it caught the corner
             of my eye

Pavlovian neck twist
jarring synapsis
                  tears followed

was it a ghost
or flickering dust particulate
                   sent me
                             crashing into your picture

sitting crisscross
considering memory’s place
longing to touch your finger
              

                               soft sunlight played
                               dog dander and field burn
                               swirled in the long evening

the radio crackled
long forgotten songs
        played on vinyl

once again they fell
    
                  Is today your birthday?
                  Anniversary?

numbers blur
last year’s calendar
still hangs
         rectangle wall stain

emotions wipe away
mental images persist
a face through the years

               suddenly I stand alone /

what message do you bring
blue and gold dragonfly
taking my attention
as you dart and turn
where are we going
my eyes travel with you
over and under
around and through
we buzz flower tops
seeking feast or rest /

it is your quiet song that sooths me
on lonely cloud filled evenings
endlessly circumnavigating the pond’s edge
only ever stopping momentarily /

breathing deepens
your wings engulf me
sinking into a soft and inviting
exoskeleton
you transport me /

flashing neon laser architecture
silhouetted pyramids pass
increasing speed
as we careen
multidimensional beings
statuesque
gaze through me
looking deep into a subconscious
imprinting designs and rhythms
asking me to carry something back /

the alarm buzzes and I am reminded
on the windowsill
a perched dragonfly twitches a wing
dial turns twice to a 9 a.m. position
and fly’s off into the morning sun……

my mind reels trying to remember
fading dreams carry the
idea of a message into the ether

I sit on the edge
contemplating /

1 –
backlit hand drummer
perspiration flies
low cloud hangs
feet in rhythm

2-
jiggling flesh
paint smears
and runs
musky lust fills nostrils

3-
fat fingers pound
pressure variations
timeless chanting
congas and djembes howl

4-
shutters snap
cellphones extend
capturing images
leaving feeling to memory

5-
eyes sting
throats contract
dust and sweat mingle
rivulets of joy
delta

So many lives
to come this far.

Each story fragile,
imperfect, incomplete.
Still, the Bardo mirror
says more to go.

So sad to know
that Love remains
at least another
life away.

it were the combination
of monsoon deluge
and gale force hurricane
broke me free
sent me to spinning

twirled for what must’ve been a year
before touchdown
even this was turbulent
as I rapidly descended
the high mountain canyon

tossed over slick black rocks
drifting faster and faster
when all ahead was blue
clouds and birds flittered
time froze

unlike my previous freefall
this was abusive
streams pummeled my body
frayed my edges
left me soaked to the core

I washed, after a time, upon a sandy beach
barely conscious…
once I had served a great Oak
gathering sunlight
these memories swirled like the adjacent eddy

slowly, like daybreak for the farmer
a realization took shape
never again would I photosynthesize
never again would ladybugs crawl across my face
I had lost my home

It was near that same moment
when a new vision filled my senses
upon my decomposition
and death
I would feed the forest
my nutrients living in the soil forever –

swinging frayed rope
holds a rotten board
thin grain shows dark
between mold and grit
worn smooth imprints
     babe buttock

howling precursor
black horizon
fat droplets shift dust
pacing hound bays
rattle-trap ford
        crunching gravel

sizzle of fried flour
distracts mud pie designers
one less hen
late Saturday dinner
grandad’s pipe
       cherry tobacco smoke tendrils

low tones from behind a fire
pine burns hot and fast
sweat droplets fall
drink for dark earth
woodless floor, uneven
carries years of sweat
       and tears –