Running
do you
feel
the race?
Or meet with
it's bitter taste?
The
Gold

Stepping stones
wet twigs mossy overgrown
footfalls, rain washing the greening path home
grassy droplets, little trickles running
puddles fill the pothole road
clouds break, parting dusk of day
tiny violets sunning

When the earth in Spring
and all the yellows are nearly green
exploding ripe the catkin maple seeds
hung for flitting sparrows

When swift the clouds
dark, with pelting rain
of droplets wet pooling
in the hollows

As the clouds give way to sun
move hurriedly to fill the day with light
there where tiny budding leaves
are greening in the shadows

The Harvest Bow

As you plaited the harvest bow
You implicated the mellowed silence in you
In wheat that does not rust
But brightens as it tightens twist by twist
Into a knowable corona,
A throwaway love-knot of straw.

Hands that aged round ashplants and cane sticks
And lapped the spurs on a lifetime of game *****
Harked to their gift and worked with fine intent
Until your fingers moved somnambulant:
I tell and finger it like braille,
Gleaning the unsaid off the palpable,

And if I spy into its golden loops
I see us walk between the railway slopes
Into an evening of long grass and midges,
Blue smoke straight up, old beds and ploughs in hedges,
An auction notice on an outhouse wall—
You with a harvest bow in your lapel,

Me with the fishing rod, already homesick
For the big lift of these evenings, as your stick
Whacking the tips off weeds and bushes
Beats out of time, and beats, but flushes
Nothing: that original townland
Still tongue-tied in the straw tied by your hand.

The end of art is peace
Could be the motto of this frail device
That I have pinned up on our deal dresser—
Like a drawn snare
Slipped lately by the spirit of the corn
Yet burnished by its passage, and still warm.

by Seamus Heaney

In summer, a valley so green, thick in veridian
a pond looking on, sits atop the world - waiting for no one
The sun through an open window, so soon to be gone
hills above, some days ago
covered in whitest snow

A susurrus wind
of chaparral lingers on
after the rain, in the heat of day
behind mountainous clouds
the hissing sun will scarcely fade
until at dusk it finally crawls
and swiftly snakes away.

I don't know why I wallow
curved, I meld into the hollows
sunk and swallowed
a pale yellow sun, I follow
whittled, slim cored
dark from sullen caves explored
here where I await the glowing moon
a relic jewel, to light the path
for me, a sad and silly fool

And so they came to grow and grow, some flourished wild - under days of golden suns,
some never planted, only blew lonely across the fields of splitting winds
til a drifting life can no longer hold the certain breath of death
swallowed once again by the welcoming earth
a wildfire ignites, burning only for rebirth
life springs anew born of ash and fire.

No more to swim in your bluest seas, farewell my dear Pacific,
long did you sustain a myriad of lives, true unimaginable bounty,
you gave all for free and still we stole your life away.
Goodbye salty sea air, no more to breathe your sweetness.

Soon a plume shall come, raining poison death upon us,
watch for wicked winds of radiation,
to silent creep, and deadly seep into
soil and irrigation, you mustn't eat
of tainted wheat, now flee thee to
south of the equator.

When I dream this desert turns green, blooms
clouds race where mountain lions loom
ash gray, the cool of blue rain comes
a redolent wind of desert sea
rushing waves, sand blown
sculpted saguaro forests
pale flowered yellow
drinking every drop
now this eve we drink
now before another dawn
of the mad thirsty sun

My lips are cracked leather
lizard dry, my breath melts into mirage
beetles emerge from dark caves
in flashes of iridescence, crawling
their tiny tracks, surreal sand paintings
art for cactus wren, hunting

Here, beyond yet another
sparkling diamond mound
lies a wild sea of the sailing ships, I've found

When I dream this desert turns green, blooms
clouds race where mountain lions loom
ash gray, the cool of blue rain comes
a redolent wind of desert sea
rushing waves, sand blown
sculpted saguaro forests
pale flowered yellow
drinking every drop
now this eve we drink
now before another dawn
of the mad thirsty sun

My lips are cracked leather
lizard dry, my breath melts into mirage
beetles emerge from dark caves
in flashes of iridescence, crawling
surreal sand paintings, their tiny tracks
art for cactus wren, hunting

Here, beyond yet another
sparkling diamond mound
lies a wild sea of the sailing ships, I've found

Lonesome
this dying fire
the darkening sky
now barely a glint of sun
a dismal line of light
it swiftly fades into the night
starless black water
this mirror pool
reflections of
you and I.

It is late, the sky is black slate, coal
a desolate moon glow, cold
this silent world flecked with tiny lights
diffused amid the softness of clouds
the night, only a blooming dawn
a field of stars that come.

In the night garden, star flowers linger
long before dawn, before the sun
vines climb, with ivory flowers hung
bringing light, where the moon glows pale
flowered jasmine is sweet beneath the air of fire
with lanterns lit in floral scents
glowing through diaphanous petals
here, where the earth shines like heaven
and blooms not unlike the stars.

