fault the summer air
that beckons the wafting spirit

fault the lightning bug
that flashes purity in the night

fault the music
that brings emotion to its knees

fault no fault but my own

i don't know how to feel
but i know how to not feel

indica induced insomnia
sativa suppressed sensation

porter perpetuated pablum
lambic lulled lamentation

holding it all together
in endless evolution

cultivating the energy
of inner space
balancing on the meridian
of organic growth
breathing with the pressure
of profound feeling
stretching the spectrum
of infinitely blue moments

…so as to triply warm hearts

pausing at the playground
under a watchful full moon
recalling perfect summer nights
dreaming and dancing on the grass

...suddenly mere heartbeats away...

a part in the drapery folds
affording a glimpse of home
thoughts of impending entry
the tingling flush of awareness

...on the threshold of revelation...

as novel as premonition
as familiar as memory
a hanging rose decorates the door
a fleur-de-lis adorns the passage

...laying bare the soul...

embraced in a coat of arms
warmed by the promise of fire
where candelabra feeds flame
upon a hearth of touchstone

...grounded by ageless emotion...

absinthe makes it grow fonder
cherry pie serves it by the slice
feelings enough to give pause
especially to the faint of heart

...overwhelmed with welcome...

guest towels hung for love
epsom baths for the spirit
laughing through the tears
smiling through the ecstasy
with the passion of tango

...lingering in the vestibule...

limbs extended in surrender
slowly sapping expectation
humbled by the loss of leaves
casted to the fate of winds

moss casually draping down
bunting to the veranda below
naturally setting the stage
a balmy night's curtain call

perfume of coronated lime
headily rising to a salsa beat
the rhythm of a porch swing
rocking vaguely to memories

on a branch the bird alights
free to love and to be loved
conducting energy of promise
awakening roots to the fall

a structure for intimacy
a romantic equilibrium
energy expressing unity
spaces defining togetherness

a shelter for connection
a purity for tender hearts
floating amid life's tensions
compressing the trance of time

a twofold architecture
a stability of shared dreams
separately exploring life
integrally discovering truth

rooted in a summer beat
transcendent in a teal glow
music flowing to every chakra
seeking a level all her own

fueled by half moon and zydeco
senses ignite and expand
fulfilling the mystic spaces
with binding energy of dance

auspicious light yins to shadow
frosted hues of herbal mist
retreating to a café of secrets
revealing subtly just who she is

an onslaught of words
a stampede of wit
the mundane trampled
the futile escaped

shouts absorbed
idiocy exchanged
insanity tempered
reality revealed

bent elbows flowing
pints of clarity instilled
brief release of balance
falling through the craic

appearing without warning
gently viscous in her flow
oblivious of her potency

infusing the atmosphere
breath of anise laced honey
tasteful in her subtlety

gifting sanity gracefully
a willow swaying on hilltop
palatable sensuality

a playful elegance
colors the uncertainty
in her whispered concern...
are you sure?

make no mistake...
this is a poem of love and libation

drawn to windows of silent blue
wooed by rays of genuine warmth
wavelengths of eternal promise
a clear gaze to tranquility

basking in a youthful sunlight
framed in crystalline emotion
purity of frozen concerns
azure passport to forever

trees reaching to one another
exposed in their frosted beauty
cornflower hues on snowy white
shadows of druid ritual

dreams arising from cups of tea
reflecting cerulean bliss
nourishment for ravenous hearts
fertile steeping for spring roses

harvest hearth softly glowing
stone cold beneath weary feet
to winter between drafty walls
to recall what it is to feel

diminished window of light
door shut against inclemency
to slumber and dream without
to lose and find self within

time is ripe for apparitions
so unexpectedly haunting
cloaked in familiarity
heartflutteringly intrusive

daydreams are her elixir
scent of tea, turf, baked porter
dusted in peat ash patina
awakening dormant senses

...an invitation to a nice, soft night

the clothespin is growing full
time for hanging out to dry
initially the tears gone by
followed by freshly inked pages

words beyond lyrics escape me
sounds without notes are tuned out
a brand of merciful oblivion
melodic morphing of the moment

having forsaken reconciling past
having abandoned present rationale
the future becomes mine to ignore
merely rogue feelings incarnate

happiness arrives in a moment
and departs without a whisper
fleeting is constantly cyclic

blue sky hovers over teal sea
gold moonlight bathes pebbled shore
tide silently ebbs away froth

still i look to find a reason
for the disintegration of persistence
and the integral content of content

reverberating down endless fjords
  louder than an aching heartbeat
an alluring cardio-tinnitus
  ringing at the wavelength of life

clouds appear oblivious to such calls
  forever bordering sea and sky
albeit restlessly on the move
  concealing their turbulence within

myself bound to superficial drifting
  keel scraping along jagged depths
aimlessly navigating the narrows
  deaf to the serenade of reason

persistent as a ubiquitous urchin
charmingly offering promises
disguised as roses in her tiny hand

depriving as inanimate loveliness
pinned for posterity under glass
posing as a butterfly's fragile elegance

precious as tears welling involuntarily
in a singular moment of transient truth
when a beauty is fully comprehended

