It's Only Words

Haiku On Japan

2011-04-02T12:52:00.002-06:00

earthquake -

the cherry blossoms

crying too

spring breeze -

radiation falling

with the snowflakes

in the ocean

miles of rubble and -

a floating dog

tsunami -

in the cherry tree branches

birds and shoes

plum blossom twig -

each day singing louder

one tiny sparrow

Maya

2011-03-27T14:26:00.000-06:00

if you were looking closely

you might have seen a tiny smile

trace the outline

of trembling lips

in that otherworldly glow

just beyond the crimson dying sun

...and if you opened your ears wider

you might have heard the faintest sigh

waft upward

amongst the stars

to hang on bended knee

beneath a shiny silvern moon

…and if you ask why the smile

i would simply walk away,

for what answer

could be given

when i see my own breath dancing

in a world apart from men

Winter Begone!

2011-03-23T09:50:00.001-06:00

out on the new horizon

sun has driven back the stars

an hour earlier today

yet still you hang on

your cold breath dripping

between the pine trees

climbing the back steps,

to draw on the kitchen windows

you never really planned

on leaving for good did you...

but the joke is on you, my friend;

i stole sun's crooked little smile,

wrapped it carefully in my pocket

to secretly gaze upon

should you clog the sky yet again

you can prance up the back steps

with your icy footprints;

sun and i will be snoozing

out on the front deck -

it may only be for an hour or more

but plenty long enough for me

to laugh bravely in your face

and throw you...

right back down those steps

Tales Of Spring

2011-03-04T18:07:00.003-07:00

out here,

around the middle of April

a washed out sky,

hung over a drooping clothesline

of thickened mist and faded frost,

hangs itself out to dry

and there

among newborn blades of grass

a tiny purple crocus

bursts through the dirt...

and even

that grouchy magpie

swoons before its tender breath

Secret Wish

2011-02-20T13:51:00.001-07:00

it flung itself upon the ocean bed

undulating atop the swells

riding each foamy crest

till a breeze tossed it heavenward

under a canopy of frozen stars ...

so it traveled minute by minute

hour by hour, day by day…

till one spring morning there it was

traipsing amongst the daffodils,

each newborn bud caressed and kissed -

dancing here and there with a

gentle sway, happily and knowingly

chasing the flush across my face -

the thing I had yearned the most …

your smile

A Prayer

2011-02-07T18:12:00.001-07:00

A wine-coloured sun

clawed its way frantically

past darkened clouds.

I saw it plunge deeply

into the horizon

when Egypt shot one of its own -

left him lying

in a pool

of his red hot blood.

*Anubis will lead you, Egypt ,

to the sacred scales of *Maat,

*Ammut will devour more than your heart!

Have pity Osiris -

let the people balance

the soul of Egypt

that they may live with you forever

in the Fields of Peace...

*Maat - keeper of the scales - the one who decides if the heart(consciousness) is lighter than a feather
*Ammut - the demon (female) who devours the heart if it is heavier
*Anubis - protector of the dead in the journey to the afterlife

What Now O Universe?

2011-01-25T12:41:00.004-07:00

i've given my heart, traded my soul,

lost a friend, a father, an aunt

and buried my only son.

i've even laughed and sang

and danced a crazy jig

under the misty midnight sun.

i've tackled the bull by the horn.

when i wished for my demise

beneath its dusty feet,

yes... I've paid my dues and then some;

yet still

there's a lack of consummation,

a dragging feeling of deficiency...

i've eaten with earls and baronesses,

talked into the wee hours

with the homeless and poor.

i've chattered with the towhees,

howled with the coyotes

and whistled with the evening zephyr.

i've beckoned the delicate monarchs

at the river's watery edge

to join me in a cup of tea;

yet still

there's a touch of loneliness

clawing at the edge of my throat...

i've died and gone to heaven

when sequestered by an almond sunset.

i've poured out my stories of woe

to the peaceful babbling brook

and wrapped my consciousness

between the arms of a silky cedar.

i've traveled lands garnering wisdom

of the mystic ancients,

accepting this, rejecting that

till my mind floundered

in the pitchy quicksand

of too much knowledge;

yet still

those flashes of inadequacy,

a judgment of imperfection…

come sit with me a while my friend

while soft-spoken tears

etch the star-stained skies

as i stagger and stumble
deep in the mysteries of life...

Who?

