Five hundred moons the bud
on slender, lithe, soft-skinned stalk
belies its strength in quiet latency
bundled in its own promise

Nurtured in ancestral love's soil
bending, bowing, under weight of rain
shedding seasons in quiet deferrence
unaware, its own verdure burgeons

Soft new petals on florets of truth
weep in its turbulent spring
gentle drops of elven victuals
mustering, nourishing itself

Twin blossoms of vibrant azure ice
blazing brilliance, fulfillment
I am a humble bee in grateful witness
Yes, your eyes

You are my coral sky
and all that lies beneath it
Roughness, softness,
pain and ease
I hear the bitter winds
and the birdsongs both
Rain on me
or bathe me in sun
You are my coral sky
bright or diffuse
you light me

I don't want
to rescue you
I just want to be
the cleft, the cut
in the rocky *****
ready for your hand
or a foothold
simply there
at the moment
when you need
to centre
You are my earth
how could I be less
Rest on me while
you catch your breath
when you look up
and out
to that coral sky
I just want to be
there with you
to share the view

copyright © 2016 Ken Rush

You read my eyes
And when you see
the endless pages
I feel no cause
to close, but lay open
for your chapters

Ages my bound spine
wished to be splayed
wide for your bookmarks
your margin notes

Write in me, soft
pencilled reference
Mark me, as your map
Under the stroke of your hand
I am fearless

Breathe deeply in me
with no counting
and let your clocks
drop and break, in bliss
In knowing who we are not
we are timeless

Show me your darkness
and let me hold it
that you may laugh
at your fear
through Shiva's eyes
Play with me

I long to see
your child-mind
that knows so well
how fairies dance
in sun or rain
Moons ago, and now
my heart still comes
when you look at me

My hopeless allegories
hide no secret beyond
this honest open love
but one
I want to leave my flowers
on your doorstep every day

Copyright 2015 Ken Rush

She sits alone with two antique clocks
one of water, the other of sand
I dare ask if she likes watches
Only the older, she replies,
they hold the infinity of time specious
In her words an elemental charm
and the risk of all enigmas
Then in contralto voice she adds
and now my name is simply K
and I think of Kafka's leopards
breaking into the temple to drink
from the sacrificial amphorae
My soul writes in ancient dialect
feeling hers close with mine
while I watch her body
from eternity in ****** key
a window of flavoured amethyst fire
progressive surrender
the crossing of a desert
the dropping of clothes and masks
the thin veil remains yet unbreached
the original time of the first blood
still under the anvil of desire
so rarely given the offer of this grace
the membrane of the soul to be loved
with pain, with pleasure, with totality

Every colour of dawn
nameless, holding
all my summer rains
in your eyes
every autumn smile
whispering
the sacred sound
of winter's snow
alighting
on your shoulders
the taste of
spring dewdrops
on your skin
every storm
held within
the hottest sun
in your touch
the strongest wind
the softest breeze
in your voice
Every moon
blade of grass
rises and grows
in the infinite
your presence
I drink from you
nectar of this life
my thirst
never slaked
and I love how
you hold your cup
for me

The laughter of leaves
whisper testament
over cool caverns,
ancient moss
the absurdity of clocks
dashed upon rocks
while they dance,
backlit with sunglow,
at the true speed
of life
daring us to defy
the timeless tapestry
in which all are woven
Do stones large and small
not rustle
like leaves
in the eye of the mountain?
and is the leaf not as solid
as stone, to the aphid?
And what lives between
two lover-friends?
It is no brief candle
measured with ticks
on numbered dials
It moves not with the flash
of a single spark
Nor with the slow glow
of dawn
In gentle illumination
it is a soft gentle kiss
drifting on mist,
and it moves
at the speed of love,
with the rhythm of life

Copyright © 2016 K. Rush

I only miss you
when I wake
and imagine you
warm beside me
When my phone rings
but it's not you calling and
in the breath I hear you take
Before you say goodbye
when you pull away
knowing you have to go
your eyes shining brightly
with bittersweet light
walking down my steps
and turning to smile
When I close the door
then close my eyes
and feel eternity
the minutes after
you leave my arms
the hours, the days
the deathly quiet night
When I turn my head
and catch your scent
lingering on my skin
like the residue
of a beautiful dream
I only miss you
when I'm awake

You told me
it had no legs
it was time
to let it go
It was such a love
as I had never known 
complete 
bright and whole
as the full moon
You crippled it
at birth 
kept it hidden 
allowing only enough 
to keep it breathing 
while hiding it 
in shame
Abandoning it
then returning 
again, and again 
while I cradled 
its tiny heart
waiting 
I refused
to let it stop beating
though it had died 
so long ago 
I refused to see
it had been crushed
dead
under the weight 
of fear
in its infancy 
Resurrected 
by tender words
in a resolve
to nurture and grow 
full of hope
Then forgotten
as an addict’s promise
broken by words
left as a burden 
to the freedom 
that had always
been there for you 
It was crippled 
but I was blind

Growth needs both
Rain and sun
by the bright green bud
I am told
Embrace the dark
Endure the sharp
bitter wind
Through its gusts
clattering branches
whisper
Welcome the grey
as much as the gold