Sometimes
before you arrive
I imagine the drive
the dusty winds
roads blown sand blind
the breath hot desert
red upon your back
the drown of dripping sweat
a mirage, a swimming lake
an oasis, of mind escape
how you travel as saguaro fields fly by
Sometimes
before you arrive
I imagine the drive
the dusty winds
roads blown sand blind
the breath hot desert
red upon your back
the drown of dripping sweat
a mirage, a swimming lake
an oasis, of mind escape
how you travel as saguaro fields fly by
Early in the morning
blue skies of birdsong
winging in summer
singing sweet of dawn
awakened from dreaming
the day is unfolding with love
early in the morning with the sun
we are opening like blossoms at blue lily pond
no words spoken only reflection within
early in the morning with the sun
Summer flowers, all the tiny petals
are colored stars falling to the river
floating in a watery heaven
sailing far beyond this day
into nothingness
into everything seen
like blood red petals
that mingle with
autumn’s moon
I went home, it was a long, dry stretch of road
walking backwards toward the sun
the red heat dripped and pooled
rested in spaces of backbone
a white hot desert, sand blown
I went searching
beyond denial – to feel
I found lost parts
beyond the parch
and peel
Moon winds pretend to know me
clouds steal the sky away
never knowing my name
only a diaphanous veil
what game
night stars
play
A susurrus wind
of chaparral lingers on
after the rain, in the heat of day
behind mountainous clouds
the hissing sun will scarcely fade
until at dusk it finally crawls
and swiftly snakes away.
That grasping glance
the moment we don’t look back
the fall and plunge, the coming undone
drinking deep of August’s moon
sweet the jasmine vines
spilling with perfume
the impossible tangling
of we two
This is a familiar vigil
a walk that turns to run
a drenching lovely rain
a practiced pain
that melts of
scorching sun
Only a taboo train
for immigrants
castaways rolling
steel wheeled
waiting to derail
Still we enter
this frightful tunnel
through blinding blackness
the heart we gamble
to reach the other side
This desert, with blinding beauty burns
a season of birds, always coming, going
before the sun, the raining grey of clouds
we traveled miles over hills leading up and outward
with all its budding ways, the glowing days of May
fragrant petals faded into summer
scorch of our lips, how we slipped
into the ways of reign and fire
our love, only a smouldering pyre
These women, they are old
in touch with ancient ways
the dredging of deeper points
they’ve come to know
and show, without hiding
Their faces are worn weathered maps
lines and holy roads
with soulful eyes
smiling they settle
and sit you down
beside them
In their circle of fire and knowing
these women of the earth
serve milky tea and mirth
their laughter resounds
it pounds the heart
grounds you there
in the fervent pureness
of your tears
A fevered pulse
though sweat moves slow
as night falls
fast upon our bed
breath of steam
we float like dream
to fill the hollows
sink, we swallow
the light of gold
we seek to follow
hear a blue calling
under the ache of stars
as the moon blooms
softly sallow.
Mouth, hands and all the rest
the way you dressed your words
a sort of singing, musical, fanciful
the captivating notes
how they lured me
I fled to escape
your haunting ways
whispers still that
keep me
awake
This morning, upon my wall
with lilies, lilies tall
sun shadows
the beauty
of it
all
Colors
and flowers
birds of dawn
in the singing trees
has only ever been a dream
It was Spring
we drove the narrow highway
southward from Bisbee to Douglas
near to the Mexican border
The town was poor
there were discount stores
sales and signs written in Spanish
there were silk flower shops
brightly colored bouquets
people carrying funeral arrangements
Many were the words
spoken in Spanish
many the beautiful
brown skinned people
all around the town, and soon we found
that we were quite strange
and oddly, apparently foreign
Your eyes are blue water
lovely drowning pools, I swim
some days
seemingly the sun
across summer fields
always, daisies moving toward you
an uprooted child, replanted
you flourish in earth and sky
dirt black hands in loamy soils
deeply rooted from the core
your salty sweet lips
are orchard fruits and fields to kiss
your arms hold worlds of weight
or fragrant flowers to embrace
with gentle wings, you’ve come
softly touching down, a ripple, a rainfall
washing clear my soul – undone
There was a bird, that time, a flicker
they always remind me of you
the melt of spring fever, the tapping on the roof
how like snow, the petals flew
that window, the rain, the rainbows too
the breath and sigh of you
our springtime walks
the way the forest talked
soon of summer to come
we were completely undone
unchained in the falling rains
sweet like music the call
of your name.
