk from the tree tops
and the couple next to me make out in their car

bikes
waves
a puffy rainbow schmoosh lingers over the lions gate bridge

how come not?
just because.

Sunday, May 2, 2010


i feel good
i am happy
thanks dog for that.

today i will pretend i am a person that people are drawn in to touch
and when they are near to me
i will bow to them and smile.