I sat on the porch
In front of the house
Watching the flies buzz
Around a dead mouse.
He lay on his side
With tongue sticking out;
They walked on his ribs
And lit on his snout.
His four little legs
Stretched sadly in vain,
Never to run
Through the meadows again.  

How did he feel
When he first met the cat?
I wondered...he lay there,
So stiff on the mat.
Was his reaction a
Squeak of surprise?
Did he see his life flash
In the cat's eyes?
When sharp claws and teeth
Held him like a tomb,
Did he think, maybe somehow,
He'd make it back home?  

Suddenly,
I was approached by a fly
That flew in my face
And lit near my eye.
He seemed self-assured,
Hungry and bold,
Acting like flies have
Since ice has been cold.
I tossed my head back
And shooed him away:
"Little fly", I said,
"Today's not the day.".

Beneath my feet, leaves
Fallen on the woodland path,
Souls of summer past.

You seek time travel?
Then go to where time exists--
Go to your own mind

The graveyard is large
With many empty spaces
Waiting to be filled

Huge, white clouds that drift
Stately, shifting, rounded shapes
Younger days recall

Dandelion seeds
And apple blossom petals
Drifting springtime snow

Lying motionless
Silent
Softly breathing
Eyes closed
Seeming inert
But willing
Oh so willing
Sun on the wall
Ice melting from the roof
Coat hangers sliding
Along a metal bar
Water splashing
Things coming alive
But barely
Early in the season
Sounds pajamas make
At the calves
When she's walking
Room to room
Motionless me
So very still
Like water in the sink
Not moving a muscle
Lest the mind go elsewhere

Scattered, gray-white clouds
Bygone summer days recall
Drifting north to south

Once the lightest snowfall comes
That clings to roofs and lawns
Like the silk slip clung to your hips,
The summer is over, completely gone.
We remember what never happened,
And because the years go in a circle,
We think our lives do,
When what they really do is unwind
Like a twisted thread,
Frequently changing direction.
Thought we yearn for it all winter,
It is a new summer that comes--
Not the old one.
We think when the summer returns
Things will be what they were,
But once its gone, its gone forever.

New love's a smooth and silky cloak,
A light frost cool and sheer,
A gentle, curious garment
I wear when you are near.

Waken first day of summer!
Cast off thy repose,
Come with me in the misty dawn--
Oh, that the sun ne'er rose

To chase the mist from the meadow
And dry the dew from the lawn,
To find us at noon in the garden,
Walking love's path further on....

Down on the green fleece jacket
The one with the piping white
Green like emeralds the jacket
Her hair, coal black like night.

The golden heart suspended
And chain about her neck,
Spend the hours close to her--
In heaven, I expect.

The hair net worn professional
A trend for fashion sets
When all beneath beguiles the eye
A crown on her it rests.

Once, I saw her run the square
A brisk and steady pace
Dressed in black from head to toe
A stern, determined face.  

I'm wishing I could run with her,
But that can never be--
Except maybe from time to time--
In a fantasy...

All of them are clouds
All the loves of my long life
Summer clouds that drift

The morning is pushing in
Through a spot where the drapes are parted,
And I'm still lying in bed
With no urge at all to get started.

Meanwhile a spider spins her web
Then steals on silent spider feet
Back to her spot under the eaves
Where she waits for something to eat.

A robin finds a juicy worm
Then flies with it back to her nest
She takes a bite or two for herself
And gives her children the rest.  

A bee is buzzing busily
Gathering nectar for the queen
Back at the hive, he does a dance
Telling the drones where he has been.

Each one acts as nature designed
And that is what shall ensue:
I'll lie here until the dew dries
And think up a poem or two.

She comes from the grill
Wearing her blue, happy chef, skull cap
Raising, on palms outstretched,
Two plates stacked with pancakes
Steaming, round and golden,
To set them, dramatically, on "the line"
For one of the wait staff to pick up.
After that, she looks out at the people
And smiles for no obvious reason
With a smile that lights up the whole restaurant.
Then she goes back to the grill, grabs her spatula,
And pushes the home fires around...

We'd float like two clouds
Through the sky all day
From the rising sun
'Til its setting ray
There would be nothing
That wouldn't be play
And all things but us
Would just fade away

Odds are that compared
To folks on other planets
We are average

Warm spring rain on a tin roof
When I'm out after dark alone,

Snow-muffled tires of a car passing by
When I'm little and tucked in at home,

A song sparrow's voice in the morning
From somewhere high in the trees,

A brook's hoarse roar when the snow melts
And wind in the evening leaves,

The crackling coals of a campfire
The smack of a ball on a bat,

A chainsaw deep in the forest
As I drift away on my nap:

Sounds that bring life to life,
From childhood 'til I turn gray:

If I weren't here to hear them
Would they still sound the same way ?

Every bug, fish, cat, elephant, human
And every other living thing that ever
Existed or ever will exist, anytime and anywhere,
Lives in the light that goes on and on
In the endlessness of everything that
Ever was or ever will be, and everything
That any of them ever did or ever will do
Lives in that light and exists in the same moment  
Of what we call time, but nothing that
Lives in the light knows anything of time--
All any of them knows is the light.

Butterfly shadows
Nothing more ephemeral
Nothing less either

The wind in the leaves
Crickets chirping in August
Summer sounds we love

In the summertime
Old memories from childhood
Visit frequently

I went to a restaurant one time
With a chain-smoking woman
And spent every dime,
Going through four-hundred dollars or more.
She died, maybe cancer, I'm not sure.
In town they all talked about my stash--
Everyone said I had so much cash--
But I had barely enough to survive
With just a little left over to buy
Cider and doughnuts for kids' trick-or-treat.
After that, the long winter set in
With too little food and not enough heat.