Tonight in this garden
a million flowers loom
clouds of gypsophila bloom
through our window and beyond
with fragrant vines, they sprawl
saturate scented paper walls
these night lilies, only a dalliance
that blooms and fades
your hands, my breath of sighs
we are drunk from dulcet wine
sung from the whisper of moon that dips
caress of your reddened lips
traveling this world
lilting softly slow

Nightfall, dark with planets
cold desolate sky home
stars amid nebulous winds swirling
cool icing, caked in frozen states
cynosure of volatile fates
the fiery red that melts blue
tonight a slow float of milk clouds
a diaphanous transient veil
drifts its way across
the moon so pale.

The only one
                      The only one
                                            The only one


                   A Wall
                                Bricks to fall
                                                      
Everyone
               Everyone
                                Everyone


                                 LOVE

                                            Includes us
                                                              ­  
                                                              ­      ALL

There was an orchard
lemon trees as far we could see
a memory of neroli flowered breeze
I was running in the scented rows of yellow
in a dream, you were always catching me
ever the days, when sunlight seemingly chased the moon away
there in a school, where we lingered in the sweetest lessons
of our lives and trees

We have always had tools
how to repair
stitch the tattered, fray of us
such fools

A family, shattered
all the days our
ruins

Can we will
such storms of darkness
now to light our dawn
love's sacred singing?

We can
lighten our souls
softly winging

There was a road
it was an old highway they traveled through
time was neither given nor taken
fields abandoned, better left fallow
wheat stalks, left some here and there
became brown dirt deserts
that was before the rain

There was a road
it was newly paved, I traveled through
everyone hurried, how lifetimes flew
Fields heavily poisoned, sprayed to **** bugs
killed many, left some here and there
perfect tomato chemical crops
that was after the corporate gain

stones
thrown
ripples
waves
crashing
madly
over
me
and
you

If these words be thy home
salvation for my soul to dwell in
let them be of love
no beginning
no end

If these words be thy home
salvation for my soul to dwell in
let them be of love
no beginning
no end

After some time, there are no words spoken
only an awakening in the silence
of a blue light dawn, a moment
where stars linger on
a portal is found
where the soul
lives on
and on

When after stars burn out, with glowing dust falling far to earth
colored sparks and charges mingle in the trees
forest faeries come to gather tiny stars
from green summer leaves

With jars of light, they taking flight
little lanterns flitting through the woods
sprinkling starry heavens

Before the dawn they've
traveled long, blanketing the forest
now hide from sight they must
their wooded world born anew
sparkling with stardust

It is summer and soon the Perseid showers
I have gone from my desert home
I wander far from crowded towns
my feet in grassy, bee clover
deep summer, all daisy flowered
green leaves, wild blackberries
await the August sun fire.

Here amid the slowing of mars retrograde
of my love returning home too late
no long goodbye, only the weight
I watch oceans of seaweed sway
at night the phosphorescence
the lonesome of sea stars trailing.

Branches

                   Father
                   he spoke soft, willowy winds
                   protecting
                   when harsh, the storms blew in


                   Mother
                   reached in, touching deep the soul
                   igniting
                   her love lit the world

How many times at this cliff, wild with winds
waiting for direction, even though storm clouds come
I look beyond, remembering the halcyon days
but today - rain, rain, rain

Did you see
how the sky was always changing?
Did you feel life's beauty, blissful innocence rearranging?

turning into days, days, days
void of blue, void of sun
how the rains swell the veins, in ways
one can no longer ignore
life blood barely breathing
a child screaming
to be heard

Do you feel how fear stole away
your purity of heart, your breath, your life,
your words?

With love, fearlessly reclaim
your truth, your voice, your heart

What is that? Who is that?

now is the unraveling
now is the untwisting
now is the time

decorated, concealed
whitewashed, peeled
years of little earthquakes
will shake you

she is framed art hung, unsung
unknown to anyone
jilted, wilted
a still life flower
hanging ever crooked
upon the wall

Orange, pink sunrise came over dawn's moss green hill
soon a thousand birds all singing to the sun
orchid flower, soft butterfly touching down
paper petals white, float emerald lily pond
Quan Yin, in her stillness
looking on

To the earth and sky
we all belong
to water and fire
moon, stars, sun
with all elements
we are one

When we feel our
true connection to all
then we are finally home

To get lost
when all the earth goes black, sinking into silence
stars tumble into darkest seas, hidden from love's moon
that cannot shine alone

many the deserts of dust covered roads
with wind to blow a path
toward home

rains will come in washing waves
gathering lonely lovers
dreams of love, pouring down
in heavenly
waters

Fast her wild days ran tall as forest foxglove,
long the happy sun of wing full prayers and beating drums
grassy knees ripening green on summer's lawn
honeycombed hideouts of laughing stings and bees
running long through wild meadows
pale of butter's milky cream
a child's face soft as flower petals
so quick to bud into full bloom
blushing in her rosy days
a swan soon flies to the wild unknown
there where an hourglass looks on

Wind, wind it came in
I was glad it did, the way it blew
around my heart and through
a place of hollow blue, a storm
warm of drumming beats in sync
went swirling round my head
a flutter of butterflies flew on
through morning fog
a song was heard of
leafy trees and birds that speak
connecting me once more
the breeze that blows
to shake the soul
of me, quite free
all the day listening
to the earth
and all the ways
of wind

In spring, green along the river
amid ancestral foothills, we walk deer trails
wild in the woods of scented pine
of silver sycamores, silken barked
stark, they pale against bluest skies
their new leaves green and glistening
we are listening for songbirds, for a language without words
transfixed, through this portal, reborn in this world
warm winds speak sweet and susurrus of spring
melodious they sing, leaving far behind
the cold, the dead of winter.

a million birds singing
the wind warm as sun
all the branches glowing
we wait the buds to come
the bending leafy willows
brush the melting pond
of blue green water
beneath the cold dark earth
roots encased and safe
breathe green where
flowers form.

