a moth feels
gravity for the flame
as it navigates the
darkest of nights
hunting for flowers
from which to sip
nocturnal ambrosia

and as the flame
chars gossamer wings
and its body
becomes one
with the universal
flame of love
the moth knows
that it never
had a choice

as i sit in your
alluring presence
i feel the pull
and understand the
gravity of the flame

i was born
in a frail basket
on the river of souls
that unceasingly flows
from heaven to hell
and back again

riding the rapids and
swimming the pools
i float through the
valley of time
as it reveals itself amid
the eternal mountains

when this journey
is through and i reach
the deep sea
my reflection will join
the countless stars
of lifetimes past

and there i'll be free
until i descend
to do it all again
and there i'll be free
until i descend
to do it again

is it what i see
or how i see it
that matters?

is it what i say
or how i say it
that really matters?

is it what i do
or how i do it
that truly matters?

is it being alive
or how i live my life
that really, truly matters?

all that needs be said
is the very simple phrase
the two magic words
imagine this

a green grassy hill
with a tree on top
a deep blue sky
one fluffy cloud

a small house
beneath the tree
an iron fence
with a squeaky gate

an old woman creepily smiling
through a cracked window
beaconing you closer
to try her red apple

and with that
i relinquish my control
made you think
haha

rain
fed by
sea
fed by
river
fed by
rain
fed by
sea
fed by
river
fed by
rain
river
sea
ever
flowing
existence
to
existence

this couch won't let go of me
every time i get up to leave
i remember there's no where to go
and i get ****** right back in again
like i'm a moon falling
into my cozy earth

sometimes a melody
sometimes silence
sometimes a mountain
sometimes a valley
sometimes the highlights
sometimes the shadow
sometimes the living
sometimes the dead
sometimes the desert
sometimes the sea
sometimes i'm you
sometimes i'm me

the beautiful
scraping sound
a glacier creates
as it grinds
through granite
that resonates
in million-year
wavelengths

the subtle
quivering
vibrato
gently expressed
by the breeze
as it plucks
a harp-string
spider's web

the horrible
dramatic
crescendos
of horn-shaped
funnel clouds
as they blast
knee-high
cornfields

the sublime
whispering
harmonics
heard in the
dead of night
as the world
dances
around
me

the dry straw-brown chains
have started to corrode

the lush green oxidation
of life-bearing spring
is slowly overcoming
winter's ******* again

the frozen fetters will fail

deep cronk spruce-needle muffled
feathers a dark too deep to be black
seeing each other she changes course
resonantly calls and turns toward me
spine-running chill butterflies exploding
she slows connecting with me in study
three infinite seconds to remember

in his fortress
he sits friendless
he's sheltered
himself
from
all

and now

he sits friendless
in his chair
reminiscing
of times
long
past

it always starts this way
the broken butterfly wing
and fly though that it may
it's circling to the left

my stomach not in knots
if anything i feel sane
but underneath my thoughts
i'm circling to the left

the wolf will never go
its clothing never shed
the sheep will never know
while circling to the left

the fragile i have snapped
alone they break so easy
with long tongue they are lapped
but circling to the left

and to the left they move
following their tales
rough but sound so smooth
if circling to the left

the end they'll never know
they won't make it that far
they reap what i did sow
when circling to the left

the circle's magic feat
the end is overtaken
the whole is made complete
by circling to the left

indistinct ripples of memory
dance across your eyes
your name is known but vanished
like the time since i saw you last
like it was a different life
it seems so long ago
how has it been
twenty years

my friend

in the face of the giant
sting like a wasp

when cornered by the mob
fight like a cat

under threat of the storm
lean into the wind

as the flood of life rages
float on a fast current

in the deafening silence
sing from your heart

on the brink of forever
be a part of the now

golden chains bind we the people
ancestrally smelted and forged
lashing us to imagined steeples
that we think were built by our lord

a deep seated need to be bound
like craving for love and security
in all can always be found
although veiled with obscurity

like the mountains that rise so high
as if reaching for distant crown
when piercing the cold blue sky
form the storms that then tear them down

that which was started will always end
birth leads to life and then leads to death
and while life itself will fight to defend
its path always leads to the final breath

so we clamor and fight to feel peace
while facing omnipotent demons
and for a moment their whispers cease
as we look to our ignorant beacons

it was all very normal
until the pink elephant
walked in and whispered
in the prime minister's ear

when things calmed down
i walked up to the elephant
and while admiring his wings
i asked him what we all wondered

