she sees it in the laughter of children
feels the vibrations of a song
hears it in the silence of the darkest night.
always a blue sky
a sunny day
the sails of her ship
billowing in a west wind

she is a shotgun and a prayer
would like 3 cats
a dog
the cabin in the woods with cable tv

she dreams of the open field where
the white horse always waits
ready to make the run
to a meadow high in the distance


daughter

Life

   Will

Always

      Find

A

      Way

To

        Humble

Your

        Heart

Love is not condescension, never
that, nor books, nor any marking


on paper, nor what people say of
each other. Love is a tree with


branches reaching into eternity
and roots set deep in eternity,


and no trunk! Have you seen it?

The mind cannot. Your desiring


cannot. The longing you feel for
this loves comes from inside you.



When you become the Friend, your
longing will be as the man in


the ocean who holds to a piece of
wood. Eventually, wood, man, and

oceans become one swaying being,

shams Tabriz, the secret of God.

I come from sunlight,
      The sweeping of leaves,
      South London streets,
      Lurburnum seeds;
      Hot semolina,
      A spoonful of jam,
      Hands full of gooseberries,
      That's who I am.

      I come from rose petals,
      The sound of the fairs,
      The smell of candyfloss
      Mist in the air;
      I come from warmth,
      My parents hands,
      Outings to parks,
      Both small and grand.

     I come from knowledge,
     True and false,
     From nursery rhymes,
     And stories and pictures of God;
     I come from gentleness,
     A quiet afternoon,
     From visions of loveliness,
     Sewn on a spool.

    I come from two worlds,
    With different ways,
    A threaded pearl necklace,
    And sensible soles
    A mother and father,
    I think I knew,
    I came and I wandered,
    I looked at the view.

       By Mary **

Like an endless arrow aimed at the heart of nowhere
The road ahead smashes itself against the distant mountains.

Now the road lasers toward a far horizon and falls off
The edge of the world into cloudy skies.

Cows, like freckles on a distant green field, pay no attention,
And by what miracle is there grass in this barren landscape.

Orange posts on thick black bases march along the roadway edges
Like determined Boy Scouts on an endless hike.

Miles and hours roll away in equal measure and nothing changes
But somehow nothing manages to ever stay the same.

No cactus and no tumbleweed, no sand dunes or gullies.
Only gravel plains that go forever without the smallest signs of  life.

A hundred miles and not a village, not a human or a gas pump
Nothing but the fear of breaking down with no phone signal.

All those places on the map a crazy quilt of boarded up abandoned.
Where others’ dreams have come to die and wither in the sun.

Coasting in on final fumes, the the station is a savior and a clown
Finding humor in the city folk who didn’t know the landscape.

Who didn’t know you fill your tank in every town you pass
And never let it get below the half way marker on the gauge.

A final push and finally the Fallon signs appear
Relief is like a cooling breeze that makes the last miles fly.

And there is Fallon, little town where everybody wears a gun
In leather pouches on their belt, and rebel flags are seen.

Where good ole boys and relatives have welcome mats
And handshakes that morph into hugs that sometimes last too long.

Where mosquitos rule the skies and snakes may keep you company
But everyone you come across will soon become your friend.

The paradoxes build a wall that can’t be gotten over
And the only way to go is back to where we started from.

Highway 95 has brought us to a wholly different world
And sadly, we don’t speak the language or understand the rules.

Nothing but to turn around and make that endless drive again.
No one on the road but us, as lonely as it was before.

The trip was made with hopes held high for a new beginning
But the future offered us came with too much baggage.

So highway 95 goes on...and on... and ever on
For some a super highway, for some a mere dead end.

ljm

The thought hurts so bad
That the game has turned sad
To take away a voice
And replace it with silence
Who let that go
Who let me know
When freedoms are allowed
Only conditional
The insane overseer controls his puppets
And to know that I use to have strings
Tossed twisted pulled and pushed
My career was a slave dream
Filled with a combine built like a auction
A contract like the slaves just with more change involved
Whips are the fines, jails, and blacklist
That you eagerly get assigned
Dare you speak without a sheet
Or with your mind
I kneel for injustice
I kneeled to be free
I kneeled to show my struggle
But to you a unthankful **** is all you see
I raise my hand for help but you rather me melt then disturb your selfish wealth
You must see the whole frame I love starry night but van goh was insane
To only see the vision and fall halfway thru
Football is tied to Jim Crow in the expression view
Owners spread bigotry,and lie on the truth
Expand dollars to shrink everything we do
So since we can’t say no to cops killing,
Wrongful jail dates or the rigid two step back and one half step forward life
I won’t watch the nfl
I won’t partake in a game
I wouldn’t even tag they twitter name
So this is my hurtful goodbye
To something that was so high
I wish you could see it with my eye

He flew,
far from the plumed flock,
above the vast stretch of sands,
over crags and boulders.
flew into forlorn uncharted lands,
into the lure of the unknown,
searching for a tree to perch.
a temporary haven in encircling fetters,
a home away from home.
seeking comfort where none exists.

Saw the twilight nibbling at,
the blazing brightness,
from the sinking sun.
an orb of orange red.
a tad too naughty to tame,
playing out its remaining moments.

Nowhere within eyeshot,
a crown of supine leafy green,
propped firm on poles of brown,
shooting out into the darkened sky.
nor the whirr of nocturnal moths,
leaving the hide of leprous barks.

Like a kite at the beck of winds,
slipped out from the controlling grip,
with the string hanging loosely down,
he swayed and tossed in boundless blue.
below lay the abysmal depths,
and sand dunes forming cancerous lumps.


The sun that sank into roaring depths,
left not even a glint of light,
unable to hold on to a willed direction,
and passing through the Stygian sky,
he knew his body growing heavy,
felt the ache in every limb,
and the wings, losing their power to soar
x x x x x x

The descent was far too abrupt,
rudderless and reeling,
he dropped down,
like a missile, blasted out,
and none heard the fierce thud!