do not speak in degrees
only pressure / poundage 
is the only real measure
and even that feels inadequate

Preparing for  the 10th and Final #GonzoFest in between firing the boiler on the Belle and catching myself back from swing-shift watch. I’m honored to be in such fine company… both on the stage I’ll be sharing tomorrow (7/15) and on the boat.

Both poetry and riverlife have long traditions and I am deep diving. I’ve been deep diving into poetry for 40 years and I have yet to reach the depths. I’m still a rookie on the river. I’m ok with that. After so many new skins, new starts, this one feels like it may hold. At least Im still writing and also, maybe for the first time in my adult life, fully meeting my family obligations without feeling any tension between the different waters in which I swim.

I’m torn between reading from an older piece, Expedition Notes, and something more recent.  I’m airing them both and will decide closer to the reading which direction I’ll go. It will depend largely on the wind and the current.

(Images by Mick Parsons)