…such is the desperation of time

always been a perpetual dreamer
  castles forever floating in air
foundations constantly shifting below
  earthly tremors shaking the heavens
…a role reversal made to disorder

sometimes i long for a clear blue sky
  without puffy white towers soaring
ofttimes i wish for a darkened slumber
  with no white noise of fanciful fanfare
…a dreamer in reverie of dreamless nights

ink of sky inhabits her eyes
  essence of serenity almondine
so spanish in silvern adornment
  though her soul is hafnium pierced

a haven for both life and death
  embodiment of artistic expression
openly hooded in earlobe spirituality
  nominally patrician by disposition

my source stirs in futile disarray
  kindred energy infusing the moment
a tree appears on a barren landscape
  devoid of foliage, vivaciously rooting

an infinity of predestined roles
an inclusive experience in totality
as every fiber, thread, and patch
in the quilt of being that is god

serial embodiment in all matter
animal, vegetable, and mineral
earth, atmosphere, and aether
purposeful suffering and solitude

new souls emerging from the cycle
comprehensive awareness fulfilled
a nebula of creative expansion
from a supernova of spirituality

novices grasping for comprehension
floundering with loving compassion
welling tears of confused recognition
from a source of obscured recollection

collective consciousness in transformation
the cumulative effect of genuine connection
to appreciate the strength of a star
to respect the divinity of a weakness

reality abruptly removed the veil
  realization mercifully provided the light
a binary being seeking his own level
  attempting to rise to the surface of himself

if peaceful existence is based on choice
  then personal dogma tablets need chiseling
if afterlife is fashioned from belief systems
  then intimate mysteries need conceiving

dialogue of a dress rehearsal for an actual life
  faithlessly hidden within lines of complexity
alliterated ambiguously, expressed equivocally
  setting the stage for reincarnation's passion play

when one door closes...
then it can also be locked
an unintentional specialty of mine

some close of their own volition
others require a little nudging
leaving those that need be kicked

i've walked through them all
beneath their porticos of promise
over their thresholds of dreams

spaces beyond so warm and inviting
or ominously dark and foreboding
but entry is inevitably mandatory

a lament in keyhole retrospective
reduced in scope and visibility
incomprehensibly limiting foresight

begrudgingly resigned to redesign
wishes trapped beyond mortal reach
accessible only with a skeleton key

creation rests within intricacies
  rainbows occupy little space
imagination is pervasive
  hope encompasses galaxies

sentiment imploring reason
  heart negotiating the mind
sentient reconciling reality
  dreams awaiting reincarnation

faith in earnest development
  amidst premature existential loss
artistically loving expression
  crafting interstitial intimacy

outlined in shades of reality
replete with eclipsed potential
the morning moon in revelation
unaware of her ageless touch

the language of time is floral
the color of anachronism is sage
so asymmetric in its beauty
so linear in its dictates

but her silhouette defies projection
refracting moments into mosaics
collaging aspirations into awareness
as dreams clarify into appreciation

sentimentally tattooed
permanently scarred
a colorfast spectrum

unrequited amnesia
autonomous dreams
bright grey dawns

perpetual emotion
forward momentum
one track bind

junkyard patchwork
mismatched symmetry
residue recalled to life

a tale of another city
one stanza at a time
reborn to dichotomy

should fate reveal
passionless existence
would poetry still be written

Budapest Utca; Rainy Evening
...were Caillebotte a Hungarian

notes of ginger and honey
savory **** of cabernet
improvisational watercolors
harmonious star ascending

if only time knew when to stop
when enough was perfect
heartbreak would be extinct
intimacy...infinite

a museum casted shadow
variegated in hues of history
envelops the hour of the dog

a street paved with memory
adorned in May nuptials
whispers a toast to continuity

a cafe table ripe with potential
lost in studious consideration
brews eternity from lavender latte

Inherent nearsightedness
  a natural tendency
  to appreciate flaws up close
Inherited farsightedness
  an acquired ability
  to step back and perceive beauty

microchaos...macrobalance

a semblance of perfection...
all the reality one needs

delicate springs of sensibility...
wound so tightly
by life's twists and turns
relieved intermittently
by uncoiling poetic release
ticking away periods of peace
...like clockwork

Liberty perched on a pedestal
balancing progress and evil
Holding high the palm of peace
over those who hold it so dear

But peace comes dropping too slowly
with all due respect to you, William
An unsettled and urgent promise
cloistered within vows of possibility

Willing victim of romantic culture
betrayed by the keeper of souls
Romance is no idle distraction
Intimacy, a vocation

Long afflicted by...
the sounds of music
the scent of linden blossoms
the taste of sea salted skin
the feel of sultry midnight air
the sight of sun through closed eyes...

