Santa Cruz Poets, Santa Cruz Inspiration: T. Mike Walker

From the poet, novelist and executive director of the Santa Cruz Art League, poems on the men of his generation, watching seals at play and the joys of coffee. Guys Like Me… Guys like me are everywhere; Tall & thin, trim beard & graying hair. It’s not so much that we are old— Just stamped out from the same time-mold. Sometimes I see myself across the street, Or surfing waves out past the beach. Every day I stop and stare— I see myself both here and there; same color coat, same silly grin, I seem to stop where you begin. Wandering the world in towns and cities, I meet myself going and coming, Bowing and waving Goodbye—or Hello!— To reflections—ridiculous, I know-- Of some central certain universal soul. Each seeming self of us does seem to be Unique, with passport stamped to prove I’m me. Seals Slide Above the river mouth We see the seals slide Inside and outside of waves. We saw them yesterday, We see them every day, waving their fins. When do we ever weary of seeing them so? We thrive on their dunking and diving, Hark to their sharp barking, black eyes gleaming, Watching us watching them. Watery echoes Or ourselves; self-assured wave masters Searching the white frothing foam For fish, for fun, for whatever emerges, Slipping through seaward surging swells, The seals slide deep inside us, Ride us like a tide of memory, Fish-tailed sirens singing silky songs To lure us to our deeper home Inside the seamless sea. Coffee Cantata It’s the coffee does this to me It’s the coffee makes me go Wired and alert at midnight Burning in a mental glow Please don’t call me crazy If my metaphors sublime Illuminate at least one drop Of truth in one true line It’s coffee keeps me buzzing ‘till it’s quarter past the dawn When inspiration leaves me And my inner voice is gone And what is left behind Like black grounds in a cup Are coffee words on paper Saying: “Drink me up!” T. Mike Walker grew up in San Francisco and received his MA in Language Arts from San Francisco State University, where he taught Creative Writing from 1962-1965. His first novel, A Way From The World: A Policeman’s Journal, was published in 1970 by Grove Press. (Available @ Amazon.com) It reflected his experience as a San Francisco policeman from 1960-63. He taught Creative Writing at Cabrillo College from 1968 -98 and served as Santa Cruz Art League Board President 2006-2010. He's the current SCAL Executive Director. Local Poets, Local Inspiration, edited by Robert Sward, appears weekly online and monthly in Santa Cruz Weekly. Selections are by invitation.

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