haiku 6

crowbar tries to pry
my oyster solitary
exists self-contained

Modern Problems

Life was so simple
when it was severe,
survival not guaranteed
but not given over to fear.

Then life got easy
when it became austere.
The spartan life then a joy
with sense of self becoming clear.

For a present-day ascetic
no writing will fly so high;
as life grows in complexity
the trials often lead me to cry.

April

sun rays caught bedewed glint topaz,
weeds of temperate light
expanding promise-buds of summer joys,
and almond blossom memories
pass in favor of new life;
should ever there be blessings in the air
they are birthed from the warming spring breath
      of April
and a charm of hummingbirds
in a field of lupine

. . .and in my dreams

my unlived dreams
     or maybe past lives
sprawl before me vivid
those elements too slippery
for my daytime fingers
a mutiny of imagination
lusts' games played shamelessly
and holy moments of understanding
entwined in nocturnal intimation
spilling into my undreaming hours -
Oh, how I love to dream,
and experience an existence more fully
relieved the burdens of wakefulness

When Young Men Die

When young men meet with
inexplicably sudden and biting ends,
     not the whitewashed passing of those long in the tooth,
     the silver-maned for whom all mourning may expire at death;
that burrowed-under-the-skin ache
where labored breath takes speechless flight
and bids farewell to carefree thought -
no, that a God of love
carries my heavy heart
seems inadequate in this wake.

The Caravan

The lines worn rugged on this face
each with its story in my avatar
speak of me in a unique tongue
in this vision of lucidity
with nothing as it seems.
The dream I call
life without dress rehearsal
lies "It's better to have loved and lost,"
that everything happens for a reason
or nothing would happen at all,
but best is to not to have lost at all,
and the caravan moves along.

Beyond Fear

Beyond fear,
     in broken moments
          of fearlessness,
these heart-scars
     lose their memory
          of pain

haiku 5

lines on rugged face
heart-scars don't lose memory
fearing fearlessness

Midnight Moonlight

In my dreams we're dancing
        suspended
                  and in slow motion
the canopy of oaks and pines filter
        midnight moonlight
a spectral blue vision played out
before my waking moments

Clouds dull and cool these recollects
of when we owned the night
dawns' pale rosy rays
cancelling the holograph spinning
        just
                out of reach
but in my dreams we'll be forever dancing
to a melody all our own

Leaving All Behind

It's not that I am helpless
I just can't help myself,
and as your memories call
I answer, and teardrops fall.

But a dream or two ago
we'd trade a kiss hello,
a greeting of two lovers
with a new life to uncover.

In sorrow that we fell apart
my heart fumbles in the dark
in an ever-changing world
with all of life a-whirl.

Missing what was meant to be
and stug'ling with what I now see;
I see we're both be-leavers. . .
. . .leaving all behind.

The Old Victorian By The Bay

I light a fire of determination
within my redwood walls
four hundred seasons have changed since
I answered builders' call.

My foundation laid to resist time
and storms along the quay,
the strength of stone supports a home
where generations sought to stay.

My eyes of glass with rust-paint brow
do gaze upon the bay,
my make-up, teal and sea-foam green,
a look certainly gay.

Twin turrets frame my pretty face
with cap of weathered cedar,
grace and symmetry my style,
a home to civic leaders.

My smaller rooms and crowded stairs
put you in proximity
with those you love (or maybe should) to
reveal true intimacy.

My yards have seen you playing games,
my porch has watched you cry,
this kitchens' feasts have fueled your flames,
the bedrooms heard your sighs.

All the stories that you read,
the board games that you played,
morning coffee, evening tea,
became why I was made.

Many folk have called me home,
I've watched them come and go,
and some have learned the secret that
I was built to know.

Until You Came Along

As emptyness beats on my door
I try to word a song,
it's now so clear I'd naught to say
until you came along.

It's true, I was a most small man,
pretending I was strong,
a portrait of my own flawed self,
until you came along.

I've spent a life apart your love in but a single night,
while thoughts devoured memories of everything delight,
and daylights' conflict generates new fears to face tonight
while love demands I think upon what I know is right.

The secret that I'd loved to keep,
the one love only knows,
was oh so far beyond my reach
until you came along.

Sedoka 1

should i e'er let go
would i care to reach out again
would i dare to reach out again

should i dare let go
could i care to reach out again
could i ever reach out again

Haiku 4

springs' gentle breezes
stir hearts to dally and then
chuck at aspen leaves

Haiku 3

eternal echoes
tearing world after world
unforgivingly

Haiku 2

the onions' layers
or perhaps the books' pages
exemplify life

Haiku 1

unimpeachable
clarity of vision is
my goal for today

My Psalm

One who cares deeply
     has asked me to pray.
I count it as privilege
     to do so today.

This weeks list is long,
     prayers for many in need
of His blessings in life,
     some hang by a reed.

Hey! God! It's me
     You've not spoken to,
of things that I see
     You're not tending to.

His way's not been mine
     yet I'm sure that He's pained
to see so much sorrow,
     lives brutally strained.

Oh I wish He would answer
     each prayer in its turn,
but eye-to-eye vision
     I have yet to learn.