"i delivered the unfortunate news
that the arctic monkeys have all
finally frozen" he said with a smile
have you ever seen an elephant grin?

the wind left my chest with the sight
and blacking out i fell to the floor
the next thing i know i wake up
it's time for the next speaker

seven months of winter and
the bone-chill of winter rain
in late may is an abomination
and it being saturday
makes it unforgivable

to whom can i complain

my mind still sees
with my eyes closed
fears and fantasies

my mind still speaks
with my mouth closed
judgments and critiques

my mind still feels
with my hands closed
emotions and ideals

my mind still dreams
with my eyes open
past events and schemes

my mind still churns
with my body still
what if and regret burns

my mind still dances
with my body asleep
visions and memory glances

it is the first
It is the last
unquenchable thirst

god's greatest gift

under cover of darkness
the tiger stands still
knowing
she hasn't been seen

but i feel her presence
loud and clear
like i'm seeing
an actual ghost

my first advance
wounds her left foreleg
as she claws me
with her right

the struggle ensues
as we both land
a series of
hefty blows

we catch our breath in
each other's eyes
and see the battle
commence and end

and knowing ourselves
we nod or heads
understanding
we both will win

we go our separate
ways for now
both knowing
we'll meet again

solomon-shaming lilies
glow in morning's glory and
border the path as it emerges
from the shaded olive grove

stopping me with grace as
sunrise rays warm my face
and dispell the cold night as
the slumbering world awakens

swallow tail butterflies flit
under sacred dogwood clouds
that mimic rapture's sign as they
diffuse golden hour radiance

honeysuckle perfume inspires
birdsong's layered dawn chorus
and i know the tomb is empty
as nature's love envelopes me

The road begins at my door.
A quick right, then left, just one
and on for seven miles. Seven.
It's seven miles till I get there and the sun,
the sun's still shining bright. So bright.
The kind of bright that hurts. It hurts
my head. Makes it ache. And as I reach
your place, that dull ache reminds me.
Reminds me
you aren't home.

I sit behind the wheel and watch.
I watch the sun drop. It drops.
It drops like you did, expected, but
too soon, too quick. So quick,
my aching head spins.
My aching, spinning head.
For a minute, a quick minute,
I forget. I forget that
you aren't home.

It's like it was back then, at least for
just a minute. My spinning gets me
spinning, thinking I might see, I
might see your smile,
that smile that tells me, it
tells me that I'm not alone.
But I am alone. Alone. Alone
because you're gone. But I forget,
I forget that you are gone,
for a minute I forget that
you aren't home.

I remember. My head drops to
the wheel when I remember.
I remember with an ache. The ache.
The hollow in my chest. The tears
try to escape, but I don't let them.
I look at your door. Your door is swimming.
Your door is swimming in my tears.
The tears that I won't let fall
from my eyes. My eyes.
My eyes ache for you. For your smile.
Your beautiful smile. But you,
you aren't home.

