play me the heartbeats
backward in grams,
kardio-electric.
spool your tingled nerves
around again, tighten
until you are young.

then we will breathe
when the sky is blue
reversing the green of
preemptive bomb blast.

watch the clouds dissolve.

the bullets fly back
with an inhale of smoke and
spark, the children never left,
our flags become furled,
unwrinkled, look at your skin.

we are home.
with the willow and
the garden, both
flowing away
so slowly, until the
blood in your lungs
runs hot over baby teeth
stains us here holy
and safe without
breach.

You'll know who I am,
I'll be wearing a Rolling Stones T-shirt, Lucky Jeans.
I am 6'-2", 205lb slim build, with light brown hair.
At a distance you see me and think, this guy can't be 61,
but as you get closer the lines begin to show.
I give you a hug that says thank you for being a friend and it is all OK now.
It may be a bit awkward at first,
but being a master of making small talk I make us feel at home.
There is gray and silver, entwined amid the subtle hints that I am from a totally different era.
I am like a time traveler.
I flit from topic to topic, and you strain to understand me.
You think this guy is either high, or he's..... High.
I'll talk incessantly about me until I realize that I am doing so,
then I'll shift it on you.
I'll watch as the poetess weaves her words like sandalwood incense curling through the air.
She'll take me on her rides and rhymes, reading to me her latest poems.
Time will fly as it has never done before.
I never wear a watch, so I'll fumble with my phone to see what time it is.
Closing time.
****, and I was just getting to know you.
But wait it is Friday.  No, work tomorrow...........

*.......as the last of the Spring rain falls, two old bikes lean against the bricks of the old pub.

She draws the stars
Late into the night
Standing in an open field
Soaking in their light
The beauty that they cast
Helps her pen to glide
When she's finished drawing
Is when she takes to flight

She draws the stars
Colors them by numbers
Throws away all diagrams
Prefers the use of different colors
Gives them all the oddest names
One after another
The furthest ones away
Names them after her ex-lovers

She draws the stars
Then gives her drawings away
To those she meets on the street
She feels needs a brighter day
She gives away the ones she loves
The rest she likes to save
Pastes them on her walls
In the galaxy she's made

here's my shadow

it always follows me

where my shadow

mainly hangs out at my feet

but with my shadow

that is not all

depends on the light of the situation

sometimes my shadow climbs the wall

Never Am I Rough

Seldom Am I Ready

Keep It In The Middle

Always Holding Steady

That's The Way It's Been

Since I Remember When

If You Haven't Caught On By Now

I'll Explain Again

I Hold On When It's Smooth

Hang On When It's Tight

If You Haven't Heard The News

This Is How I Handle Life

At Any Given Moment

On Any Given Day

This Is Where It Is

And All I've Got To Say

Here you are coming
Here I am going
You the new born
Me the old man

Take my advice dear
Before it is you leave here
Reach for the stars
Grab all that you can

Cause in the end
All your left with are memories
Even those memories
Are few and far between

Take the folly of youth
Live it to the limit
Take this wisdom I've given
Then forget about me