It came softly warm, mist of fragrant showers
garden flowers of parchment petals
drank of sun, of moon, of rain
silent, the Perseid showers
a falling sea of rain.
These nights, this lonely space
blue or black, that starless looms
strange orbit pulls me to you
our misaligned planetary arrangement
spend my days ruled by the sun
but nights I trip, faint in a nebulous field
dream in colorful clouds of sighs, with you
tis’ only my fate, I can never escape
only linger under magnetic moons.
Here we sleep under star flowers
a flash of meteor showers
our room a fire light – full bloom
sigh and breath of moon
we travel nights like this
in a sky of sparkling jewels
swim and dream, float
in shimmering pools.
Never run swift and away
leaving without words
never go fast my love, escaping on far off trains
only to ride all of your days, gone from me
arriving in places foreign and sad
left waiting empty
traveling ever lonely
on and on
Oh green I sing, of wings and birds across blue morning sky
with summer sounds, willows round the floating pond
dipping gently by.
Warm winds play music soft
through leaves and reeds, they sing
gathering in the transient breeze.
All the day I rest my head
breathe sweet the flowering fields
never shall I leave this place
nor want for any sweeter heaven.
In the garden, a bird, a flower
gold the edge, gold the dawn that hovers
a song of summer, a tiny sparrow perched
long upon the woody yarrow, that musky fills the air
a redolent warmly breeze, brushes by the maple trees
caressing sweet the singing leaves and breathes the air of heaven
in the gold of a halcyon summer
beyond the hills of sage, grey plumes
a stark blue sky cloudless looms
and sings with birds in lilting waves high above the field
they break the silence in a world transformed
a song – void of man’s ordinary words.
The mad allure
the bite, the cure
haste and taste of you
splendorous kiss
sudden slip, we drip
wet in rivulets
of sweat
Our flaming fire
swallowed by desire
a gathering storm
so calmly warm, just before
the fall, the come hither call
that pours and pours
drops of diaphanous rain
When we were very far
and young, in a place with no roads to follow
only a winding path, a branch to grasp
a place to fill the hollow
Blue the summer, with drowsy daisies came
petals, petals, we drew circles round the sun
gold spun, our halo heads of pollen
gold the bees of sleepy flowers
amid clover grass heaven
Days we lived deep in hills
we were endless green, in unmapped countries
stretching past the farms afield, in other worlds
too far to see, we lived beyond the gray of days
and we were free, in the shining silver
of our hallowed hills of ever
Where sleeps the crescent moon
and drifts bright stars away
to bring a song of light
glowing from a thicket there
where tawny birds take flight
or dappled in the wooded trees
foggy breathes the morning light
with rousing sounds of faeries there
drowsy in their dreaming cares
they bid farewell unto the night,
to stars that sail swift into the evanescent light.
Now springs another day from this woodland place
soft with mossy grays or starry lichen lace
green the leafy ferns will wake
with scented rains, wet upon the bark
incense cedars drift and swirl
sweet, the air of smoke
until alas the sun, so brilliant comes
from behind a clouded cloak
and disappears once more
the dawn that softly spoke.
Clouds, I drift upwards
lofty float with billowing, pillowy thoughts
to places high and heavenly sought
bathed in sun dappled warmth
see the greening leaves brought forth
fruition and flowery goals
some secrets of nature I can never know
see how days forever go
feel how summer encircles
my soul.
Lilies in the long grass
wild with tigers, striped orange
under trees, cool canopied
buds of sun blossoming
pretty cats slumber
sleek they dream
twitching whiskery
breathing slow
slinking low
as if to stalk
shock the
sallow moon
hunt and growl
purr and prowl
animal whisperings
stark the tiger lilies
glistening.
How many times at this cliff, wild with winds
waiting for direction, even though storm clouds come
I look beyond, remembering the halcyon days
but today – rain, rain, rain
Tonight in this garden
a million flowers loom
clouds of gypsophila bloom
through our window and beyond
with fragrant vines, they sprawl
saturate scented paper walls
these night lilies, only a dalliance
that blooms and fades
your hands, my breath of sighs
we are drunk from dulcet wine
sung from the whisper of moon that dips
caress of your reddened lips
traveling this world
lilting softly slow
I woke early to silence
but for the whirring of a fan
the stillness before dawn
I wrote these words
though they never convey
the pure heart of morning
pure the song of the first bird.