Dreams once silently withering
liberated to wander freely
Uprooted from the stagnation
of emotionally depleted soil

Transplanted to aimlessness
where all roads lead to roam
Preferring the role of explorer
to the vagrancy of a lost soul

Strolling through this beautiful city
as having traveled throughout life
Observing without participation
part of a whole yet not wholly a part

An accomplished failure on a quest
to achieve simplicity of purpose
To savor those moments of stray peace
that ephemerally cross this path

...all the whilst searching for that bee loud glade

Tilting at butterfly windmills
in Parisian blown breezes
As gazelles seductively sway
to the melting light of night

Feeling her nocturnal whispers
puppy's secrets in child's ear
While white petals gently escape
eternal maternal bouquets

Pondering morphed realities
from verdant citrus cocoons
Long after jazz laden teardrops
muddled cinco de mayo

I must know...

the smell of your blowing hair
   in the leaf-strewn autumn wind

the touch of your hand on my chest
   closely held in a sleepy winter bed

the sight of your eyes lit with wonder
   for the beauty of spring's first flowers

the sound of your voice calling my name
   through a window from a summer garden

...and as the cycle renews...

the taste of your fertility
   under the cover of a harvest moon

...there simply aren't enough seasons
to gain a complete sense of all that you are

awakening autumn air
absorbed with thrown caution
a penchant for yawning leaves
an affinity for desiccated hearts

stirring lakeside willows
whisking emotions away
wafting feminine fragrance
in walking women's wakes

moving to its own designs
gusting in pursuit of change
swirling clouds of romantic disarray
into dizzying vortexes of possibility

expanding the bellows of intimacy
lovesmith for glowing molten souls
passionately ignited, vulnerably cooled
forging bonds, tempering existence

occurring slowly, imperceptibly
efficacy being subtly reduced
no longer radiating as it once had
decaying in all that matters

life awaiting reconception
metamorphosis to wholeness
but transition is rarely painless
its passage dark and damp

anxious waking in predawn gloom
curled within the womb of familiar
under a fraying comforter of security
worn even too thin for reality veiling

cutting the cord to the past is crucial
mindfully maintaining nurturing ties
a healthy present breathes its own air
into a future released from half-life

my rough and tattered edges like sea glass
smoothly rounded by her passions
relentlessly polished by intimate contact
with her welling water and earthy grit

the reality of her excites me
humbling any romantic doubt
dispelling any fantasy skepticism
instilling a will for the moment

she is energy in pure spherical form
encircling this scattered life
she holds for me a sense of place
a bookmark to poetic existence

just as bands bind magic barrel staves
as rainbows secretly circle underground
as concentric rings indicate growth
love will revolve even as it expands

stellar direction in undulating terrain
punctuated by meteoric columns of infinite light
imparting a clutching embrace to the face of now

lunar reflections form a fluid nocturnal path
to an osculated gateway of fertile encompassment
culminating in breathless pillows of untabled silence

stars without fault grace the expressive heavens
while muted words gaze out through rooftop eyes
cascading over living stone in waterfalls of emotional geodes

towering and sheltering
shading and nourishing
a blossoming innocence
of suckled sweetness

draped in wand pods
sowing magical seeds
sprouting sapling bridges
between hoping and knowing

fluttering metamorphosis
butterflies of the night
seeking the light of home
dimmed within memory

though storms may wail
these roots run deep
though lightening strikes
these wings have spread

chosen child for nature's creativity
tangoing to the sway of twilight trees
such spiritually sensual sensibilities

hypersensitivity heightening passion
life intensified in intellectual interest
love embellished with emotional empathy

oh, to bottle her elusive essence
to drink in her wistful nights
to infuse my tea with her promise
to scent my pillow with her dreams

uncork the atmospheric aroma
of sepia tinged crescents
wafting in celestial patisseries

sweeten the clear blue skies
with mists of crystallized honey
perfuming the divine aether

oh, fill my breath with her ephemeral
synchronize my life's pulse to the
metronome ponytails of skipping girls
followed by the tails of wagging dogs

humid sounds of city stillness
wafting warmly, quietly
through bedtime screens

melancholy windows open
deep within my soul
don't know why...

love is allowed to fade
from mundane view
treasure unrealized

nurturing appreciation
materially displaced
don't know why...

a natural work of art
   unnaturally rearranged
delicate sensibilities
   under patterns of shadow

self-portrait of inertia
   depicting withdrawal
pursuit of recognition
   motionless in futility

muted colors of being
   imbalance in the spectrum
intrinsic inquisition
   casting quality of light

fruits of perseverance
   nourishment for survival
openness and acceptance
   creating spatial composition

flowers in heart's vase
   healing from suffering
light from obscurity
   still life with darkness