T shaped cloud

conversation with the Beast of Baluchistan

sitting next to the Beast
I am unmistakably
small

but being a nosy person
I ask
(carefully not using
the word "extinction")

Beast,
my friend

do these
21st century trees
satisfy?

Glempfllschhhh
he says
(that sounded like yes)

and may I ask
Sir Beast
are you a strict vegetarian?

(I did need to know)

Vroopff
he said
with an air of...old leaves?

And then
he looked me in both eyes
and spoke

I would lie if I said
I never am tempted
to nibble on salamanders

Oh! I said
and the snow
that melts in tiny lakes
around the tree trunks

you have seen it too?

And the invisible frogs
that sing in the Spring...

--My favorite sound!

and the tall grasses
with waving plumes
that glow in the setting sun
(I like to hide behind them--I'm shy, you know)

my dear Beast,
you are thirty feet tall,
can you disappear in the grass
just like that

the sun sparkling
in the rushes
distracts the eye

Uniquely ancient one,
I wonder
was the sunlight then
brighter, fresher

has it become discouraged
is it tired

those are strange words
my extremely small friend

we do not tire
we rest in the silence
we have millions of years
to live

Beast
is your silence the same
as that in my heart

yes, your stillness
deep enough to mute
a flock
of pterodactyls
it is the same

pale pink peony

seeds of night

love says,
bring me your darkness

shake out the shadows

let them fly to me
like sawdust into fire

ashes to snow

I would send
my shadows,
love
but they will not let go

seeds of night
caught in the walls
of my heart

love says,
let them stay

for these treasures
I will travel

to you
dark rose
in my garden of light

Happy Birthday to Krystyna!

Best wishes for a lovely "20th" birthday Krystyna--these are all the flowers I could fit in one post!
Visit her at

Staying Young....and Healthy

ice crystals over stream

perfection

I remember, then
when your eyes were closed

how I caught
a small new world
catapulting from inside your body
inches
from the ground

how brave, how blessed
was that dusty
snow-speckled floor
that held you softly

and the haphazard canopy of sticks
that kept us
from the cruel stars

I remember, still
when your eyes were closed
I searched in vain
for clean straw

setting the cows, finally
to lick the blood away
still damp on your legs

and later
in the gathering snow
and stillness
my hands
told me

that they had touched
perfection
in that shining form

as it unfolded out of you
radiant in flesh,
that night
and forever

but also
the same perfection
shone
in the blood-streaked
trampled soil

on which we lay

paper birch

spirit

lost spirit,
part
of my ancient heart
what
can I give you?

dear one,
hold close in your arms
for me
the joy
of your eyes
first opening

the sun's whisper
lifting the grass
each morning

this is
what I need

lost spirit
ribbon of snow
drifting
past
stones and shadow
how
will I find you?

dear one,
hold close in your arms
for me
the melody
that makes a deer leap
in spring

the song you sing
when love is
the only language

the weightless light
that floats you
through the sky

and when your arms
can reach no more
and you see
with your own heart
blindly

then
you will surely find me

mountain sunrise

tenderness

it was enough
for the sun
to touch a cloud

with a sudden
blush
rose pink
as the throat
of an abalone shell

enough
to set
a drift of geese
tracing lazy fingertips
across an orange sky

pulling my heart
awake

enough tenderness
to make
time
drop its walking stick

and kneel
beside me