almond fronds for  visions
spidered eyes black a wink kisses
the cheeks   a sunrise nose spry
lips of tangerine peels left after eating  the heart
calmest flowing rivers shoulders of
the places bream nip
for joy under a water slip
she is jungled
shy as the panther in the shadows
sleuthing blending in and standing out
when your eyes do meet a sudden
reality
by god she is  beauty
the forest the green lush
thickets impenetrable dark illusive
illusory a dream a destroyer saviour a wild thing
a nerve fiber a coiled up  bindle  
of masks and hard sharpnesses and soft fur
purr

I breathe,
Letting recognition
Settle in
And through
The experience
Of filling
My body
With air
Over
And over
And over.
Then I notice
Breathing
And recognizing
Breathing
And noticing
Recognition,
And the air
On my face
Is cool,
And my partner’s
Sleep sounds
Are steady,
And the mint
In my mouth
Is almost cold
As I breathe
And notice
And breathe.

Still water
resting
at the
bottom
of a
Pacific ocean
tide
pool,

reflections
of you
in my
mind
in the
Sunday
morning
light.

sometimes
I can imagine
I hear you
laughter
carried in
harmony
to me
on a
a salt-kissed
circling
wind.

and I
sit for
a moment
and smile.

I always
smile.

it is
a giving
thing that
you do.

your gentle
manner
of truth
and innocence.

I can always
feel it
there in
you eyes...

you are


where
good  poets
go to
die.

Fear is a headline
a casting shadow
a waiting room
a cancer
a culture
a color

It is suddenly knowing
or never knowing at all

Fear is the hanging silence
the falling voice

It is a darkroom
where negatives
are developed

Fear is something
about your eyes:
wink?
blink?
pink!

It is always having to say
you're sorry

Fear is what comes
after a sentence
and before a final meal

It is opening the mail
It is waving goodbye

God said                                  Satan said
Let there be light                      Let there be shadows
and there was light             and there were shadows

God said                                  Satan said
Let there be mountains                      Let there be valleys
and there were mountains             and there were valleys

mountains of light                     valleys of shadows

God said                                   Satan said
Let there be humans                        Let there be beasts
and there were humans              and there were beasts

God said                                   Satan said
Let there be beasts                         Let there be humans
and there were beasts                    and there were humans

humanly beasts                             beastly humans

You on your balcony
with a memory
a sweet memory
a sweet night, silence
you on the balcony, I in the room

dusky mists a glow
over the city, like then

when you woke up from the high
numb and clammy
a few men still
fishing, the scent
of the wide small world

of ground fog, that atmosphere
just stepping over all the years
from that grass to this balcony
a memory to share
over all the daily worries