my soul washed upon a beach
after many years at sea
it is bleached and hollow
worn too smooth
like shells that batter each other
along the shoreline
and in the early hours
when the Sun provides enough light
you find me
and place me in your bag
with stones and lost treasures
that you would later admire
and add to your display
or simply toss aside

I stumbled upon a ruby in the darkness
it held the secrets of a sad November day
from all directions
the splinters came
and took the defyer
the one who tried to save us
from the powers that would be
this ruby spoke of the players,
the slayers
the hiding naysayers
the complex
the complexities
the maggots that live
by war
and more
I tried to tell you
but even I
who lived on the edge
of exposing the lie
could not speak before the splinters arrived
and I sleep with the others
our secret has died

dedicated to the memory of'
Dorothy Kilgallen

essences of fire
and ice
        keep wanting
to burst out of me
it is so hard to know
where to end
how to start
           the rivulets
    the torrents
           turn them on like
                   a waterfall faucet
they are there,
the opposing elements
lurking, ready
just under surface
waiting to ooze, pour
secret inner filth
spilling endless
crusty lava
onto the naked
rough-hewn floor
along with purest
of lightbeam

hard to pinpoint
the moment
I knew I loved you
what love
is actually supposed to be
bubbling and frothing beneath
              ice floes, melting
                         hot wax sliding
                      I do not know how
                           to prevent this
          dripping exhaustion
of elongated membranes
from imploding
into the truest
form of encapsulated longing
sharpened pangs
spit-roasted
upon the fibers
of my brain, of my heart
my pain in stop starts
stop no go on
I can't take it
I want it all
can you feel me?
I want it all, I say
thrumming hotly
down
      to
           the last
wild drop
of
  eternity

He knew it was love when he awoke in the middle of a dream that felt like the answer to a prayer and he didn't care if it was god whispering the truth in his ear or the devil selling him a lie and he knew either way he would love her until this lifes last breath and find her again filling his lungs with the first of his next

and hence

from the deep stillness of night
the mountain is awash in light
seductive and golden
as if born of a million candles
the quiet is not disturbed

here
they descend upon the land
their presence awakens and ignites the soil
of this charred rock
a hum pulses through every leaf and petal
every eye of every creature is affixed
unafraid and knowing
their blood surging with life

the children of the stars return
our father's fathers
come to save us

they are only flashes
yet they hold the power to bring me to tears
or laughter
I see faces in them
moments that are burned in my soul
fifty four years ago
looking for something to do on a hot July afternoon
I would peak out the window to make sure
Mrs. Mabolis (she was a portly gal) was on her porch
drinkin' her tea
prop the front door open  
go to the edge of the kitchen
and run full speed down the hallway
out the front door
across the porch
hitting the top of the stairs
and launching myself out far enough
to clear the 10 steps
land on the concrete sidewalk
perform a fake roll to make it look
more death defying than it actually was
and look up to see Mrs. Mabolis
grab her chest in terror
poor Mrs. Mabolis
the day I nearly got run over by a 55' Chevy
playing 'Hide & Seek'
likely took 10 years off her time on this planet
I'm sorry Mrs. Mabolis, I truly am
but you were my go to!

fell out of a tree once
truly should have killed me
but opened a **** on my forehead
that changed the front of my bright white t-shirt
to candy apple red
snuck up on Mom through the back porch door
waited for her to turn around and see me
while she was frying chicken
when she finally did
the fried chicken took flight from the frying pan
to the dining room
sorry Mom!
luckily, Mrs. Mabolis wasn't on the porch for that one