THUNDER MOUNTAIN

October 7, 1992

It beckoned

high, mighty

wizened red and white and green

calling my name

watching my games old as the hills

Inviting me with its hard gaze

come and visit

Look at my goldened head and flanks

Climb on my shoulders

I’ll give you a ride and show you the world

as it was and ever shall be.

It looks like that bunch of ants in their nest

uselessly full of self-importance

Swiftly carrying bits of food and nest material

to their pompous little homes

ignoring their temporary natures

with a self-impressed aura of prominence

their now 50 year domain only

a wisp of dust

in the wind of majestic prominence.

     FALCON EYES

October 7, 1992

My eyes were on the road moving straight ahead

I turned around

and walked back to the middle of the road

where

untouched

still warm,

The Falcon was breathing its last.

I held it in my arms and

I looked at me

Eye to eye

Gifting spirit and body

forever connecting energies.

He flew off to the highest place.

I give thanks.

THE SWAN

February 1, 1995

Long graceful

sleek, quiet

Swimming furiously in circles

in your small pond.

I arrive at dawn

as the water reflects the sun’s pink/orange ripple

the pond echoes your

circular swimming wingstroke

pink, orange wavelets

radiating outward

searching.

I call out your name

my kiss on your brow

You arise from the pond smiling

waltzing out of the water

It’s weaved wet gossamer silkiness

clinging to your reborn form

as you leave its cocoon web.

You are awake

We embrace

and

become

one.

        LAKEFUL OF LIES

September 4, 1995

I’ve just been fishing in your lakeful of lies.

I’ve been fishing to find out who you are.

The fish looked sweet and fresh,

Distorted through the fake sweet sheen glass

of your shoals

Just luscious and delectable.

After six months of trying

I finally caught one

Its sprayed on flavor veneer was

Rank with new car odor underneath the syrupy lightness

It’s biting acidy true flavor made

My stomach curdle with the truth

Leaving a bad aftertaste.

Sooner or later I had to taste it for awhile

One bite should be enough, I thought.

I spit it out, the acid aftertaste washing away

The Monet dream of self-delusion

Before it did more damage to my soul.

        THERE WAS A TIME

October 15, 1995

There was a time...

that I held you close in my heart

There was a time....

that I saw a reflection in your eyes

the two of us in the embrace as one

There was a time....

when I held you in our arms

when I felt you in my dreams

There was a time....

when you said those silly little cute things

I still hear you saying

There was a time....

when I felt you present - always

when our hopes and dreams felt as one

There was a time....

when I could feel you, touch you, hold you, know you whenever I wanted or needed you

There was a time....

when there was a magical sparkle in our eyes

when I felt your love in that locked gaze

There was a time.

Now the longing is still there

That time is over

But....I still hold you close in my heart.

CREAMSICLE

May 13, 1996

Pierce pointed rays of heat

Cut through the fluff

Through the cool

Orangewhite creamsicle sky

Dripping down to my senses

Quenching my parched soul.

LIGHTNING STRIKE

May 13, 1996

Starkbare

frondlessly forlorn

He stood by himself

with them all.

The sudden white-hot

explosion from nowhere

Left him

Like this.

A few bony

protuberances

jutting out irregularly

undaubed

by even the slightest

green breath.

He points

upward

lonely

Longing for life

again

Surrounded by it

Yet not part of it.

Distant Closeness

August 1996

I gaze across the ether 

into your blue limpid pools.

Diving in

I swim to your core

melting into

the heart of your rose.

It unfolds

blossoming

opening with time-lapse swiftness

as I spiral

inside

into the evermultiplying soullives

we have shared

as one

and as two.

I find myself you

intertwined

like a holy braid

a oneness

I had yet to share

wanting to return

to the comforting  entwinement

of our arms legs bodies hearts minds spirits

becoming

one

yet honoring separateness

we conjugate and fertilize each others

soul psyche separating

like a strand of genes

with freshly pollinated

glistening

healed skin

afterglow visible

and witnessed.

Driving Kisses

September, 1996

Driving down the road

Your hand in mine

I had to stop the car

to taste your soft lips fully.

The cars rushed by

buffeting us.

But your inner warmth

expanded within and without

shutting out the road noise.

The world goes on around us

I’ll stop it all anytime

to have you in my arms.

Big Daddy Oak

April 29, 1997

inspired 5/24/96

Tall Big Daddy oak reclines,

buffeted by a storm awhile back

Embracing

his cedar-daughter…

roots making her bed

nestling her from the harsh sun

she clearly happily sings

dancing at his feet

reveling in the comfort of his heart

Lizard Brother

April 29,1997

inspired 5/24/96

Patience

conservation

of movement

blending in

but being

individual

perseverance

existing on the minimum.

Sycamore Zaydeh     

April 29, 1997

You tower

over

me

reaching in five directions at once

straight and tall

one way

but leaning on neighbors with the next arm

thick as four people back to back

abiding, statuesque, leaning

counterdependent

your long green beards gently waving

their erudite slow wisdom.

“Patience,”

you say,

“Grow slow and long.

You’ll reach it eventually.”

Life goes ever on

no matter how

your rush is.

Mary-definitely contrary

April 29, 1997

She struts up

and down

the thoroughfare

owning it

directing traffic

in her mind.

She casts judgments

on all around

muttering under her breath

her meandering murmuring

heard by no one.

By night she huddles

fearstruck

in her small fetid space

fearing

the known unknown.

Vanilla Lady

April 29, 1997

I’m in love

with a vanilla lady

Her soft wavy auburn hair

framing a gentle smile.

She radiates warmth and desire

reined in by her past.

She holds back

to me

from me.

I sit coiled

waiting

to add

the rest of the spices.

She craves fearfully

poised at the spice rack

in my heart

ready to sprinkle with abandon…

she holds my right hand

back…

patience…slow down…wait awhile…

I know inside

that she is right

my lust-immediacy curbed

I mournfully

return my hands

to my side

afraid

the soup will prove

to be blandly

tasted

by another

before it is ready

with my savory palate missing

out

on a lifetime

of flavor.

Twilight

May 3, 1997

Its twilight

as their smiles interlock

all knowing

their gnarled limbs embrace

intertwined,

one for years,

knowing each other

in every way for so long,

their gaze

makes love so gently,

sweetly radiant,

aglow from a distance,

entrained

by the waters of life

burbling their soft joyous song.

Soul Purification

May 4,  1997

I smell the sweet fresh aroma

as it wafts

from the swirling eddies of action,

flowerlike, alive,

wrought

with new creation

by the moment, it passes by

languorously breathing a sigh of soothing to my soul

as I drink up its totality,

knowing

I can never be sated

its endlessness opens

my innerness

bare

for only the waters to privately

wash and cleanse.