I cannot write anything, the way my heart tells it
soft in murmurs or echoing loudly as it does
cannot drift the way I'd like, floating free
as dandelion seeds wild in these fields.
I hear words like arrows piercing in.
I feel shocks and waves
the sea that comes to swallow.
I face jangled places
of these fears again
amid storms of grays and clouds
and after the washing rains
the birds come singing, flying.

Verily we are suspended
to one another invisibly threaded
gold spun, finely woven
we breathe the air of summer
silken petaled, softly subtle
through these woods treading sun dappled
we come to rest, in a rosy heaven
lose the world of whirling much too fast
to gain the moment, lose the future and the past.

My entire being all at once
completely swept away
tide turning sunk
me wholly drowning in
tears of joy

I will tell you these things about the sky
and of summer going into fall, of berries nearly gone
the mountain ash trees green, gold and changing.
The yellow waxwings that perch beneath
the heavy laden leaves, cool
amid an autumn storm.
Half the sky is impossibly grey
then further away, turning black charcoal
a place where thunder is born, booming.
The other half changes from pink, purple, blue
crashing its way into these luminous hills
meandering in sync with birds over the river
until the sun comes, igniting the clouds
on fire with red again.

In an earth bound dream
found bare and green
blue between moss and splendor
cool and cold, our hands and toes
wild eyed through the mud we climb
these darkened steps
beyond the stars
returning home
to rest our souls
brief a dream before
the sleep of
our rebirth.

This tea, I steep
red apple, your kiss
alizarin crimson, wet
impossibly sweet
you soothe, I drink
your lingering lips
poured with honey milk
by the fire, consumed
of love infused
with herbs and leaves
this tea, I drink.

Sword ferns warming
some unfurling toward the sun
deeper green the moss, grows softly underfoot
forest fog the breadth of morning, breathing
grey of pale lichen clinging

a snow melt creek splashes running
clouds break away, to light the day
the shine of mossy flowers sunning

this church, it has no walls
no doors to lock nor ticking clocks to read
only of the sacred does this wooded temple sing
and I so humbled bow beneath
resplendent evergreens

There is a holiness in the wind
these wisps of diaphanous clouds that fly
always I smile in the gentlest of winds that kiss
oh, but I do not like the harshness of winds that whip
how they come to blow the hollow of darkness
toward the light again, things buried underground
places - like death, the stabbing pains
I've met, awakened while
seeing and feeling.

Three flickers outside my window, smiling - I searched for meaning,
I wished forever joy could stay,
but one, two, three, they flew away
and with them took the fading sun
with clouds and rain soon falling down
now waits tomorrow, with shadows and sun
with joy and sorrow, the birds will come

Tiger, your eyes of amber
lull me hypnotically under
slowly sink, you slink in tallest grass
night, a steamy jungle where you sleep
scratch and paw, you claw my neck
I run, always you bite and bite
growl, and prowl hunting me down, to defeat
tireless in your clever games of hide and seek.

Lilies in the long grass
wild with tigers, striped orange
under trees, cool canopied
buds of sun blossoming
pretty cats slumber
sleek they dream.

Nights,
twitching whiskery
breathing slow
slinking low
as if to stalk
shock the sallow moon
hunt and growl
purr and prowl
animals whispering
stark the tiger lilies
glistening.

Your eyes cataracts - fogged over, with a hint of blue
Still you saw more than most anyone I've known
I thought you a sorcerer, a mystic man
with lightening speeds you spun tales in thunder clapping rooms
A modern day chief, good will ambassador of Hope
you were the glue of an entire village,
sticking your heart on everyone like that
The Discovery Cafe, your story telling room, disguised as a restaurant,
a place you opened years ago
Many came hungry only for your stories
One could not easily eat and run or have a cup of joe and go, just not possible
when Tito had the floor
Tales of fishing, gold panning, black and brown bears, one with his head stuck in a lard bucket,
or the one that chased some lady up a tree.
The way your hands moved, while you went into a trance was a sight to behold
Though you never confessed it, I'm pretty sure you were a hypnotist
How many times I went for coffee at 9AM never leaving til' noon,
completely bowled over, ****** in by the fantastic rip tide of you!
I saw you just months before you passed
Though you had gone deaf and blind, your love was ever present, it's been felt everyday since,
in a world that has changed a darker shade of blue,
Tito how can I ever thank you?