I remember asking my dad,
“How many stars are in the sky,”
and he said something like,
“Way too many to count.”
But I’ve counted.
And after recounting
                                      and recounting
and scribbling in my notebook
under my fathers flashlight
I can tell you that there is
indeed a number.

And to this day I prefer
reading the stars over anything.
They’re the oldest book ever written.
Space: the oldest canvas to be sewn
and the cosmos the paint of Picasso.
Each spec is its own character
each pair a set of eyes
where I can lose myself in their gaze.
A celestial connect the dots
where I collect the pictures
and pick out my favorite spots.

But when my son
is old enough to ask,
“How many stars are in the sky?”
I’ll just hand him a notebook
and tell him to read what he sees.

Painted ponies of the Paiute
Run against the sky
Cracked lightning lights the orange fire
Desert winds stoke whipping flame
Eagle flies blind to the sun
Scorpion strikes out in vain
Antelope leap crisscrossed arroyo
Coyote calls across the sand
Thatched huts explode in maelstrom storm
First People’s shadows smoke the ground
Clay pots crack and break in time
Fire-cracked stone in communal circles
Markers of forgotten stories
Great Basin parched to cracking lines
Full moon wanes to yellow bone
Awaiting dark clouds quenching rain
And painted ponies once again.

r ~ 6/4/14

"Our dreams prove our sanity".

Karl Franssen

With Muse filled;
Seminal words are
on the parchment spilled.

Take the fight out of a big cat,
proves nothing.
Yeah, there's something they'll
want to laugh about in circles.
There's something you can't
struggle to see the sunny side of,
because someone licked their
fingertips and
put it out.
Don't let them get you down.
Don't let them take the fight
out of you.
This is the second round, *******,
are you going to be
Mike Tyson or Glass Joe?

My hands were little
Where yours where not
Tipped in cherry red satin
Flowers seemed to follow your footsteps
"Hold ya!"
My arms stretched high above your knees
For love
I grew up knowing that comfort
Every tear. Every heartbreak.
Soothed by your whispers
Calmed against the cradle of your heart
When the time comes
For you to  ease into the shadows
Know that these arms will be there
*As your's have always been before

just be here, my sweetness
don't let me go off you
for the angels can wait for a moment
and they all know how all it was true

as you come real close
and make me forget the world pry
let me feel this time we're alone
and it's finally you and I

it wasn't meant to feel like this
not unless without you

cause when I look at my life
I couldn't imagine it without getting blue
and how the pieces fall into place
it just wouldn't rhyme without you

walking along with you when I see how my path
seem to end up before your face
a hand tied to mine all this time
why didn't it happen in the very first place

the state of my heart
the place where we are
apart yet near, being a part of you
so close but yet so far

so don't be afraid
I'll and 'm right by your side
through all the laughter and all pain
together we're bound to fly

I wasn't meant to love like this
not unless without you

I made it so very late
and I am sorry, sometimes I do
been through a lot of heartache
but I made it and finally found you
@manauwer