I slept like a rock on
The floor of the ocean,
Drowned in darkness--
Not needing to breathe,
Not needing to see,
Or hear, or smell or taste
Or feel anything.

I slept lie a rock on the
Floor of the ocean,
No flavor of mint,
No arms around me,
No sight of mountains,
No sound of bird songs,
No aroma of freshly baked bread--
It felt like being dead.

Snow lies in the woods
Last survivor of winter
Hiding from the sun

Well lock me in a closet and call me "Captain Jack",
I won't be myself until I get my coffee back

They say it riles up the nerves and makes a person tense
Feeling like you're being pressed while balanced on the fence

But without it life seems dull, everything moves slow,
Things I used to strive for, they interest me no more

I'm mired in inertia, lacking impetus,
Reaching out for nothing, I'm settled like the dust

I'd better brew me up a *** and make it nice and strong
I really need a cuppa joe to help me get along

To send those blahs a-packing and get back once again
To that busy, bustling world, where coffee is my friend...

Christmases future:
How will they remember me
When I'm here no more?

Autumn winds blow strong
Filling air with falling leaves
Parted from their trees

In this late season
I  cannot embrace the things
I loved in the spring

He died on Friday
The cars keep rushing on by
Rest in peace my friend

Wisps of blown snow,
Ghosts of bygone summer days,
Cross an open field

Jumbo Manhattan
Filling the yellow-bird glass
Friday night, at last

Every Stan's a "Stan the man",
And every Eddie's a "Steady Eddie",
Every Hanna's a "Hanna banana",
And every Tammy's a "Tammy whammy".

I'm not sure where these names come from
Or why some people make rhymes with them--
It seems to be quite widely done,
Maybe that's because rhyming's fun.

Summer leaves
Know the secrets of the heart
And tell them to the wind.

Autumn leaves are Love's
Memory, glowing and
Cherished forever.

Winter's bare branches
Reach to heaven
And suffer for their sins
In silence.

With Spring come buds
Of Hope and Joy and, from them,
The leaves that know our hearts
So well.

You are the red sun rising
And I the dawn's warm glow
That's not exactly how it is,
But similar, I know

You are the moving ocean
And I the rising tide
A very hard thing to describe
But at least I tried

You are the pure white snow drifts
And I the Winter chill
That's a close description
But that's not quite it still

You are the mountain air,
And I the eagle flying,
Really, its not quite that way
But I keep on trying

Its like the barriers cease to exist
When bolts of lightning merge;
We pause--the thunder rolls away--
Then feel another surge

A billion years is
Time, long or short, depending
On your perspective

Large, gentle snowflakes
Float slowly in freezing air
Under slate-gray skies

Warm sunshine, snow melts,
Brook roars, exceeding its banks
Spring at last--give thanks

Up here, Thanksgiving
Is the day between late fall
And early winter

She's pert and a little bit sharp
I'm mellow and just a bit flat
There's a natural note between us,
And I'm totally fine with that.

We resonate best in high keys--
Jack it all up a few notches
Play hot notes in tempo upbeat
We'll dance while everyone watches.

She's a rock star, I'm her groupie
My tattoos are all about her
When she's on stage I'm attending
And high as a kite, that's for sure.

There's more to her than meets the eye
She's a dream of a special kind
I know she won't evaporate
She's there, and not just in my mind.  

She puts on a fantastic show--
Crazy dancing, extremely loud
The mob catches on, going nuts,
But she's there for me, not the crowd.  

Later, I'm back stage to hook up
(ID, special pass--all that stuff)    
Party like there's no tomorrow
Whatever we do's not enough.

After Halloween
November and December
Go by in a flash

Ghosts of the past summer
Linger into late fall
Then most of them move on
To a timeless sleep that never ends
But there are some really old ghosts
That come back every spring
Just as the snow melts and
Before things get green
To recall the people they once loved
And the places they once knew

Winds rush through the pines
Sun breaks through the clouds and shines
Presents for our minds

I pass the graveyard,
So many souls resting there,
Death I do not fear.

The wall is our world
The shadow is the sun
Caressing us

The wall is the people we know
The shadow is our feelings
About them

The wall is our hearts
The shadow is the distance
Between them

The wall is the truth
The shadow is what we say
About our lives

The wall is your lips
The shadow is your breath
Flowing between them

The wall is the total
Of our experience
The shadow is my memories of you

The wall is my body
The shadow is the dust
It will become

In the end
The heart knows its way
And when my life begins to fade
My love for you
Will fade like
Summer's green leaves
To brilliant colors
And my fruit will be
The most abundant and sweetest ever
Before it falls to earth
Leaving me with branches bare
And nothing left to reach for
But heaven

If everything that
Existed didn't exist
There would be nothing

I am the red sun rising,
And you the dawn's warm glow,
It's not exactly just like that
But similar, I know.

You are the moving ocean,
And I the rising tide,
A very hard thing to describe
But at least I tried.

You are the pure, white snow drifts,
And I the Winter chill,
That's a close description
But that's not quite it still.

You are the mountain air,
And I the eagle flying--
It really isn't just that way,
But I keep on trying.

It's like the barriers cease to exist
When bolts of lightning merge;
We pause--the thunder rolls away--
Then feel another surge.

Sitting on the porch
Sunlight splashing on the lawn
Summer moving on

Huge, white clouds that drift,
Stately, shifting, rounded shapes
Recall younger days

Early Autumn chill
Feelings of summer passing
Where did they all go?