Tuesday, December 30, 2008

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

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

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

Friday, December 19, 2008

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

    Monday, December 08, 2008

    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

    Friday, December 05, 2008

    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