Here in this redolent rain droplets saturate the ground
I watch the clouds move on, then once more the sun to come
this sparkling desert is strewn with tiny diamond stones
the air hangs in petrichor, thick with chaparral
birds drink from puddles in the broad agave leaves
rainwater trickles with steam in the sun of the singing trees
songs of doves coo cooing in the desert mesquite
spiny lizards stop for rest and warmth upon the rocks
they are ancient with tiny rounded teeth
for eating flashing bugs and beetles
here beneath the spindly ocotillo
beneath the pale flowered saguaro, that blooms
amid this ocean of sandy seas
of cool nights and hot breathed days
the way the desert breathes.

Humans being are
the inconstant animal
;
at face value
you rarely know
what you're facing
.
No tail-wag
for happy
or angry,
the perfect smile
hides the bared fang.

Emotions ebb and flow,
friends come and go.
Small wonder we
love the ocean;
consistent, insistent
waves of mother-water
soothe our tidal souls.

When you sing
                                                                ­                           I cry

When as stars you shine
                                                                                    I wonder
                                                                ­                   and sigh
                                                            ­          
You live in the hollow
                         of my moon

               eating my shrooms

You glitter bright
                                   
               to my arms delight

Your comet eyes

Milky way smile

Star cluster hair

Nebulous wiles
                                                  
and cares

Have caught me intentionally
                                                   ­   unaware

Alone in this silent desert, burned indelibly by sun
after the call, after the blue, red fall of flames
here, after the dancing scorch of fire
I am left to the smouldering doldrums of desire
this bed, now an empty space, a wordless, lifeless place
here, where I have slowed, my movement stagnates
the memories, the sheets - they suffocate
some days feeling so trapped by love
I can only think to run, think how to untangle again
still some days I dream a life with you
in colorfully painted, magnificent hues.

I dreamed of my father
crossing the fields
on his one-eyed tractor
mowing acres of sadness
heading east of a moon
that'll be gone tomorrow
and I waded the creek
beneath a ridge
where my mother is shearing
dead roses and the smell
of those flowers floating
to the foot of the mountains
reminds me of her hair
and my father's laughter
disappearing across the hill.

Last night, so enlightening
the full flower moon, illuminating
somehow brightening our words
the sun had gone, taking only the birds
leaving the sky of red mars, the alluring stars
you and I, naked traipsing through the woods
the blazing moon of firelight through the trees
a splendorous love potion, we drank the night, celestially

I think you are of clay
of red earth and water
smooth formed and forged
a vessel for holding fire
a warm copper bronze
sculpted, divinely poured
of ancient Roman origin
descended from Apollo
born of pure poetry and music
you walk the earth, a skilled hunter
with bow and arrow