Winter in Yosemite

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.                                                                                                                                          

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.

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.

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

Charmed

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

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.

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

In Love and War

What part of the earth cries for peace?

OVER HERE!  

OVER HERE!

OVER HERE!

What part of your spirit falls to war?

OVER HERE!
OVER HERE!
OVER HERE!

haters of mankind

why do you devalue life?

the sacred loving

Men, Women, Children

the precious bodies of life

hold these cries near you

Together ~ A Poem of Peace

Do not shun do not turn away, do not resist, we ask to stay

Our land, your land, a will to care, in strength we all must share

As we bury our dead, pray to acknowledge the fields we all tread

A million steps across this land, one day in hopes we walk hand in hand

Do not turn your back to us, sons and daughters, live in peace we must

Summer Night’s Dreamscape

Night looms and creeps, and slithers and slinks, the night’s cold fingers hold fast the arm of dreams, keeping at bay my wishes and longings, pleading to come into play - tortured and pushed and pulled, torn from the feathery night, my ballast of ancient seas’ triumphant pasts.   

My heart thumps and beats out rhythms, calling throughout the night, yes the music of the night - come here, come here, come here.  I close the window and draw the drape, stay hidden beneath the pillow and in cover of darkness’ fate.

She turns her face in my direction, and throws her hair towards the dark, go there, go there, go there. Tears, the oceans’ salt is bitter to my tongue, capturing  the old and the tired, but not the young - go away, go away, go away, I say.

She goes away and I dream of you.  I toss and turn, I weep where dreams are harsh, and you are there, I despair.  Night, black night, put away your armor to fight, leave me at peace, at peace, at peace tonight.

Sleep pulls, I fall, the piano plays a tune, a call, cars race across the tarmac, tires squeal and rumble, beating out the rhythm - the night, the night, into the night where rhythm sings of the night.