Five Seabeck Poems

by Scott T. Starbuck

Listening to Fireworks Near the 2014 FOR Seabeck Conference

The real work
is daily practice
in order to be
of greater service.

Skies are filled
with vibrant explosions,
ooohs and ahhhs
while the truth

like a cedar raven
waits and speaks
at the in-between
silences.

Wrecking Ball Dream

Without warning
half the roof is gone

but poker players
are drunk on winning.

Even when one is hit
and drops

the game continues
until another is gone,

and another,
and another.

Finally, the American,
alone in his chair

refuses to even look
at the raging sea.

Clam Bombs
In Holmes Harbor
gulls dig clams,
fly above Douglas fir,
and drop them like bombs

on tidal rocks
to get at
succulent cores
just like

what happens to a life
when humans give birth,
watch parents die,
write and read poems.

Résumé
Obviously Jesus
was unemployable
except for manual labor

but some vocal men
want you to believe
he wore ties,

saluted medals,
had a desk
with window office,

dropped bombs on children
when he didn’t get
his way. 

The Car and the Clown

I reluctantly parked on a service road
to help an injured conference leader
access her car

and my awkwardly parked car
tormented me
day and night.

My roommate asked
scornfully “Who would park like that?”
and I told him it was me.

Next, in the Meeting House
before 161 activists,
a note was read

“Whoever owns the tan Camry
please move it immediately
because it is blocking access . . .”

The veil of illusion lowered.
“That is my car,” I said,
. . . and I am just following orders, Sir.”

 After the meeting, I told the “Sir”
I meant no disrespect,
as we walked outside.

A clown, he pointed at a plot
where a tree had been
before it was cut,

and later mentioned
a children’s bridge
where kids could bounce.

My roommate left a thimbleberry branch
on our dresser
beside my notebook

saying as he left,
“Those berries
are so delicate.”

Do I think the clown
and roommate
spoke in metaphor? No.

Do I think the Universe
was pushing me
to get beyond the pain

of being misunderstood? Yes.
 

Scott T. Starbuck was a Friends of William Stafford Scholar at the 2014 “Speak Truth to Power” Fellowship of Reconciliation Seabeck Conference. His newest poetry chapbook is The Other History or unreported and underreported issues, scenes, and events of the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries (available at  http://www.amazon.com/The-Other-History-Scott-Starbuck/dp/1938853415) by Futurecycle Press, and his Manifesto from Poet on a Dying Planet is at Split Rock Review (http://www.splitrockreview.org/news/2014/9/1/contributor-spotlight-scott-t-starbuck) in Minnesota. Starbuck’s blog “Trees, Fish, and Dreams” is at riverseek.blogspot.com