When you come home
bring forth a garden, a storm
all the colors of you
a flower petaled rain befalls me
a soaking, sweeping view
from mountains you come
calmly with rain
deep from earth’s core
sweet with petrichor
encircling softly warm
attracts me magnetically
stupefies me uncontrollably
though I know the killing hour
will come crushing, empty and forlorn.
When peace comes curling up to me
comes to rest softly on a sweetest breeze
or in the cooing of a mourning dove
carries my aching soul far and gone
it comes in the soothing kiss of dawn
in the quiet clouds of red and orange
brief a fiery sky, consumes all the
troubles of this world.
This evening, with the wind
of my curtains breathing, I listen for night birds
watch the room grow pale
the finality of day, a nightly ritual
how skies reconstruct themselves over again
twinkle and murmur of stars
cynosure of all planets, even unseen
clouds like amnesia, hide things
our earthbound slipping away
of days lost irretrievable
involuntary
necessary signals sent
heartbeats and breathing
If when you leave, you do not think of me
or do not call my name, then I will be a lost
and fallen star, diffused and drowned in
unforgiving seas. I will be restless on the waves
of my days, blind to all horizons
with dark stormy eyes
then only grey blinding fog
will settle in, descending
with smoke to kill, to choke
my dying heart.
It must be a tricky business
it lingers, hovers stealthily
an invisible silence
a swift inhabitation
the soul awaits
to startle the body
In wordless voice
moves from room to room
turning lights on
spends a lifetime
ever longing
to be heard
When I returned home, after having been gone
I’d missed the fire orange poppies blooming
missed the lilacs too, it was early summer
time for bright and blossoming flowers
there is no place that fits me quite like this
no place I wear this smile, quite the same
I follow bees into the garden
I sing like morning birds
just to be home
high up in the tree
a lonesome feathery dove,
does he coo for love?
I find myself here, wild
roaming the long road home
to no one belong
Spend all of these days
together or alone
Survive the heave and cleave
the warp, the weave
of winding years
A lifetime, a spiral of
trying
flying
dying
This path of sandy footsteps, windblown and buried
this road contemplated, walked upon
the veritable green of a forest speaking
I come out the other side, bask in flower meadows naked
travel to summer seas, float the wild blue-greens
watch the wet sand, of footprints sinking
a nomad, windswept – my days of seeking
I see the watercolor sky, a painting in orange, red
soft feathery ferns, my bed, left to dream under
moon jeweled skies, indigo velvet nights
only to breathe the sparkling air
of this evanescent life.
Gathering colors of day
sea of green viridian, washing storms of grey
seagulls cry in shades colored blue
how mad the ocean’s raving tune
it sweeps away the end of day, a hopeful sun
to paint the sky of blackness
paleness of moon
rises, fades
beyond the sway
of silvery shades
night shimmers its way
into red and blue
where fiery clouds ignite
the day once more anew.
It was only my words unheard
fallen upon deafened ears
a sad parade of tears
the final gasping choke
cruel words you spoke
how blood soaked
my heart – dropped and dead
Oh these doves, they are cooing crazy
a language full of sunrise colors
with a variance of blues, they coo
and soon the quails – laughing
the way they do, in their morning mood
smaller birds chirp and shrill
the air, melodic music filled
here amid this cactus garden
singing just because
their halcyon songs to the sun
and too these flowers
explode in petals of pale yellow
blooming high
in the saguaro towers
Wings they came at first, unknowingly
didn’t even feel them – a part of me
until you pulled the ground
the quicksand from my feet
breathed my sinking sleep
awake
Never leave running away in uncertain winds,
nor leave me dangling as a leaf, high or out of reach,
hung by a thread to spin
darling, you are the sea of my drowning,
the placid lake I’ve come to swim.
Come with your smile, sunning
let your days go shining at the shore
where our eyes shimmer as moonlight on water
tranquil as the silent stars that fall.
Come as the ocean blue, dazzling, opulent
with expansive arms, embracing all of this
even wildfires burning fast into embers
a torrent, a rushing river
our love, like holy water
that finds its way back
to an undying sea.
