Pale City Lights

illumined the path
we walked
arms about waists
thoughts about kisses
listening
as evening
moved quietly
knowingly.

A Shelter

Round crescent of a moon
provides small light
for the hope of discovery.

Darker
beneath a flowering tree
is something of
a shelter.

Dappled light of morning
falls silent warm
on sleeping eyelids.

I Love You

The words hung
voiceless and pale in
fresh morning air.

A crow's call through
the opened window.
My note already lay
unfinished and raw
and she
was there
behind the words.

It was a long time
before I let them in.

When we spoke last it
was as a dream
in which one converses
long and cheerful
with someone who has died.
Shadowed faces
smile and laugh exchanging
pleasantries as if nothing
has changed
yet we know it is
an illusion brought up
from memories
and wishful thinking.

Why should it be so?
We are not dead.

Fecund blue travels
westward drawing darkness.

Lonely chill of the soul
reaches me unwanted.

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.