The fragrance of garlic
oregano and basil
your fleeting words
to my hungry soul.

Pleasant and welcome.
Leave me hungry still.

My colors will be dark
as the place in my heart
where you dwell
but may no longer shine.

She is the Center

of a universe
which houses herself and two
small souls dark eyed
and wonderful.

Elegantly beautiful
spun ether forms
around her
lighted with lavender
apricot
azul.


And she

resplendent as a comet
dazzling in the midst.

Rev. from 8/29

Grass here is like
the hair of her head
six months after chemo.

She was stronger then
and her spirits were good.

She would saddle up
and ride a pinto mare
down along the river.

Air was cooler and bright
sparkling water
removed her mind
from darker things.

Yesterday Was Fish Day

The same jovial man
wearing khaki and blue
rushed in smiling
filled the tubs
flirted with mother
slid the bill across
the counter
and swept out

the heels of his shoes
squeeking on the tiles.

Minimalism

Blue light
illuminates
the space
beneath
a concrete
stairwell.

A brown box
two shoes
gray blanket
cigarettes
and a lighter.

Dont Give Me Answers

Give me life.

Let me find my own
terminal velocity.
View the earth's curve
with the lens
of my own eye.
Feel the awe of a whale
basking beside
me in the wet of deep water.

There are answers
we cannot speak.
Amazement cannot be
quantified
classified and labeled
in a beaker or jar.

In the end let me stand
where the great gate opens
onto eternity and find
what lies there
on my own and naked
before the one who made me.

Gift

She gave me a gift
in a dream
which I could neither
enjoy
nor reciprocate.

A thoughtful
generous thing
offered in sleep
treasured on waking.

The Space Beneath the Boughs

of an old Blue Spruce
may become a santuary.
Voices are heard
but words are not.

Sounds like a deep
and distant drum
soothe quietly
in this cool
and airy blind.

One cannot live in
the space beneath
                   the boughs.

Like Pomegranates Grown

How lovely
the eyes that look back
at me across
the table
around the globe.

This voice that tells
me stories
I already know.
When you say them
they are new again.

Would you love me?

Almost I imagine
a world
a time in which that might
be possible.

We are closer now
but the distances
are very broad.

Will you come  to me?
Shall I come to you?

We are paired
like pomegranates grown
on a single tree
feeling each the other
but never able
to come round to the other side.

Will I love you?

I do
as one note loves another
vibrating
in a frequency
natural
sympathetic
complimentary
estranged.

Sometimes It Pays

As you see in a couple of these poems, it is often worthwhile to revisit a piece.

For me, the initial version is sometimes too wordy and less cohesive. When this happens, the meaning gets muddied and the reader may not feel the full import of what I want to say.

It's the same with my painting. I often begin with a pretty detailed sketch, but take it down to bare essentials - big shapes and colors - in order to keep the message plain and uncluttered.

I Missed Her Laughter

Palm trees rose
high into the gray-blue air.

Blonde hair
floated careless
on a salty breeze.

Even this late
in November the worst
she could say was
                 "Rain again?"

Against a bright sky
her blonde hair
floated careless.

It was California.

Even this late
in November the worst
she could say was
                 "Rain again?"

She loved it here.
Palm trees rose
high into the gray-blue air
and a salt fragrance
stayed in her nostrils.

I missed her laughter.

Brook Trout

A shimmer
a twitch
silver line
then gone.

Places Familiar

The surface of a leaf
or this blue silk scarf
is rough beside
your delicate skin.

My fingers love
to recognize
places familiar
to their touch.

Your cheek.
The hollow of your back.
That place behind
your breast and just
below the curve
of your arm
so sensitive and smooth.

Grey evening light
lay draped across
dampening fields.

Spanning their breadth
came domestic sounds
of someone caring for horses.

Your dark eyes were darker
shadowed beneath the broad
brim of a straw hat.

Your smile a thin light
in the cool of autumn.

Down along the river.

The grass is long here

like the hair of her head

six months after
the chemo.

She was stronger then
and her spirits were good.
She would saddle up
and ride the pinto mare
down along the river.

The air was cooler there
and the bright sparkling water
removed her mind
from darker things.

Just Out of Reach

If you should
suddenly appear
like Jesus
in the shut up room
all flesh and bone
and blood I dont
know what might
follow.

This door between us
is thin separation.

You are there
just out of reach
out of sight and I
realize again that you
are not
out of
my heart.

The Pause

was awkward
and brought
the whole thing down
to a slow roll.

No cry went out
into the growing
darkness and no
eyes bent swiftly
in my direction.

Weathered Boots

Pulling off
the dusty

weathered boots
he released

a sigh the size
of Texas.

To learning

I have again turned
                   to learning.
Its pursuit is a
diversion from other
matters more pressing
and consequential.

Sometimes the best thing to do is just keep moving...

Under
his feet snow
complained
as he moved
across
the dark
empty street.

A quiet
destination
was not in
the cards.

For that matter
he didnt
know exactly
what to
expect
apart from a show
         of  disappointment.

Anywhere At All

As if I am a mother
or counsellor
people talk to me.

In restaurants
      coffee shops
                     buses
anywhere at all
people walk up
sit down
          and release.

Unclosed

The last time that I
saw her she
was wearing
a broad straw hat
that shaded
her face
and shoulders from
the sun.

Now and then the saddle
creaked beneath her and
the horse seemed
impatient to get
somewhere.

I dont remember what
we talked about.
My memory only knows
that it was good
to see her.

Eggplants

I dreamt
that my hands
were eggplants large
and purple
shiny like
new shoes.

My task
was to build
a house for my
grand-daughter's
little dolls.

Oh God, why?

I fumbled with tools
and tried simply
to push pieces
together.

In the end
I wept
and awoke
without tears
heartbroken
but whole.

Ghost

I have
no words
for this.

You were for me
a memory
someone lost
a heart wound
that had mostly healed.

Now you
appear behind
this secret door.

Hidden
I am lost.

The Sign

At the place
where the road divides
stands a two story
                     red-roofed
clapboard building.
A broad awning stretches
over the patchwork
wooden porch
shading a line
of round backed
metal chairs.

From the ridge pole
at the peak
a red sign is hung
with bright yellow letters -


        HOTDOGS   

I met a girl with amber eyes

that shone in the light.

Like stones
on a ring they garnered
one's attention.

She smiled easily
and made
a great cup of coffee.

Laguna Tide

Undulant
dark water falls
and rises
breaking effortless
on California sand

so smooth
appearing limitless
pale it shimmers
under a bright
three-quarter moon.

After William Carlos Williams

White frost glimmers
upon

frozen thin
branches

splayed like cold
fingers

awaiting warm
sunlight.

These days the light

of late afternoon slants
sharply across open fields
bringing brilliance
and celebrity
to stalks that stand
......................broken
disregarded in the snow.