pulchritude

denying tangled birds and broken twigs
you speak of oxygen
of pure green shoots
and the brief wind that sways you

your breath spills lilacs
through the cardboard windows of my soul
my hands, you say, are tulips
of flute-like symmetry

I balance on your oaken arm
as you raise me
to meet the breaking rays
the first taste of the sun's tongue

illuminating
abandoned nests, forgotten flowers
gathered from your spreading crown
by my scarred and spotted hands

at end of day

at end of
day

pages
turn
and close
gently, gently

brilliant
incomprehensible
day

garlands
of faces
gems
ripe
falling

soft eyes
smiling
windless
whisper

rainbow fading
train
receding

mind closing
eyes
opening

sight
bright
infinite

thought
fading

no
longer
needed

with a bear's heart

with a bear's heart
I stand
as my breath rolls carefree
into the valley

with a bear's heart I lean
into a cauldron of blue
where the trees fail
and the stones glisten

with a bear's heart I reach
into the golden sand of the sky
stirring until it melts
beyond shadows, into the scent of stars

3 haiku

storm clouds reflected
fallen leaves floating --sent as
gifts from the blue sky

.....................................

bridge lifts me over
deep troubled canyon waters
my feet in the clouds

.....................................

rising moon calls me
out of my diorama
into breathless night

restless and rooted

crabapple trees
are blooming now
restless and rooted

lining the streets
like police
before a riot

crabapple trees
blooming now
dark branches reaching

snakes lifted up
by tornadoes
of petals

each white petal
blood-
spotted

crabapples rising
like thunder
into the sky

something is pulling
my heart out
is it time
to cry

wishes

what I know about wishes
could fill a book
shaken overhead till the pages
run clear as maple sap

what I know about wishes
could fill a song
lifting leaves from their twigs, like feathers
inhaled by the wind

what I know about wishes
could fill a river
swallowing fingers and feet
diving off mountains

what I know about wishes
could fill my arms
with tails and tentacles, with trails
blazed through a storm of green leaves

The

always on our lips
but not heard

our favorite word

the pointing finger
the gaze that raises the sun in the east

the last three letters of "breathe"
ending it
so it can float away whole

one soft tongue
two teeth
one mouth kissing life into the world

The
is the name of God

jewels

Gabriel sent
Jewels bright as iris sky
Flashing feathers and a cry

Gabriel laid
Snow under the full moon
Pebbles inside a torrent

Honey and sunrise
Rested on my shoulder
When my eyes crashed open

To fire in a blue sky
Gabriel by the flame
Tipping birds down and laughing

cat licking paw

at dawn

her song
promised a midnight rainbow
leaving discarded stars
in your eyes

at dawn
tigers fold their stripes
the moon drifts home to shelter
the sky holds you while you fall

you are the reason

you are the reason I am made
this morning
from fallen acorns and moss
lifted through shades of sunlight
dappled

you are the reason I am made
this day
not abandoned from the sky, not lost
but built from molecules
and flames

your fingers grow into mine
like soft roots
reaching down with the trees, past fire
to deep negotiations with
the sea

make one person happy

make one person happy
and the world explodes

green rain whispers
though billowing snow

tiny flakes sting
in tender eyes

fireflies sing, flying fish fly
leaping about in impossible skies

when one person smiles
the key turns

and the world explodes

to drink

behind the bamboo forest
I put on legs to stride
across the spongy ground
with my fingers to lift
the helpless world into my skin
to drink, to drown

to share the owl's blood
to stand
as the sky returns its drama
to the earth, in drops upon its shoulders
to drink, to breathe
to pull the flowing moon into my veins

my thoughts fly to you

my thoughts
fly to you
like moths
to the window

like sparrows
arrows piercing clouds
to where you are

my thoughts
race to you
like freight cars
derailing

or cormorants
streaking past shipwrecks
to where you are

my thoughts
reach out to you
on spider lines
tied to the moon

on pebbles tumbling over floodwaters
to where you are

standing rooted
before the green
heavy sky
falls

my thoughts fly to you

when you look at me

when you look at me
my heart spills like a wineglass
falling into snow

when you look at me
rosepetals drift like seabirds
into April air

when you look at me
my eyes waver, butterflies
in pools of sunshine

between soil and stars

I reach for
your hand that breathes
your eyes that soar and glide
in the heavy sun

I reach for
your hand that sings
with the bee's laughter
vibrating through roots

between soil and stars
shipwrecked, I reach for
your hand that pulls me
deep to the elephant's dance