An old and frustrated flower-child asks,
"Where did the love go?"
Peace, love, dope . . .

Why just yesterday, it seems
We were romping through beautiful fields
And reading such lovely poetry.

Where did the love go?  I am asking.

I have never looked at the world
From this angle before.

I have long sat and watched the world
But never have known

The things you've shown me, taught me
From the beauty of your throat.

I wish I were,
at this very moment,
at a coffee-bar-bookshop;
walking through the isles
in my tee-shirt and underwear,
sipping a triple shot latte,
eyeing books longingly,
fondling pages and
smelling ink;
my mouth pasty,
my hair wildly
riding my head,
-two in the freaking morning;-
it would feel good
to just sit at a little
table in the corner
and watch the lifeless,
the insomniacs, or shift workers
sipping coffee, staring blankly.

This stillness at dusk, its radiant heat;
The comfort from the soil beneath one's feet;

Dimming light's playful shadows sweet
Which shift and dance and oft' repeat.

Filled to the brim, I am a soul lifted up.
Thus, I rise like a drinking cup.

You, oh Day, have comforted completely
As another page turns in this life sweetly.

Let me be a river
To flow away from you

Let me be a cloud in the sky
And float away in the blue

Let me be a mouth
To open and scream

Let me be a Northern
Raging to the south

Let me be a night
Filled with sweet dreams

Let me be beauty
Where ugliness was

Let me be love

If I were a bird
You would be my nest.

You are the bed
When I need rest.

My ears had heard
But now my eyes see.

I come to know the depth
Of what you mean to me,

Life and love, and breath.

Analytical-
Here is my blessing and my curse

Glorious dots swirl above our heads like millions of
glowing bees as we spin arms outstretched.

The air is warm while the earth is cool beneath bare feet
And a light mist rises among the pecan orchard trees.

I want to keep this place living in our minds.  We can
Never grow old in this childish embrace of memory.

Sherlock  ̶
the search for home
brings mysteries

My heart is ashes
Now, the light winds start to blow
Bit by bit I go

The crow calls out to say,

"The sunrise is on its way.
Hurry do not delay.
Go, look, and see.
The beauty of a sunrise is free.
You do not need to pay."

I no longer go to the museum.

It is often the only way to clear out non-transient thoughts.  
The eviction makes room for the fugacious pleasures of life.  
Not easily applied with ink to paper.

The clouds are thick
and fast-moving tonight.
It makes it look as though
the full round-faced moon is winking.
Quite suddenly it opens wide
its eye then slowly closes it.
Open and shut, open and shut,
winking then blinking,
A flutter of white light
cycling behind the heavy lids
of clouds.

Love chooses you
She does not care for sensibilities
But sneaks up from behind
And places hands over your eyes
Then leads you with a smile
To where she wills you

Life can be so silly
In all its absurdities;
And the strangest of things
Can bring us to our knees.

Yes, I am strange, unusual see?
But quite happy in my deformity.
I love this solitude of mine and me,
And life's absurdities.

Death allows as time goes forth,
For empathy where you once had none.
No longer vulnerable to the hooks
That can tear at a heart opened.
They cannot hurt you now.

there is wonder of all kinds
never boring

beating my wings
moon over life

It is here that I feel!

My trust is left as fragile as a spider web,
Yet, my love was as strong as a single thread,
As strong as a steel girder in one of your buildings.
When you hurt me, it seemed that the dark night
Would never stop trembling within me.
I was left to sleep outdoors with our children.

My heart lay in my chest bruised and wounded.
For a while it was black and putrid with hatred.
This was not the man that I knew so well,
Fell in love with, happily married.  No, some
Evil "other" put poison into the vein to overpower.
As the fang bites deeper and they secure the grip.

The bite perfected with each attempt, at first
That which was only a snag of a fang held until
Both fangs could drip a poisonous brew into you.
Threads of the web slowly broken by her design
To envenomate and poison a "forever-bound" love.
She said, "Let me free you from the web.  

Here, taste this."

It's the final leg of the journey . . .

Let's do it again!

I would eat my own arm
To sustain my life
In order to sustain yours

I would feed you
My own flesh to sustain yours
And stay with you ignoring my needs

Until you are grown and on your way
And then, with my life's mission done
I could fade

As drops of blood color water
That certain shade.  Pink?  Rose?
Lovely in themselves.  Coral?  

While the starfish slowly crawl
Across the mighty ocean floors,
The stars in heaven swirl overhead.

And we all continue to die each day.

love doesn’t care ̶
I turn
and look at you

Our relationship never existed
Not in the real world
It existed in the ether of time
In a breath exhaled by lovers
In the brief mist at dawn
Amidst the weightlessness
Of a vast distant universe
Although it was tangible there
Within two minds in open air
Warmed by only the sun
Dried by breezes blowing upon
Our naked skin as we glistened

Waiting for Spring, lovely, tall ladies hold their breath and eye one another.
"Do we dare to open to the season?  Catch a breath?"

The dry leaves will soon crumble in the warm sun
And crunch under our feet; just so much fodder for chic maidens.

Inhale deeply Sol's rays.  Breathe!  Open to the season
And don your Spring bonnets, full-petaled.

At the edge of faltering light I meet the eyes that see
      me as only Beauty.

The lonely pines and the sandy soil are warmed by
      the heat of a day now gone.  

Come in now, Honey, sit with me.  
      We are the Youth of dreams.

In the furnace of my mind
I burn to light up the world
With heat expanding a universe.
In pages unfolding I whisper to "Open,
Come in and see.  Inside you can find me
And so many fascinating things."
Expanding, expanding, and hurtling forward
Our world is there before us all.  If only
People would not think so small.