It was shallow water, rippling
a watery moon quivering
on the surface seen
It was night fire
burning water into steam
gray smoke screened
It was willful drowning
upon a lily bed of lies
parched a wilted garden
slowly withers, dies
This sacred mountain
holds me ever close
this trail fat with hope
to whom I’ve finally
told the truth
Redolent rain
steel train
streak of blue
racing through
night lands
rainy window
sallow moon glow
no reservation
nor hesitation
time to travel
some things
to unravel
go looking
unhooking
my mind
drift into peace
float in my seat
high in the sky
sweet sighs
to feel again
finally
understand
there is
no plan
only
a dream
within
a dream
to feel
a life time
so surreal.
I looked into the center
into the circles of gradient color
the pollen, sun gold anthers
sepals green, holding close the petals
smooth stemmed, impossible heavy heads
beautifully in rings around trees
the honey sweet blossoming spring
busy with new born bees
that fly in fragrant dream
discovering lilies bright as sun
watching bees become one with flowers.
The blossoming green seas
sometimes shines of two
wet, watery kissed
salt drenched lips
of burning steam
bodies unfixed
tangled into
dream.
Alone, this time is slow
though for you faster, I know
out of reach, we do not touch
cannot speak of two
all day I only think in blue
climb these craggy trees
to hide myself away
lay in the seaweed sways
wait the night to swallow
my lonesome day
oh and then the cruel stars
the ones you named
appear, to shine
and speak of you
in vain
I sit here, brood
a twisted mood
think how
to forward move
how to undo
a tricky tightrope wobble
people pulling me
I cannot walk straight
need time to deflate
lose these traps
want to break free
of the need
want to find me
really love me
please go away
you cannot touch me
cannot know me
or go with me
cannot show me
anything I need
from you
I am the juice
the fire
the truth
the liar
you are reflecting
back to me
places I do not desire
I am feeling
dismayed
afraid
of the price
I’ve paid
now is the breakaway
the reckoning day
no plane
no train
no half insane
free to go
free to assail
derail myself
from you
far and
gone.
From this island, water and more tiny islands
heavy treed with Douglas fir
landing ground to ocean otters
while orca whales glide by
spout and spray
the beach, broken shelled
puddled wells of tide pools
filling, spilling over again
brown bauble seaweed mingles
round algae rocks, barnacle shingled
here where the air breathes salt scented
water running wild with salmon
Some say
she is lost to writing poems
snippets, little vignettes of beauty
so much nature inspired, obsessed
with green, botany driven desires
forever in skies, blue, or black with stars
meteor showers, falling, melting
like the liquid silver, red sea of mars
crashing waves, her days
tossed, tumbled, stumbling onto poetry
there is no fault, in words
no shame to be made
would be a sorrowful price to pay
she is writing to find
some truths, a sleuth, a seeker
of going within, without doubt
writing to find herself
most days searching out signs of life
to feel what it would be like, to be
in trees, in leaves, to sleep in green towers
of garden lily bowers
to finally dream in lucid colors, surreal
climbing invisible ladders
in orchards of apple blossom Springs
to sing, sing, sing
Orchard
Walking this ground
we gather rusted remnants
pieces of a lifetime placed
within the hollows of our shoulders
and from the hardened blades
the bones, this is the place
where gorgeous wings
are formed
Iris, how you shallow breathe in winter
shiver under clouds, laid in a bed decayed and brown
your days cold in a garden, green and underground
long through all of winter
with spring only ever waiting
for the unfurling, color blue of you.
If wind
would have known
could have gone
another way around
if I had not been too soon, too late
to hesitate or let myself go – unbound
piled, buried too late to be found
if I’d not have stayed away far too long
yours would be a place
I still call home
I think of mountains
the way they climb for the sky
losing their way through clouds.
Looking up, I never know if they reach the top,
or do they see me way down here?
Some kind of ant, I dig for rocks
a pocket full, turquoise blue
a miner for Apache jewels
exposed by red dust winds
as the day chips away
and carves a night
back into black
obsidian.
These flowers
coronal quivers of gold
heavy headed they nod
sweeping sway of yellow
dancing white petaled
wild spring meadow
washes over me
bouyant in
a breezy
field
This antiquated avenue
of ghostly breath – breathes
throne of the copper queen
and all who’ve been
will never be the same
sun drunk days
desert agave grey
hilly houses, some withered and crumbled
another vagrant, I amble
as red mountain swallows the sun
into night’s sky, so soon
the fading light of day
startled by the moon.