my breath flows in and out
my heart drums on

ocean, song of a dark
night, me so jealous
i weep.

Gradually

Sleepy lethargy took hold

of the nightwatcher

As his weary flesh, blood and bones

Fought to stay awake

Waiting patiently for break of day

With sodden wet clothes

Clinging to bones

He breathed cold air into hands

Whilst dreams of warmer lands enticed...

Imperceptibly at first

It came,

A distant sound

Carried softly on the wind.

He strained to listen

Doubting his senses,

listening to the remote strains

Of a far off harmony.

He deliberately slowed his breathing

To listen more as his eyes strained against

The screen of fog restricting his view

Then again came the harmony

Only to fade and die,

Leaving him feeling strangely bereft.

He walked to starboard

Delight blooming in his heart

Leaning further overboard

Enraptured and entranced

He heard it once again

He was falling ever deeper

Succumbing to the wail

Of the sirens call

I have your soul

inscribed upon my heart

So love

Can never tear us apart

anonymous winds
bend tall Timothy grasses,
wake rabbits napping
in the brush

they ripple the surface
of the stock tanks, tickle the haunches
of the beasts who wade there
to slurp the tepid waters

they birth red dust devils
for my eyes to follow, as they scud
through mesquite, and hopscotch over canyons
older than time

one day, soon, they will blow
over a shallow earth bed; I will not hear
their sibilant song, but my sleep will be deep,
unperturbed by their mystic music

on the verge of wilderness
imminent silence*

welcome
the sun stroking
peaks aglow
the thundering falls
mist-kissed rain
the solitude
so rarely reached
too often breached

stillness loosen
untamed words
in the native tongue
before thoughts
unspoken
became yours
mine
ours

to the wild
bear these
cryptic symbols
scrawled on
my halved heart
tokens of longing
succor
for the lost