I love the smell of coriander
And cardamom roasting in the morning
Coffee and cinnamon scattered on the floor
We share our laughter with the water
These plants are tender
As your fingers gather medicine
From the yard
We tie them up and bring back art
From its repository
We are sharpening our hearts like knives
And watering our minds
Gardens pop up everywhere she walks
Humble hearts make
Burning arcs throughout the sky

We try to remain conscious but it never helps
So we fall into suspicious company
The water is steady
And everything is ready to break
This is the last stop
Before the station takes you dancing again
Fancy hunters fumble for their suppers
Funneling their drinks into liquor baskets
We stand apart from the others
Farther off there is a shoreline
But you can barely see the land from here
Hummingbirds fly in candle light
While girls perform handstands on fire
Hulls of shells scattered like sand
Until we stand in the correct posture
Four arms are better than none
And numbers have relatively little use here
So we each tear another tired piece
From the fraying cloth of wakefulness
Please don't mention my name again to the same people
For just as you found me there can truly be no equal
And your health depends on just as many elements
Mental, biological and spiritual

Come keep time and rhythm by my side
For a bucket is as good a drum
As any that I’ve ever played before
Let's come crashing together
Like comets in the sand
Like salty lovers in the waves
It could be our last chance
To bathe in clean water
For once you are found naked
You can never again misbehave
With innocent abandon

Maybe it's all just a bit random
Perhaps we are a part of a poem
Or was it an ancient potion
Written down or swallowed long ago
Made from snow and ash
That turned us all into animals
From dirt to bone and earth to flesh
We rose from soil into soul

Maybe we're only organic forms
After all, is said and done
Growing like ancient ferns
Dangling from the earth’s *****
Maybe we are commas and semi colons
Just a few squiggly lines
Learning how to bend real low
So as not to get hurt again

Maybe we are just formica cabinets
Stashed with cash and cigarettes
And desiccated bodies
Desperately in need of some whiskey
Maybe we are impertinent cathedrals
And meaningful glances
Stolen from misleading women
Wearing only black eyeshadow

Maybe we once played capture the flag
On the grass of the acropolis
And can we rightfully complain
If the lakes are always frozen
Or would you put them in the microwave
In order to defrost your pain
And thaw your brain like malevolent candy
We concentrate now more than ever
On the art of coming in handy
We are common fantasies only believed
For our ability to tell stories
While many followers
Come from the opposite
Part of the mind
We confide in the design
And conspire to retire before we are thirty
Necessarily confused
But are you aroused
By the smell of all this power
Or are you numb to the earth
Who first showed you how to flower
How many mistakes did you think
You could really get away with

Perhaps it's still too early
To truly equate mind with nature
And feature future human beings
As among our fellow creatures
Who need comfort and food
Security and relationships
Magic is balanced with meaning
And measure is often a false construct
That is spun like strands of thread
Often against our own better judgement
Balancing on the edges of our beds
And sometimes on our own two shoulders
Why can’t we unfold our bodies
And spread our wings like birds
Across the skies of our abstractions
Spirit is always still meaningful
Lingering in breaths and butterflies
We surprise the sunset with our memories
And make shy attempts at smiling