Fling back your sling-backs
To me!  Ain't nothing gonna bar
Your unbridled joy of runnin'
Through that cool grass.

I just cannot see
Why you won't open to me?
Why put up that wall
When you know that I'm not tall?
Yet, though I am just small
Still, I can see it all
When I get a glimpse
into your wounded heart.

This room
red-velvety light
shine through
like a womb
I hold on tight
    to you

I cannot express the elusive feeling
that flits across the branches of this memory;
A brief song of just a few notes twitter.

Suddenly, I am in a grassy field or I am sitting high
on tree limbs in the pecan orchards of my youth;
I feel the sun's warmth filter down, moist air softly on skin.

I search the recesses of the grey matter in my head
to find the exact expression for the fleeting memory
I want it to come back to me so that I can come back to it.

Yes, this is true of aging,
That as we get older
We become more of ourselves,
A refined reduction
Down to the essence
Of what it is that we are,
The true self like cream rising.
A sliver of optimism becomes a slice
And it is delicious in its simplicity.

Somewhere, I may never have traveled,
Haunts my memory in foggy dreams

I smell the fire in the fireplace burning
I see the cabin door swinging

Outside the snow that had fallen
Lies melting, hardening to ice

Mountain air fills my lungs and exhilarates
With the smell of pine and of juniper and cedar

A distant crow's caw brings me back to reality
And I am suddenly in the snow at the door of a cabin

Somewhere I may never have traveled to

In the garden of delight
At the eve of dusky-night
-Twilight holds no grudge

The brush had been light
You had seen him in his flight
-Lights dimmed, everything buzzed

Hoping that he'd soon light
You hoped he'd light on you
-Before a shark bite you get a nudge

Ah, tender kisses on the skin
Are just a prelude to the sting.
-Blood smudged

You seek to go,
up and up.
So, I let you decide.

You go your way,
up and up,
I just watch you,

And enjoy the ride.
Up and up
You strive to new heights.

You have taken the sleep from my eyes
And the comfort from my chest.

I have great pain, but there is no medicine.
You have taken the payment and fled,

A ruby-red dries
Crusting under your fingernails, as you do.

There is a place

Where moons remember
Romantic evenings shared between us two,
Their passion bed blue with fever.

The Sun is only heated by the thought
      of you and I,

And Stars cry out with desire to wish upon us.

I grew and it made more room for me
But it also made more room for you.

Did you actually think you found love
After me? You left for her, after all.

If I could I would tell you what I know:
Love expands, it lifts up, it wants the best,

It guides our paths through darkness.
Love illuminates the way as it opens up.

It does not implode after you have died.
True love never dies no matter how one tried.

Serene, float among green growth,
Buds desire to open, join the flotilla.
Gentle one, you are like the waterlily
Which grow across the surface,
The still surface of my pond.

The thirsty bulbs in jars on the windowsill greedily stretch for water;
The little avocado tree, from last season that I potted, droops next to them.

Like me it too is tired of the cold.  I have an aching in my bones.
For spring?  For change?  For what?

The small sounds of the house, the rock of a cradle of trees nearby
Blend with the cold patter of raindrops which, on the roof evaporate

Into steamy dreams and into the night.

Blindingly bright lights pin-point;
And then you touch.

Experiencing love for the 1st time;
Throbbing heart constricting.
A lump in the throat
Caught in a dry strangle, one gasp,
Lightheaded.  Breathe!  
Thick, dense air.
Full sensory at capacity;

And you touch, again.
Then we fall and fall and fall.

Winter brings sights that warm the heart,

As we observe with wit and patience,
Among its seasonal growing population
It is as if winter brings forth an entire nation
Of many species and their relations.

Take for example our feathered friends
Who busy themselves amidst their clans.
Bright feeders that are placed about extend
Needed food and give the birds a helping hand.

But, by their work, they retain their dignity;
As they go about their important activities.
Yes, among our lovely birds we see
Their busy lives, filled with such industry.

And, by these things we see their poetry.

Em-dash
I look for you.
I cannot find you

You could be my lungs
For you give me breath.

You could be my heart
Because it beats for you.

You were already in my head,
Now you are in the heart
Within my chest.

He was 3; issued a blanket,
It too was part of the property.
As I move into this thought
Africa becomes a coast.
I do not know it. Sandy or rock?
My mind moves into the forest,
My heart, into a village.
A toddler clings to the robe covering
The dark skin of her mother.
“Africa” the word is read,
“Place of birth: Africa”.

He had been a philosopher
A bard of sorts
Debonair in his quietude

And the sweetest rogue

When maidens aplenty were near
As they were wont to do
They swooned

When pressed he was chivalric

Yet, not a dragon-slaughter
O he kept them in his dungeon
To limit their harm

Along with his other guests

We never know where to draw the line.  Do we?
Nor do we know when to expunge the mark.

And, when do we stick a foot into that closing opened door
Or withdraw it to allow its closing?

I say that lines are actually made of dots and dashes.  
Make your mark boldly, underline the stroke.

Grab the handle of the door
And pull it open with all of your might!

Soft gentle breezes
Rain paints color on petals
Green smells the grasses
Drifting across many meadows
Your hand has the sweetest touch

stop pouring
the glass is empty
it is too much

Take one moment for your anger
And one more for your sadness,
And another for your regrets.
Then two more move past these,
Then strive to let it go.
Only then will you regain your joy,
Your love, your life, your true purpose.

The world in a cup-
So eager am I to sup
That I bring two straws