2011-01-10T10:48:00.007-07:00

whose eyes will take my place

to watch sun marry flowers

if mine close mistily

under a peppered moon?

who will inhale the perfume of ice

when my breath is carried away

by the waiting arms

of the restless wind?

whose hands will touch the glow

of an afternoon rainbow

when mine go limp

falling useless to the side?

who will hear autumn

whisper softly to the goose...

who will wear the breath

of a monarch butterfly?

whose lips will sip

the brightness of stars,

the deep blue of the living ocean,

if mine wither and sigh no more?

...will it be you?

Misconception

2010-12-06T17:54:00.000-07:00

when I tried to follow

the footsteps

running through the canyons

of my mind

the path became unclear...

I needed to wander

where there was no path

Friends Forever

2010-11-26T18:27:00.000-07:00

on a warm and sunny spring day

I came to know Barney the gopher;

we became fast friends,

he chatting on the steps with me

and i keeping his front yard mowed

but soon spring turned to fall -

we went our separate ways...

he did not want to live inside -

i didn't fancy going underground

Enchantment

2010-11-10T07:36:00.001-07:00

if i forget

to breathe the soft perfume

of a citrine sun’s mellow rays

flirting by the shadow

of an old weathered oak tree,

or cling to the breeze of butterfly wings

glissading gracefully

on purple coneflower petals

then bury me quick in the deep blue sea...

for i will have broken a pact

made eons ago

betwixt a muddied mind

and a divine soul.

Soulmates

2010-11-03T18:38:00.000-06:00

When you reach out to touch me
the stars must softly smile
as those long forgotten memories
gently thread their way into our hearts.
How sweet this feeling,
one soul touching the other,
so intense at times
I needs must turn away...
not out of fear but because the caring
is such that I have never known
and surely the tears would start to fall.
Though most are shy to say "I need you"
my heart begs to know you more,
to throw aside the heavy curtain
that covers the oneness door.
So cleave me tightly to your breast
while the stars knowingly smile
as you offer to me your deepest self
when you reach out to touch me.

Epitaph

2010-11-03T18:27:00.000-06:00

She lived alone though not completely,

for she had her words,

words of far away memories

knocking, uninvited,

wrapping around well-chewed pencils

etched on dog-eared bits of paper

stained with many a cup of coffee

and sometimes tears that fell uncontrolled,

words of love, of joy, of lament

even words of unfeigned doubt.

She forfeited her heart

to learn the ways of the world

but always returned to the soothing streams

windswept trees and grassy knolls

of wide-open spaces.

Breathing joy at a flower's first buds

she wept softly in a glowing sunset,

marveled at a mountain's loftiness

closing her eyes to feel its gentle mists.

These too found their way into her words

exchanging secrets for the mere chance

to be worthy of her deification.

The world knew her not nor called her name

yet she asked for nothing and gave her all

in poignant poems that will live forever.

Of One Accord

2010-10-29T20:23:00.000-06:00

if we both cherished nature

i would borrow a piece of rainbow

for you to carry in your pocket

but i can see it's not rainbows

that brings a smile or laugh;

it's the gathering of possessions

that creates a sharp arrogance

which leaves me very cold

if we were leaves of the same tree

i would invite you to sip a cup of tea

beneath that whispering aspen

but i can see it's not a tea

that soothes your fretful days

it's that bottle of Jack Daniels

and that makes me very sad

if we would confer with one another

we could fly, you and i, to Ethiopia

dig in and help wherever we could

but i can see it's those committees

that make you feel more important

though we both know talk is cheap

so comes a lump to my throat

if we would intercommunicate

i would say: put away all your guns,

war never solves any problems

but i can see that daily violence

has become a way of life for you

i can only humbly bow my head

to say a heartfelt prayer

if all men looked one another

directly in the eye...

there'd be little need

to write these words

Reverence

2010-10-22T14:33:00.000-06:00

in the murmur of a new dawn

comes the scent of something lost

beckoning -

the way a flower craves sun

to bleed through faded petals

i stop...

the taste of eons past

melting with the dew drops

on silent lips,

utopia streaking my hair -

golden highlights

tinged with melancholy

a yearning

tearing at secret chambers

wanting to be known

to tranquility only

a whisper so soft

even beyond death's grave

through the window

painting the autumn morning sky

the remembrance

of love -

its faint echoes rising

stamping preternatural visions

on sleep-stained eyes

Remembering

2010-09-22T18:04:00.000-06:00

your face

in every leaf of

autumn's wind -

i finally strike your name

from my telephone list