Sunday, May 27, 2012

Feather to the gale

you, standing there on the shore
looking out to sea,
what is it that you see?

are you illuminated?
has your vision once again
become light?
can you now see through
the darkness engulfing the flame?

if feet could smile, yours would
for they've brought you home again
from such a long stray

but oh, what a feather in a gale
home is and how rarely
do feet find it

does the moon remember you?
do the waves speak as before?

what is it that you see?
show me

for once, i too found that shore,
illumination in the night,
the song upon a wave

but that was oh so very long ago
and I've forgotten the language
once native to my heart

I'd come beside you
take your hand
invade your heart
share your eyes
and weep for the witness
-but then,
you'd forget too

and though, feather to the gale
you will anyway
i long for this moment
in your flight
this respite from lost
in the flame

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Paradise

where is paradise?

even the sound
the word's language
seems ethereal

i want it
don't you?

oh God but how we reach
scramble, climb and claw
run and swim
just to catch a glimpse

but what is it?
where is it?

is it in the eyes of a lover?
in the shadow of happiness?
is the symptom the disease?
or merely ego dreaming?

i've been close a time or twelve
i think, no-i swear!
i've grabbed and held it
in my grasp
only to feel it slip away
slip away
slip away

maybe it's the solitude of mountains
the depth of canyons
the peace of rivers
or something in between

maybe it's the joy
of a floor smattered
with children on christmas eve
or maybe it's the choir
we hear but never see

those who choose to suffer
say it isn't here
but over there
-waiting

but see,
i want it now
maybe not all of it
but some of it
enough of it
to keep me believing
in my lover's eyes

Saturday, May 19, 2012

The Whirlwind

shutter the windows, Alabama
hide the silver, all you fine ladies
and bury the chest you good men

it's time to lock down the borders
and sound the alarm

i am the whirlwind to your dust,
the dark pages in your bible
the preacher ignores, and
that nightmare
in your terror
that knocks on your door
and silences song birds

and i mean to tell you
i will not be denied
not your young girls
you've saved and hidden
nor the proud mountain
demanding respect

i will kick your door into splinters
and stain you upon fine linen
i will chew up your truth
and spit out graffiti

and your testimony, is it
to pardon me?
or validate you?

accusers are you all
who sit upon the jury
exonerating my heart
leaving the villain
as the only honest voice

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Lay Me Down Easy

i wanna go down to mexico
leaving this all behind
find myself a cantina
and a pretty senorita
who doesn't need to understand

i wanna go to galway bay
and meet her mojo on the cliffs
then can i bathe in a stillness
the vision of distance will provide

there's a lone pine in the bitter roots
that wont ask my name or why it is so
because my being in her womb
will be answer enough

i need to go back to the storm
that first blew me away
and that northern wheat field
that lent me sweet peace
in her warm copper sway

can i return, to that youthful morning
when hope in first light did yet tease me?

i need to go down
be made far and away
only a whisper

lay me down, you bearers of love
all of you, my tellers of truth
unbrand my burden and lay me down
and this time
lay me down
easy

Saturday, May 12, 2012

The Winter Raven

i might've been a songbird
cupped in morning's first light
the poetry of a chickadee
the elegance of a catbird
or maybe the joyful wren

from field to pasture
flocks of friendly sparrow
might have followed me

geese may have known rest
in my quiet pond, and the eagle
may have shared his mountain perch

but the blackbirds, they did swarm
and the crows, they did call
and here, in this late valley
of creeping dusk where all
that might have been has been forgotten

i find i have no song
and through blighted fields
it's the lazy cowbird that follows
leaving her future in others nests
and it's the felon blackbird i call
to escort me down dark alley ways

and it's here, in the tangled thicket
below the tall maple, where
the void of leaf or elegance
is swallowed in the last ray of light
drawing down the shade of hope
that i find myself silent
deep in the shadow
of the winter raven

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Elizabeth

In his sweet polished shoes
the look of mahogany
he sees his reflection
and is mesmerized

he sees the blazon throne of power
the pinnacle of glory
the banner of his beauty
and the means to achieve all

and also, he sees her,
a perk for the lofty flight with
her soft sensuous curves
and her fine cut breasts

all this, and us too
he carries up his mountain
a throne to build
from his Solomon vision

but on the echoing tarmac
tears of defeat rain heavy
before the raging thunder
of abandonment

her shirt she rips off,
the scarred and scorned breasts
she frames with these words-
"you don't see me anymore!"

and we all fall off his mountain
we fall hard
she falls harder
he's still falling

Friday, May 4, 2012

The Bridges Behind Me

they say, a man will go as far as he sees
and God knows, i've looked far
looking deep into the sun
when all the harried shouts
cried don't!

I've peeked to the lady's keyhole
and that vision carried me to Africa
I've snorkeled the depth of Darwin's tales
and rode his horse into babylon

Tristan jones magnified his adventures
and i sailed his ship to the white bear
a man can wander, and eat of the free bread,
said Dylan, so off to Mobile i went

and lightfoot told me there's a carefree highway
i believed him
and i'm still out there searching

these things the others have spoken of
i've seen, and my way maps out reality
on their torn pages of crooked fantasy

and while i can't say the journey
hasn't been worth the pain
it's the stench of the smolder
of the bridges i left burning behind

that has blistered the joy
and faded my vision

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

My Hope for Immortality

I sometimes look to the heavens, cast a wary eye, and wonder-am i being watched?

meanwhile
God kicks away some cloud from His throne and looks down,
putting his great hands to His hips, He smiles in spite of Himself.
Peter, watching from the gate, sees God rubbing his chin, suppressing a smile.
God waves peter over without looking, and tells him to bring the others.
they all gather and look down.
God points.
"Do you see him?"
no one responds
God leans down, then rears back.
Shaking His white woolen hair he continues
"Can you believe what he's doing now?"
Solomon chimes in and tilts his head in pity
"well, maybe the poor boy's confused, Great Father"
God glares and everyone steps back
"you had a thousand wives," God sweeps His great arm,  "and not even you were this confused!"
David looks closer and smiles before throwing his hands up
"this kid makes me look like a piker!"
Jacob nods. "me too"
Samson, being blind and remembering why, stays silent.
God, THE GOD, actually looks puzzled and shakes His head again
"you just never know what this guy's gonna do next"
Michael clears his throat
"Would you like me to go down there and slay him Great Father?"
God contemplates a moment
"no, he seems quite capable of doing that for himself"
God then signals for Gabriel
"what do his prayers look like, Gabriel?"
Gabriel glances to the others for help that doesn't come, and responds carefully
"well, it's hard to say, Father, they're all over the place. Can't make sense of them."
God raises a great eyebrow
Peter steps forward with the book
"Great Father, according to the book, the boy's time is nearly up"
God glances to the page and frowns
"hmm, yes, I see. well, I tell you what Peter, let's change that," God pauses to look down. "he's rather entertaining. you just never know what fool thing he might think of next."
Peter nods timidly.
"Yes, Father. When should i change it TO?"
God pauses to consider
"I'll tell you what, just leave it open for now. I'll let you know."
as God continues to look down, the others disperse, and the secretary comes forth.
"excuse me, Great Father, but i have a message from satan."
God looks disgusted
"you have, have you? well what does that devil want now?"
the secretary looks down sheepishly
"he says, that if that guy gets in, Esau and a bunch of others want to file an appeal"
God scowls and waves her off
"you tell satan to mind his own business. I'm not sure about this one yet"
as she walks away, she hears God laugh and she turns to see Him slapping his knees