We dreamed of living
We dreamed of living by your streams
By whatever means you would provide
But we soon learned that provision lies
in working hands
We dreamed of being
We dreamed of being free from fear
But we soon would hear that the only way
To have what you want and live today
is to take command
Love is a ship unmanned
A sea uncharted, full of sorrow
Our course is unset and dangerous
But hold fast love
Wherever you go I will follow
Wherever you go I will follow
We dreamed of loving
We dreamed of loving pure and strong
With nothing wrong with our intention
But someone failed to mention
That that idea is just pretend
Love is a ship unmanned
A sea uncharted, full of sorrow
Our course is unset and dangerous
But hold fast love
Wherever you go I will follow
Wherever you go I will follow
Apr 24, 2019
Apr 24, 2019 at 10:41 AM UTC
I search for the arms
of strangers,
of friends,
of my family.
People pass by me
and their eyes drop
to my arms
before they meet
my face again.
They found a woman's body
hands, feet and face
burned. Naked
tossed into the woods.
Her killer
still unidentified.
They asked for tips.
She struggled
they said,
her violator may have been wounded.
Scratches and bruises may still be visible
on the forearms of her attacker.
So I find myself
staring down
at the pale arms
of men,
of the unkempt elderly man at Honey Farms,
of the teenage gas attendant who never quite
meets my eyes,
but also
at the father of my daughter's afternoon playdate,
the teenage sons of my neighbors
and at an evening barbecue, my own father,
questioning against doubt
what they are capable of.
And when I am alone,
even though I know,
in the mornings
I look down
at my own arms
unmarked.
And still, I check
twice.
Aug 16, 2016
Aug 16, 2016 at 3:11 PM UTC
Separate from me
leaning in on what is away
It met me here and there
pulled me after it like a far distant kite
one point high up in the thin air and clouds
and clouds
above
pulling me
a string through my center in me
innocently
tugging me
toward
me
In the high places
of rock
and glass
where I am
and where I am
Oct 11, 2012
Oct 11, 2012 at 2:31 PM UTC
Everyone is concerned with
what lies deep within
the heart and soul and such things
But it is in your face
that I see you
a shallow, light-filled stream
laughing across the surface
And I am sure
your bedrock is down there
hardened and broken
but on this leafless spring morning
I am looking for the sun.
Oct 5, 2012
Oct 5, 2012 at 3:00 PM UTC
Dig my feet in
make the earth below me spin
watch the green and snapping branches
coalesce and dim
I am among the light, the barely here
the about to begin
Oct 5, 2012
Oct 5, 2012 at 2:38 PM UTC
This forest shares its secrets with the wind,
Its whispered acorns; deeply buried prayers.
Where ferns glow green and stretch out spongy limbs,
And lichened rocks are holy altar stairs.
Black beetles genuflect and flash their shells.
Moth’s tattered wings reach out to supplicate.
The breath within the soil gently swells,
And lifts up cantillations to the day.
A tree trunk lays itself in feathered moss,
While rings of ivy lash it to the ground.
The ancient Oak knew nothing of it’s loss,
And wears the vines as Hera wears her crown.
I knew all this when I was still a child,
When God still showed His nature in the wild.
Oct 5, 2012
Oct 5, 2012 at 2:33 PM UTC
It burns in the heart
Of eighth grade girls
Sparkles like diamonds
In the watery eyes of the poor
It is born, kicking and screaming
In toddlers, before they can speak
It slowly dies and sputters
Out in old age
It is the bite and growl
In the dog fight
The motionless upper lip
Of botoxed trophy wives
It is the stacked and ripped
Bicep of the body builder
The clenched back teeth
Of every smiling presidential candidate
It resides in the pits
Of the stomachs of the second place
The money in the pockets
Of realtors
It is the fight to the top
The never give in
The blood boiling revenge in
Every made-for-TV movie
It is the Red, White and Blue
Blood, pumping through
Our country
Oct 3, 2012
Oct 3, 2012 at 5:24 PM UTC