Now I will go in for a swim. Maybe a skinny dip. Early morning post mid-night swimming. The morning breeze and this silence and the stillness in the air are what is tempting me this morning. Making me bold. What was once called Liquid Courage is now pure passion. The planets are aligning and I am going to become a writer again. Here I go. I am diving in:

I ditched my Manhattan nine to five back in August of 2003 and packed my bags for Sunny St. Augustine Florida. During my ten year (almost to the day) of riding and writing – composing and computing – I crafted almost 500 poems, several short stories, a short film script, and half a novel. Ten years is a long time. Decade. Decayed. I no longer ride a train. I find it hard to write anywhere else besides on the train so I do "visual poems" such as acrostic ones - the kind with 26 lines that start with an "A" and end with a "Z". Living near the beach and working right at thebeach I find it hard to write angry angst prose when so much beauty surrounds me. I do not miss the New York City days (daze) of methadone addicts crapping in wastebaskets and bomb threats, and lost bets, and deep debts, and 80 hour work weeks. I do not miss a second of New York City but I do miss the angst that was my fuel – my muse. The City of St. Augustine Beach is filled with bikinis, and breath taking beauty. I cannot help but make beautiful art. It just has to begin somewhere. Begin again on a certain day. I will make it today during this early morning hour. Today I will make the plunge. Today is any day. Today is now. Today I will reach the beach. Outreach. From the beach I will journey into the ocean. Jump into the water like a New Years Eve polar bear. Bare my soul. Heal the soles of my two tired, twisted feet. I will not admit defeat. During this early morning hour I am once again a writer, simply because I am writing. Maybe just typing words of zero worth. Worthless words perhaps, but at least I am typing. This morning I am a writer because I am writing. Exciting. Creative spark igniting. Words flow from heart - to arm. Then fingers. Then to keyboard. Computer to internet; to your eyes and perhaps ending in your heart, head, or garbage can. Can you let me know what you think of my humble written words? Gentle kitten. Vindictive viper. Like rain water across the windshield wiper. Humor me and my modest rhyme. I am grateful for your time.

BIRTHDAY RANT 042707 AM

Friday the Twenty-Seventh is my birthday. The day that I was hatched. On that day I turned forty. A friend said that twenty and twenty seven are lucky numbers for both of us - her and I. To be honest, I need to tell her that Hitler was born on April 20th. That is why we had the 1999 ColumbineHigh School tragedy on the Twentieth of April. That is why it happened on the day that it happened. Does anyone else out there in outer space think the college kid from Virginia Tech snapped four daysahead of schedule? A few days before April 20th? Didn't he mention the two Columbine kids, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, by first name in his note or his manifesto? On the morning of my birthday on the twenty-seventh of April just before ten o'clock I saw a bird's nest in a Washingtonian palm tree that I was pruning. The nest had two cute little white eggs in it. The eggs were no bigger than playground marbles. The nest was a little less than four feet off the ground. Are we all eggs in a nest?Waiting to hatch? I hope that the two little white eggs don't get eaten by a rat, a neighborhood dog, or some other egg eating creature. If those two little eggs get eaten, then ... oh well. They are only eggs after all. Life waiting to hatch or become some beach creature's morning meal. No big deal. ###

FLORIDA GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEE RANT

I will go in to city hall on Monday and work for 8 hours to complete my assignment that is due at 4 PM every Tuesday. One day, I will craft and develop a professional data base to efficiently store, report, and analyze the data that I collect each week. But until then I am unfortunately taking twice as much time by typing up all my data into Excel, then sorting the report, and then printing it out using the "set print" function. The data has to be presented to our Public Works Department each Tuesday at 4 PM. They need the statistics so that they can assign work crews for the next day. This is my second career. My attempt at an easy Florida lifestyle. A seemingly simple job. I will do whatever they want and silently pray that City Hall does not take my job away from me. My probation was extended from the normal six months for a promotion to another additional six months. All eyes and ears are on me for a few more months. About four more. Until August. My poetry anthology will be ready to go to the printers in mid July. So working on the anthology should keep my mind focused on each new day. I will be full vested in the Florida Retirement Program ­also known as the FRS Pension Plan - in 4 years and one month. You get it after 6 years of City or County employment. Wish me luck.

FOLLOW THE SUNRISE

The rising sun
                 Is a source of inspiration
                 During senseless nights
                 And meaningless mornings
Inspiration              
                 During the permanent parade
                 Of redundant work weeks
If the sun can rise each day,
                 Then I can certainly
                  Force open my tired eyes and rise
My will is strong
Sunrise,
                  Do not prove me wrong
Please find the strength to rise
If you rise, I will follow