I turn myself around. I turn around
real quick. So quick. So quick that I
forget. I almost forget my way.
I nearly forget my way
back home. I forget the seven
miles. Seven. Those seven miles
have become, they've become eternity. Eternity. Eternity
because you, my love,
you aren't coming home.

the thing about the world is
it never stops spinning
it never stops it never rests

the day of all days
begins right away
it begins now it begins today

gathered clouds scatter
among the four winds
together forever never again

dawn breaks coral-fire
valley-gathered fog
soaked with sunrise

river exhaling mist
currents toppling downward
cracked limestone bedrock
canyons split by time

desert-barren foothills
frozen waves of earth
breaking on blue ridges
bristling thick with fir-tops
cornered coyote mountains
snag wayfaring clouds
compiling afternoon thunder

its like i'm in this tiny aircraft
climbing steep and fast
when we hit rough air
i lose my grip
f
r
e
e
-
f
a
l
l
i
n
g

i
n
t
o
a deep
and dark
bog of depression
and it always alarms me
how i'm always so surprised
because it always goes this way
i trudge thru the swamp of sadness
just like atreyu did - a smile on my face
my savior up ahead and behind her
is this tiny aircraft-its always there
and i always get in gratefully
the mire quickly shrinks
and i do it all again

while we wait for the world to end
she has helped another begin
as we look to the sky for signs
she sees only the stars in our eyes

nazareth walks in every heart
pilate is poised in every mind

we forgot who we are long ago
leaving all else out in the cold
how deep the roots have ingrown
but we know we must own that we're known

it's the shadow that indicates depth
it's the silence between the chords
it's the rest between the long days
it's the quiet that separates words

it is space allowing for growth
it's the emptiness that can be filled
it's the void that creates the world
it must be vacant before we can build

it is sad times that bring on the good
it's the sour that makes sense of sweet
it is cold that makes me crave warmth
it is hunger that makes food a treat

it's when i'm gone that i love my home
it's the down that makes the up high
it was god that made lucifer
it is death that makes life alive

the eye of the moth
irresistibly attracted
to the gravity of the
lantern's soft flame
like the soul is drawn
to the godly source

and like the separation
between spirit and god
the thinnest pane of glass
prevents the moth's rapture
frustrates nightly pilgrimage
transparent veiled prison

one night the glass cracks
falls broken to the earth
reveals flame's fiery aspect
and the heat at it's core
the moth's approach is
unimpeded by the glass

and as its wings are singed
an ecstatic cry is heard
the good fight has been fought
the race has been completed
the body is discarded
as soul and source unite

divinity in all
all in divinity

in yourself
see divinity

in your neighbor
see yourself

in your neighbor
see divinity

see divinity
see beauty
everywhere

love divinity
love yourself
love your neighbor
love all

i sit in my red-brown chair
my favorite old leather chair
the one with the big brass tacks
and while looking out the window
at the snowy mountain that rises
from the ancient sandy seabed
of the blue-green valley floor
i come to the understanding that
there are bottomless holes
in my heart and soul
that can only be filled by the
golden-orange sunset clouds
as they drift in complimentary contrast
with the wide violet-blue skies

and as the heavenly color fades
i feel a piece of me cry out
fearful of the imminent
blue-black night

one more last time

the words reverberate
wall to wall with distorted echos
that bounce back and forth
with dizzying speed
overlapping like an
uncontrollable origami rose
bursting with organic need

one more last time

in earnest i tell myself
it will stick this time
my will is stronger than
this bottomless red wine
but the bottle is already open
and my glass is nearly empty
this inexplicable thirst
will drive me insatiably mad

just one more last time

the flesh is weak

i stand before you
a simple man
hoping your soul will
recognize a friend

i hope you'll know
that at my heart
i have your best
i will never harm

i know you'll know
what you are
when you read
and your heart stirs

it's time to be
your very best
it's time to stand
take off the mask

it's time to free
all you have caged
it's time to pour forth
it's time to create

it's time to be free
and be your best self
it's time to lay down
worry and doubt

it's time to be all
it's time to be whole
it's time to step up
and accept yourself

arise from the ashes
arise from the dust
arise you bright phoenix
i say to myself

roll aside
the heavy stone
that locks you in
the sepulchre
of your darkened soul

let the light
within you shine
easter morning sun
burn up the mists
of your ignorance

look in the mirror
see yourself
son of man
you are a son
of god almighty

let those around you
feel god's love
an authentic life
will clear the path
of every obstacle

know your truth
live with love
heal your sickness
shake off the death
of living without light