There's always more that could have been done.
But I think I walked away just in time.

I don't have a lot to say to you these days,
Not because I don't want to but
because I would rather hold onto my
sanity.
But hey,
Thanks for trying anyway.

the beach is for losing yourself*
i ask you what manner of man or beast could ignore its siren song
it dragged our silly smiles across the sand
feet trailing giddily behind us
we slipped wearied into the warm unceasing avalanche
and a year was washed away
in the thunderous salt rinse

the beach is for best friends and for beer
it is for games beneath the stars
while a plankton metropolis fluoresced underfoot
and a meteor grazed the spine of leo
we slumbered through brooding rains
that slunk away when we awoke to stare them down
white shapes cast slender shadows on the reeds at noon
sea breezes crooned tunes every child has always known
in languages no man will ever understand

the beach is for all of us
last night we dreamt of ancestral slimes marching out of it
today let us plunge in
it is for even creeping snakes and gnawing fleas
verily

but most of all
it is for your glistening face
for two sleepy seagreen eyes accustoming themselves to the bright shores of morning
while your coffee cooled on the camp stove
it is for the sheen of your wild brown arms
the surf of your laughter
words with which you filled a quiet moment
circling in my mind like gulls over the harbor

yes most of all
most of all
it is for you
speeding down the narrow cape
i was beside you
tapping in tandem with your electronic music
realizing more with every pastel cottage flickering by
that you had found me
and i had never felt
so *safe

To Fall Creek I would often climb alone
And wade there, with my eyes skyward in thought--
Oh, now there's no more going on my own,
Without you wandering with me as you ought.

Well, I have ventured it, on summer days
When the cascade roars down its little cliff.
But deep within the noise some secret plays;
The falls whisper your name amid their riff.

The wide dome casts its blue upon green pools
To recreate the color of your eyes,
And when the doves call back and forth like fools
I catch your laughter in the coos and sighs.

Fall Creek, at least, has earned its silly name:
We stepped in it--I fell for you, and trudged out not the same.

Rain, ride down the river
  and pass me by.
I'm gone out to deliver
  my rotgut rye.

There's children at the rope swing
  this first of June.
Up in the church, they're hoping
  he'll finish soon.

Rain, keep right on goin',
  and should you see
them solemn faces showin',
  kiss them for me.

promises shatter like
broken glass on a hard floor.
i can't breathe.
my stomach is churning.
i'm sweating -- you should be.
torn down is all that we've built,
and i'm feeling it.
i'm feeling myself wilt.