heaven's gate

low clouds

low clouds reach down
in ragged fingers of rain
to your sleeping eyes

as your breath
weaves with the wind
through treetops

as stones stir from their beds
in the arms
of ancient waters

flowing new
in a river of blue
past the touch of my hand

creek vines

when you come back

when you come back to me
you will be different
with new dark brown lines
on your soft chest
feathers grown long
to bend down slightly
at wingtips

when you come back to me
I will be different
with new green lines
where my bark split
slightly
I can breathe now
more deeply

when you come back to me
I will show you
the wall of stones
thrown sideways by flood
and the soft sand
where you can stretch your feet down
to land

and you will show me
the sheen of your claws
the polish
where last night's meal
left no traces

seeds of the sun

day of the hawkweed

at night our moon slipped slowly
through fermenting clouds

and under its metal eye
we lay
flat

until the round horizon
flamed in the east

raising us
like tiny suns

radiating from earth
into the sky

stirring the pheasant to step
from his daylight sleep

in his rough
Egyptian robes

out onto
a blanket of stars

castle arbor

conversation with a mockingbird

you're the one, I said
I know your voice

when I hear it
I stop breathing
to listen

.....................he said nothing

last year
your joyous unearthly
turn of phrase
caught me
in mid-step
standing on one foot
to listen
.......................he turned his head
..........................that's funny, he said

the year before
I was dreaming
of pearls
peaches
sea anemones
blooming
in the perfect circle
of your voice

...........................go on, he said

the year before that
I had made a wish
for you
to stay
...........................but I don't stay

my morning bells
and slivers of moon
how do you carry
in your song
the sound of
silver and glass
in a mountain stream
of water
falling
over hemlock roots
hidden in pines
flying downward
through cliffs
....................I do not carry a song
...........I open my mouth and it happens
.................is it not the same for you?


................He flicked his tail and flew
he had bird things to do

bridge in June

click this link to see time travel backwards:
firebird landing: bridge in April

Anne's world

jetstream

the mountain peak
flew invisible
through my open window

in a sheer sheet of blue
raising the small hairs
on our bodies

you stretched legs out
into the torrent of air
claws breaking the stream

and we flew with ears flattened
lifted and blown

while the sky
licked us clean
as new clover

crazy ferns

sea of grass

I drew you to the window
early when I was still wet
from the night

when the sun
raised a thick scent of straw
opening red jewels of clover

the bees sang in the busy wind
I danced for you
and when your feet entered

the dampness
I bowed and turned
I broke for a minute

and you were captured
in our field of sighs
of tiny pricks and whispers

closing waist deep
around you
away from your shore

so much taller
than your heart ever knew

goodnight, sunrise

in the twilight of morning
something has caught my breath
from sleep
light blooms
trout-silver
sun the color of moon

in the evening of dawn
I close my eyes
I see dreams
the color of dew
fireflies becoming birds
first breath of song
before the sound

I will not wake
goodnight, sunrise

all I ask is the heart

all I ask is the heart
to blaze
in the hot sun
with the brilliance of a rose

to smile
when the shredded petals fall
down to the gentle worms
at my feet

to drink each shower
till the clouds dry and break
not measuring the minutes
of the last rainbow