(For my parents RIP)
I remember swinging
between the both of you,
smiling,
feeling loved and secure.
You were no longer together
even then,
but I felt no loss in that moment.
And when my own small children swung
in that same manner between their mother
and me,
all those many years later,
I saw the same smiles,
and thought of you.
I hope you’re together now.
I hope you’re swinging between
the arms of God,
and you’re both smiling.
Into my life you came,
bold against the rising sun,
your wind-tossed locks alluring,
your bright, bold eyes searing.
And I opened my chest to give you the contents
of its heart, and at first you treasured them.
The glorious days of sailing with you
were warm and secure, with clear skies and
wide horizons.
But in time, you craved not the warmth of my heart,
preferring the cold hardness of gems and coins.
Not the stable strength of my arms,
but the fickle roll of riches.
Turning yourself to seawater,
you slipped from my grasp
and left me no choice, set me adrift
with no anchor, no oar.
Under the stars my heart withered.
The sun-kissed days grew dank with brine,
and the raucous racket of overbold gulls
pursued my foundering lifeboat.
I dreamed that in a reef of nascent coral
I put the seawater to my lips as if to kiss you
once more,
but therein lied a fatal thirst,
and under a high tide moon,
I spilled it and left it behind.
What remains ahead is unknown, uncharted,
yet with a sense of direction and purpose,
of longing fulfilled, a calling realized.
As the gull calls fade, the windsong rises.
And I know that in the distance,
a paradise awaits my arrival.
I shield my eyes from the sunlight
dappling the dancing waves,
and sail on to fate’s warm hearth,
alone
but finally
free.
At 3 a.m.
they come to play,
disturb your sleep,
disrupt your day.
They sing and giggle
out of sight.
They cry and cut you
through the night.
“They don’t exist!”
the people say.
The creatures like it
just that way.
Their smiles malignant,
gleaming white,
‘Your blood so red,
it tastes so right.’
And in the sunrise,
glowing gold,
your heart is still.
Your flesh is cold.
At 3 a.m.
they come to play,
cavort, and
steal your soul away.
Down by the river,
she runs through
the night.
Shade alabaster.
Shrouded moonlight.
Some rich man’s wife.
Some farmer’s daughter.
Some say she haunts
by the
Darkling Water.
Some say they’ve
seen her
run through the trees.
Some say she cries out
with keening and pleas.
Some say her pale hands
are dripping with blood.
Some say she’s lying so still
in the mud.
No name is given.
No questions asked.
Sitting on mossy stones,
in moonlight basked.
Chills when she looks at you,
grasps at your sleeves.
Crying, she clutches you.
Spectral heart grieves.
There’s no escaping now.
With her you go,
caught in the current’s
ethereal flow.
Some rich man’s wife.
Some farmer’s daughter.
Some say she haunts
by the Darkling Water.
Nothing between
me and heaven.
I waited,
watched the moon rise,
saw the earth spin
to look away,
But I did not.
The wind rose
to pay homage
to its lunar jewel,
And clouds
slipped across
its sun-kissed span,
a wolf’s eye
rimmed with kohl,
A lover’s eye
in a keyhole,
a peering beast
rising from
sleep.
In the night-blue verdant
branches of forest pines
and late summer leaves
the wind sang.
My heart found the harmony,
and for a fleeting moment
I was a floating note,
Unbound
in
Moon Song
In the end
there was
no reason
Smoke
and fire
and blood
Spattered
on my face
and hands
Insanity
a flood
In the end
there was
no reason
Faithless, loveless dread
shook
my world
and left me
breathless, heartless,
cold and
Dead.
In word and deed
I swore my fealty,
took the knee
and wore the ring.
And yet it
stopped not
your cruelty
to me
and everything
I held to be true
of love and loyalty,
valor and fidelity.
And so I withdrew
when love’s pale pallor
found no reciprocity.
I went inward indeed,
and have emerged as
something more,
just less
the burden of you.
No need
to carry on
the carrion
of love.
I heard it call
so clearly.
Nearly went deaf
from the
rumbling roar
of its
cloud shattering fury.
I walked the beach
alone
that rainy day
and watched the heavens
darken.
Harken to the
thunder’s commands.
Lightning pulled its
pale lavender tresses down
and kissed the ocean’s face
in heated passion.
Crashing, the waves
sent their foamy fingers
to shackle anchors
to my ankles
and pull me inside
and down
to drown
in fluid beauty.
Drawn to the edge, I wandered.
Challenging.
Foolish.
And the thunder saw me
and ceased its call,
cut its command.
I waited, dreading what I wanted
until
the panoramic parting
of the clouds
let through a patch
of wan sun.
The thunderous voice
began to soften,
and finally, mercifully
went silent.
On her garden bench she smiles.
In her eyes, no cunning wiles,
only shyness.
Humble, sweet
innocence I will entreat.
Quickly to one knee I go,
hearts beat fast, but time goes slow.
Everyone she knows above,
witness this display of love.
See the ring here,
diamond bright.
Yes, I love you!
Yes, it’s right!
Say you love me too, my dear.
Don’t let my heart dangle here.
Lovingly she takes my hand,
tenderly slips on the band.
Fading now, the vision’s gone.
It’s her grave I’m standing on.
Springtime’s redolent perfumes
always linger
where she blooms.
Where will you take me?
“Where would you go?”
Up to the sky to play
in the moon’s glow.
Out past the night clouds
to juggle the stars.
There’d be no limits,
no chains, and no bars.
“Where will you take me?”
Where would you go?
“Down to the ocean floor
so far below,
stirring the sandy mud,
skimming the stones.
Passing by treasure,
and shipwrecks, and bones.”
“Come, let us go now.
First here, and then there.
Deep on a sea voyage
high in the air.”
Beyond Panic 