Rob Bettmann

   In That Heaven There Should Be A Place
   With thanks to James Beuchler (who wrote a book with this title)

   Ripple, and rise,
   rake, and replace,
   but dont risk the whitewater without knowing what youre doing. 

   What wench or wise man invented the screw? The empty screw? The wake
   up and smell the fresh scent of.. youre still here?

   It would seem its my birthright to have relations with every joint that eases its way
   into my house-boat. Mary, Moses and Adam. Do I not deserve the good things?  
   Have I not the vision for wealth?

   In that heaven there should be a place for me.

original 2005, this version September 2008
And yes, copyright Robert Bettmann

Liver-limbed, the skin of hardened wax
rests unpleasant and feathers fealty to an
awesome god. A good god, but spotted
and hard as the underbelly of a hippo.

An ode to sorrow:
What can I not forget, beautiful and forgiven. What now,
that time has surpassed
the will of my own memory? I am an ode to sorrow.

When I was younger my grandmother convinced me that
She had been a long-haul truck driver.
I remember the cold dawn of the day
I realized it couldnt be true.

In one month I will attend her unveiling. Seeing my family now
makes me want to sing an ode to sorrow,
to take a job driving long-haul,
and leaves me liver-limbed and scared.