We are estuaries
And governments
Surfing in the shadows
Of an unknown ocean
Life is a poem
Perfectly spoken
Stolen from antiquity
And woven
Silently on a loom
At the pinnacle
Of one of the earth's
Tallest mountains

Subtle apostrophes seeking apologies
For being seen naked
These commas indeed are angry
Do you fancy delivering me some verbiage
Confessions are standard
And punctuated sentences are evidence
Of the contrarian tendencies you embody
It's a hobby being copied
Making friends with dungaree clad daughters
And seeking sunshine from beneath the cover
Of a worn down copy of someone else's obituary column

Humble hearts leave trails
Of burning arcs
Whenever they pass you by
When time is borrowed
From the present
It's a gift from heaven
If we are born unperturbed
Then how do we learn
To become so boring
After we have grown

If you have it then you’ll know it
For once it comes it's ever showing
Humble hearts are made for rowing
These boats back home again

Come close and sit by the phone
Waiting for the dial tone to call you collect
There are many benefits to a relationship
Like love with tenderness,
Arguments and sweet caresses

Bless the ligaments and the tenements
With tender fingers and ten toes
We've climbed up and over
Reaching further and deeper below
And above all we've rubbed
The words from the pages
That we drew our first breaths upon
And later lined our nests with
The fragilest of exhalations

We are each a painting
Taken from the hall of some old relative
We are fancy felons finding heaven in our theft
We are sheets of cotton rubbing against our bottoms
As feelings flicker like candle flames
Our souls remain nameless and stainless
Against the testaments of yesterday

I sweep the patriotic streets
In need of beauty and feeling
History has a way of dealing with people like us
That can be rough and kind of cruel
His story wavers like a lonely old man
Savoring a cup of coffee in the morning
Or some soup in the middle of the day
We pay attention to the attitudes of companionship
We find memories change course along the way
Our journey meanders but we are safe
To raise our voices in dismay
Whenever I feel we’ve gone astray
You slip your fingers into mine
And say, I'll see you in my dreams
Again someday

Humble hearts leave trails
Of burning arcs
Whenever they pass you by
When time is borrowed
From the present
It's a gift from heaven
If we are born unperturbed
Then how is it we learn
To act as if we are too old
To receive their love again

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