namaste
i see the divine in you
persistent kindness
selfless love
deep peace
namaste

gushing river over stones
over toes
and into soul
therapy through medicine that’s wild-grown
respite in my appalachian home

sweet rhododendron
your leaves hang like drooping eyelids
gaseous tears
oxygen seeps out
i live because you weep

i am the moon and you are the sun
the light you see in me
is simply the reflection
of the light in you

take the pain
and paint it over with pleasure
the softer the better
butterfly wings
cryptic things
in between the sighs and the screams
i please her and release her
hand fulls of thighs and of freedom

a little prince sets forth under moonlight
to explore new and tender terrain
following moose tracks along
the ridge of her scapula
the valley of the sacrum
discovering knolls of tension
ancient landmarks of rejection
the emotional geology
the topography of her back
tamed in the moonlight

she is ancient, bold
blood like fierce gold
old skins falling down
the thorn inside the crown
death is new life
rewrite and rewrite

once my comfort, my cotton
now shameless, you are rotten
you are changing, multi-facing
we flow not
you start and then stop
unpredictable, calloused and conflictable

i spit aching recollections
to weave conspiring connections
out of the fibers
of your sins and unforgiveables

like all my favorite romances
flirting, no expectations
and reciprocity
you seeking me
as i stumbled onto the path of you
surprised i find myself
in a budding new love affair
with the transcendent

dripping dippers
both Big and little,
please pour over this embrace
with the sap of spring darkness
sticking you to me
cocooned in nocturnal resin

remember when we watched the stars write in cursive
feeling the wild
the sky asked to absorb me
continually i surrender

under the marbled May moon
spring peepers holler from the tree line
the scent of vetiver on my hair
respirating grass beneath my palms
i am alone, and
aloneness is a gift
sacred time meant for communion
with the divine

first language
mother tongue
my body
my home

the primordial landscape:
a raw, clay slab floating in cosmos
one simmering puddle on its surface
where ivory moonstones were plucked
and put into your mouth
forming your bright, brave teeth
anointing all your words with freedom
your mouth forever a vessel for healing

all we are is words on paper
dreams in slumber and dreams in daylight
the chances that you could also be writing me
from across the globe
are thin as this here paper

why do i write to you?
why does your voice follow me in my dreams?
last night i dreamt of us conversing for hours
your creaky voice is burned into my minds ear
it squeaks to me in rapid eye movement murmurs  
why do i write to you?

if there is power in attraction
in this universe
then my naive ego believes i could will you to me
like demanding the tide come
i could pull you upon my shore

floating on smooth summer air
a hot breeze seeps into the mountain pass
the aroma of cinnamon
earthy and humid, it envelops my face
like opening my mother’s oven thanksgiving morning

your pheromones came to me
on the wave of the sticky evening air
i breathed you in
i devoured all the oxygen from the valley
greedy and gorged
like thanksgiving evening
i succumb to the aromatic hangover
stargazing on my back in the soft grass

tonight, more than anything, i long to dance with you
to be embraced by your lean, long arms
like a cluster of young fruit
growing up within the embrace
of the blueberry branches in july

when we dance your body is like a rocking chair
sturdy, and swaying with the music
i sink into your frame
same as i would when i was a tired child
nuzzling into the embrace of the foregone wooden rockers
that adorned my great grandmothers front porch

i yearn to hear the creaks of your soft wooden voice
wafting above my hair
as i twirl 'round you

as a wave you wash over me
i relish in the caress
you ebb on and i am content upon the sand
deep, nourishing water can never be held
in two small hands
possession is an illusion
your home is a divine vastness
and there you belong

little man
gnawing fears
poison brain
he gave up when he couldn’t tame
the liberated creature
the truth-seeker
the lioness
who whipped his guilty ***
from here to georgia in shame

she said
“we are a flame.
at times burning hot
and now, small and low
but -
i will always burn for you”

i need me
because i need you
and you are inside me
conscious and free
together -
we.

the silence between our words
is love
the veil between our gaze
is love
fingers slide down your long face
so long i got lost on the journey
this journey
is love

a joyful meditation
feels like happiness in a void
realizing that contentment
is dependent on nothing
outside of myself
the divinity i carry inside
is my most precious belonging

i blamed you for everything
even when i ran away.
my ego wouldn’t let me see that

our story on yellow lined paper
i crumpled us up into a ball
i threw us into the trash can too
it’s never too late to say you’re sorry
i hope it’s not too late for you to hear me