And There Were Your Eyes

September 30, 2011

Staring

Waiting

Wanting

Asking

Pleading

Overflowing

Giving

Love of years,

And for years to come

Without condition or warrant

For a life down that expressway

Seen so often, so unoriginal,

Racing so fast that reasons were needed then lost

Rather than a walk under oaks

At a pace that yields

The love in my hand to yours, held.

Without wavering

Do your eyes remain, power

That keep mine in straight gaze. 

I Turned Aside

August 8, 2011

As it welcomed me in,

Its coves containing allure

Of place outside 

Of time,

Outside itself.

I started slow

Low

And found myself faster.

The farther and farther I went in

The more it opened up.

Where at its mouth the stream sat dry

It now ran wet,

Growing fuller the higher I climbed.

I drank and was filled,

I stepped and was carried on,

The heat of the day cooled

By springs and shading trees

Sending life and wisdom to any


Who would brave that long journey up.

Briars without number came to block the way

Through which I tore and slashed

Losing perfect skin to bloody paths of pain

From thorns dug in deep

Spurring my stride 

To march swifter.

The longer I journeyed the harder muscles pushed

And sweat drowned the eyes to near blindness.

Even if clothes be stripped

And flesh be ripped

Until, freed, my soul would soar, 

I couldn’t think of turning around;

Nor wanted to.

I had to see more

Be more

Feel more

Know.

But gradually light lessened.

My feet slipped in my fever—

Then above the green canopy I saw

A sea of gold. 

I made hinderances hide as

Poles dug in deep to thrust

Upward, to keep from the dark.

Too late to turn around, I went up.

But switchbacks came.

Would their distance away

Play more than the vertical feet gained?

As sinews faltered rounding a corner, 

Time almost gone, I was

Touched by a ray. My lungs

Opened and feet left the ground;

The wind defined my hastened legs

And wrote the words from my ears.

Purest energy did I receive that I felt

No other thing.

Walls and concaves became

Lines and points and so

I saw my end drawn.

On reaching the saddle among summits I sat.

Taking in the views of last sights

I raised my hand and caught that last bit of honey,

Warmth everlasting and true

And at last I knew.

As the sun gave diffuse grace

For late souls to get home

My feet dropped and shoulders let go

—It was dark.

Such was my day.

Cats Roll Around In the Pollen

April 6^th, 2011

Covered decking, taking in the breeze,

Looking up to me every so often to make sure.

After having sat for quite a while, all of a sudden,

On looking out there you are,

Sitting on a low branch of the maple,

Looking around,

Looking at me,

Silent,

Then away.

On looking up again, you catch my eye from the corner,

Deep in the limbs of a cedar, your red cloak giving you away,

You spy all the more. Even later you appear again

To visit a Robin that just flew in.

All this time you listen.

Now on a branch over head you let out

A single chirp. Is it time?

Up to the next branch you send a fuller chorus.

Up and Up,

Out and out,

Song to song you sing

Until at the top you stay stalwart.

You turn away from me to face the wind just come again,

With the quick glance away I find you’ve gone.

Did you see what you were looking for?

Did your message get across?

A flint—return, then wings,

Gracing me with the sight of your flight

The quiet song of your body:

Northern cardinal.

When the Defibrillators Are Raised

April 11^th, 2011

From a chest finding its rhythm

Eyes rip at the face for sight

A breath comes as a grasp

Desperate to leap from the void

Of fleeted life and take hold

Of forms

And sounds

And feeling.

Feet to the floor

Hands to the chest

Never had disbelief and joy been such bedmates,

Souls joined in the rekindling.

Fingers move by fires

In stripping medical manacles

Legs sending one outdoors

To run and leap in the parking lot

On concrete no tougher than

Reclaiming a life that was lost.

The scars on the chest

Can't hold back lungs that fill

With a will unto its self

And a contentedness found in the ability to smile

Even if only once more.