December 29, 2014

The Measure of Love




take my hand in yours, hold on, don’t stop
take my heart in yours, listen, the beat is yours
step with me into the moonlight, the sunrise, the sun set
step side by side to the rhythm and pulse of one, loving and kind

December 19, 2014

Age

Insistence of Age   
You turn my heart upside down, you turn my mind inside out, you twist me in knots; night after night until loneliness is all I've got; hammering these nights with dreaded thoughts. 

You threw away the key, no entrance, no admittance, to leave me with hopelessness in my desire; in a room all alone and away from you, high you stand on a pinnacle, a spire. 

I write until my heart bleeds out the words, soaking the page with sorrow; can’t go back, don’t look back, no sunrise in sight, not even a tomorrow.  The needle enters, striking the vein

Through the Gauze of Time    
Wrinkled and weathered
old age, the gauze of time
the mirror reflects

I smile, we are old
you throw back your head and laugh
I kiss your soft lips

December 6, 2014

Sweet Dreams

Joseph Grubb passed away, he was 92.
Rest peacefully now, Uncle Joe....We love you.


Flow into night’s slumber, soft summer breeze
winter is upon us, with snow drifts and freeze

sweet dreams of sunshine, bright colored days
away from the darkness of cold shadowed haze

sleep tight, sleep warm
sleep into the morn’
sleep until dawn breaks
until God’s soul He takes



November 24, 2014

The Bitter Truth

I do not lie..  Lies spoil the order of beauty between two people.  
Instead…., I told the truth and I still destroyed beauty
I told the truth and it was hurtful
I hurt you


How do you escape the truth, the murderous truth
to the gravediggers delight  
I killed you, a fist made of truths that night
regrets were too late


I may as well have struck my own heart
I felt the pain I inflicted from the start
May I ask forgiveness, where truths are told?
Is there a way out of this deep sadness?


I would die for you
I would lay down my life and carry you
through burning hills, through forever
I would do anything for you


I would hold you, caress your cheek
and tell you I’m sorry
I hurt you
I’m sorry



Fog #2

Photograph by Ryan Groff

dampness smothers air...
settles down upon the ground…
an eerie quiet...


November 23, 2014

Love's Mystery

Love mystifies dawn, showing a quiet stardom, and yet
how brilliantly it outshines the morning dew
spreading lightwaves across fields and oceans
like a smile that sparkles with day’s light
like a stirring pulse
awakening the shadows
sharing a beauty of the order of life

November 18, 2014

Discrimination ~ Haiku

Tonight I listened to Billie Holiday’s song, Strange Fruit, for the first time. Heartache came to me.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4ZyuULy9zs

White Cloth

white cloth hoods to mask
cross bearing and knotted rope
hands bound tight to side
left to sway on limb
hung from tree bow at leisure

death comes in the night
hatred putrifies
prejudiced anger rains down
the color black dies

The Ferguson Conflict

Killing Field

piercing flesh, shots fired
down to the ground, violence strikes  
death never misses

a loud cry is heard
marching, chanting, clasping hands
for whom the bell tolls

Cold Mist
fog rolls onto shore
night air chills, takes breath away
step quickly through sand
mist pools, collecting on face
hearth fires burn at home
warmth patiently waits to dry
close eyes to slumber
pounding surf wakens the dead
drip bloody footprints
across cemetery graves




Forgiveness


This Sunday Morning
angels sing aloft
hear the voices lift the dark
daybreak warms the heart


November 15, 2014

Withered

MotherVineBIG.jpg.jpg
grapes fermented, became wine
bottom of the barrel is now dry
time to say goodbye

no more wine
no more rhyme
gone the sublime

withered leaves, barren and brown
shriveled branches, curled to the ground
a season for all things
come this way again next spring
GLRaV4.jpg


November 14, 2014

Winter in Yosemite



958586-bigthumbnail.jpg


Where the warmth of the sun sets high upon the mountain ridge, the valley below lifts its blanket of fog and spreads a numbing chill across the grassland.  The stream ambles, slows, knowing the freeze of night approaches.


November 13, 2014

Plug Nickel

She held a nickel in her hand, a nickel in her hand was grand she said
she asked me how much my life was worth, my life was worth?
I told her I would give up my life for her, and would a nickel in your hand be grand? I asked


A penny or two, I was worth to you
dead or alive, consumption or flu
lay down my life, I would give at will
no other promise, a wager will fill



November 11, 2014

The Embrace

grasp hands to calm the seas
love fill me more each day
shine love upon my face
love seeks the world
turn your eyes to me

hang the faces of time
masks peel away
throw away the cares
find daylight’s strength
dark eyes, look into mine

It's time to start
embrace the clasp
listen for the words
sing a new song
lift up your heart

November 10, 2014

Love Speaks in a Dream

sleep nestles its brow
longingly, dreams gently tug
slumber upon clouds


I dream of you, softly moving across the sky
I dream of you, turbulent and exciting lightning bolts
I dream a dream of you, when fingertips touch the magic of shooting stars.




November 6, 2014

Consumed


She steps quickly through the chill of fog, a dense substance rolling toward shore to take the night; misty pools collect on limbs, and burdening her delicate outstretched arms.  She can taste the threatening hearth fires, and the warmth impatiently waits to dry her dark eyes to slumber.
Gone is the night sky
Gone is the day’s light
Forever lost are the amber suns, white moons, snow topped mountains and rolling grasses.
Away from city lights
Away from country walks
and farmland crops
Walking into endless bombing, torture and slaughter of beast, man, women and children.
Endless days
Endless nights
She steps across the land and into the cold of the fog; out of breath, her heartbeat quickens then slows as she nears the fire; flames touch the fabric of life from hem to waist, from waist to the end of days; closing her eyes, sleep consumed the heat.



