clouds form  cold north winds
roll in  we run toward spring
slide  you warm in me

autumn golds the leaves
the cool breeze stirs the summer's
winding song to winter
                                


Caroline Shank

wind wraps around me
I breathe in the winter air
the cold ice crack snaps


Caroline Shank

The stream trickled on
the frog jumped in to cool off
the branch creaked with loss

Caroline Shank

Midnight slouches to
A Manger in a cold straw
barn where He is born.

Caroline Shank

"In My Life" yes she well remembers
you in the Summer of her 28th
year.  She has never seen the likes
of her since then.

She scans the air for red sunsets, for sandy beaches, for tears in the
fabric of time itself.  

You go now.  Her reverie is hers alone.  She shares herself with
no one.  At last she remembers
"In My Life" . The song repeats
and she dances around with you
in the dust of her old age.

You are gone a long time.
The only thing is,  
the music
remained.

Caroline Shank

I have known you already, known
your voice in the songs of other
men.  Our history is in
ancient dreams.
We danced during
the nights of music.

I have seen you across
lamplit streets, haloed by fog.  We meet at the annointed
moment when dreams divest themselves
of surer things. Chase through
time memories in a golden cup.

I have tasted you already, the salt
skin sweat under my lips.  Kisses
during a drumbeat.  Sounds
unceasing.  

A toast
whispers to the real world.


Caroline Shank