as the world crumbles

 

 

we watch the trees

breathe murky air

we cling we claw we bury

 

we follow form and feature

through a crazed and concrete world

 

implications abound

 

each gesture

each sign

every symbol

each word

every prayer

 

is for Peace

Living lightly

 

concentric circles, a floating sphere

all is transparent here

 

harmonic spirals, fruit and flowers

this gorgeous world of ours

 

you were living well, devoid of hell

happy but then one day

 

conjecture and pretence

she smiled

and beguiled

 

you

 

lost your sense

 

spirit knew but would not to say

how to find the will and way

home

 

you grew your hair to way down there

you left your family and friends

 

you lived lightly off the land

off the grid

 

you lived lightly  

day and nightly 

and you prayed

TAGGING WILDLIFE

A barren hope is abandoned, a point
of reference shifts. Now eye see I to I.

Tagging wildlife; I am on a mission,
Risking life, a tentative peace, integrity.

A fistful of weeds,
a child’s bouquet, gleaned from the hillside.

I remember this now
as the winter sun lights my way.

Though frozen and fallow, the world is alive.
I am alive and have questions for God.

I am the old woman I smiled at today and
I am the child who cried on the bus.

I am from another planet.
I am on a mission.
To tag wildlife.

R U wild?

Dec. 31, 09

grace

we perform

this ritual grace

words spoken to themselves

candle's fire illuminates

mismatched silver and faded earthenware

a vase of wildflowers mocks the infectious sentiment of kin

arriving uninvited, a familiar glutton

devours all but the hunger of a lover alone

faith does not accommodate

allergies and broken hearts

a fistful of ragweed

an angry bouquet

cursing loves discrepancy

child

the child kept me awake

last night, begging for stories

and drinks of water

i was gentle, spoke

soft words

loved

her to sleep

in the morning

she was dead

i lay her angel

body in the blue-box

then wrote this

for james

daunting and cool

your eyes see music

and earthborn shadows

you are your

guitar

rapture, love and

measured anger

alive in song child

you are the reason

life is poetry

dinner conversation

Dinner was grotesque and mired in animal grease.

Culinary transgressions aside, the conversation

was pleasant, the brandy sweet.

You told me I reminded you of your mother.

She used to say 'charity begins at home.'

I replied (a little drunk) 'peace begets peace begets love'

and we laughed.

There is nowhere a surrogate can hide

or blend with others in the room.

This evening abounds with familiar terrain.

I can see my house from here. She is standing

with her back to the wall and is scowling

not at me, but at the brandy.


She prefers beer.