October 30, 2014

Creepies and Crawlies

Two sisters sat upon a slippery slope, waiting, waiting, waiting
willowy and winsome, the wonderment of two wide-eyed warblers
singing their sentiments into the starry night
and little did they know
creepie crawlies come out to catch carolers in the snow

slither the stinking shapeshifters through the silent shadows
slinking up to these stolling sisters and stabbing hands into their steely stays
shapeshifters startled by the strong style corsets
then punishing punches and pinching issued, produced by petite felines
A strong surprise! To the sea shore the shapeshifters took a beeline!

Ghouls Night Out

Ghouls’ chains clanking all night long
this poor excuse for a song
through the street, dragging their feet
it’s no wonder the dead can’t sleep


Ghouls stare in a trance
and call this a dance
They have their fun
we take off in a run
don’t be caught tonight
or you’ll die of fright

October 22, 2014

If I were to dream you in my dreams


If I were to dream the colors of fall
it would be through your eyes I see it all
If I were to dream the magic of spring
I would see you there in the bubbling stream
If I were to dream on a harsh winter's night
there would be warmth by the fire’s light
If I were to dream a summer day
I would sit on the sand watching you play
Dreams come at night when lights are out
quiet, softly a yawn, lips in a pout
You would be there sleeping peacefully
and I dreaming dreams of you next to me

October 20, 2014

A Grace Note

my heart is but a dreaming place, an aching space, an untouchable curse
soaring, moving, bending, blending, pausing, resting into a lyrical lullaby  
rising, falling, thumping, beating out a staccato, a reverie, a memory in verse

October 5, 2014

Run softly, run true




through the night, a current runs, the undertow is bent on having its way - the movement, the waltz, only the brave dare to dance; so dance with me, only the steps you know; step into me, remember, can’t forget, don’t regret;  hold my hand, take the step,  run softly across my heart.                                                                                                                                          

October 3, 2014

I Do

Stand, still, let the foamy ripples of surf trickle over and around your toes;  through your toes it goes.  You suck in your breath, heart stops then starts. A grain of sand is moved, it’s fickle, it tickles; cold than warm, air combating the elements;  sea and land moves, listens, hearing you say I do, I do! Caress me now with hunger; take me first, quench the thirst!


She backs away, onto dry land; grains of sand cling to wet salty feet; to keep, to remember, our September.

September 21, 2014

A Speck in Time


I kicked the earth, dust gathered at my feet, solitude broken and stirred with mirth; darkness shattered like glass, remembering the past; a small speck in time we both shared, until the music stopped.  Strings hang limp, where marionettes once danced.


September 13, 2014

Listen to My Heartbeat

My heart droops and drops, thumps, it sighs and cries; in circles it runs, around and around; empty field, a vacant lot, it watches and wants, waiting for that next hello. Hello again, hello rain.  When will the rain come down?  

I plead to the clouds, where are you? A whisper on a breeze replies, here I am.  Softly, silently, the parched earth hears the sound, it echos the falling sky, pelting the ground.  

Running through the streets, I thought I lost you.  Jumping over and between the crowd, around the drops of heartache, the rain fell over my eyes like a shroud.

Nothing more, nothing less, a mere whispered tear fights the breeze, lifts, floats, down on the tip of a butterfly’s wing; it caresses the air to secrets of my heart, with this key you will open; and the rain came down to sing.




The Flood - dreamscape Haiku

That one precious time
scorching blue, billowing clouds
puncturing moments
mud puddles melting
pelt scarred earth with drops of tears
coming down and down
oozing up to see
only one to see this time
a vapor are we
floating through the cracks
walls, floors, ceiling plaster falls
clouds tell you goodbye
my love vanishes
windswept loud and taken up
seeps a vanquished cry

August 30, 2014

Charmed


heart charm.jpg
I lie awake at night and think about my love, and a voice says my name
a face in a dream sings me to sleep, simple and plain  
and a little round charm hangs from a chain
a little round charm no bigger than a dime
shows a little heart no bigger than a teardrop, mine  
I wear my charm because it’s for you, my love, I pine



August 26, 2014

Fabric

You are part of me, I picked at the cotton thread on the piece of fabric and I knew this was from where I came; you are part of me, I, a little red thread hanging loose and waving in the breeze; I see you, fabric of sturdy threads, and I hanging loose and ready to fall, to leave the fold in your side, to take off and fly away on the breeze of an angel, never to look back; I tell myself, never look back, but I look back and see you, my fabric, and I, still a part of your fold.



August 10, 2014

Stand Still


the popsicles melted that day
it was a hot day, a blistering hot day
when the popsicles melted
I always wondered why we didn't sit in the shade of the tree
instead we stood on the street corner waving at strays
stray cats, stray dogs, and passersby, all the strays of the town
even a circus clown
the popsicles melted down our arms
down to our elbows, the juicy sticky goodness ran
it ran faster than the cats and the dogs, and faster than the cars
in that hottest day of that Month of that year
the hottest day I can remember
not July or August or September, it was May
the popsicles melted that day


I said, stand still
Impossible!
Time, stand still
Impossible!
Earth, stars, moon, stand still
We can’t, we can’t, even if we wanted to
we can't, not even for you!


She stood still, but as still as she would
on that day on that street corner, it was impossible
yes impossible
no matter how fast she stood licking her popsicle
yes as fast, as fast as she possibly could
she couldn't stop time from taking her popsicle away
on that hot day in May