fascinated i draw in my breath,
little murmur of content, i am life
and i am death, what is there
to prepare, what to unravel,
what happenstance to know?
how does the tide, desiring only
to rise and fall, to sweep the shore
and then drawback like a warrior lunging
with a sword, the death-cry obliterating
the sky, then pulling his arm swiftly back
the same fire in her heart, unremorseful,
unrelenting, bring me such rest?
i’ll forget all my loves except
for you, die like a warrior for love
because my heart is a rugged shore and
it carries the crashing waves and the
clamour of gulls because it believes in
freedom, and needs to hear the brashness
of the wind and the far distances of the stars.

Like so many
times before,
she went out
into the dark
and pulled it
around her--
its cloak of
          charcoal
              staining
        her fingers
as she
grasped its
deeply opaque
fabric of smoke
turning her
eyes into mirrors--
mirrors reflected
inside out, thoughts
and feelings
brash and quiet
in their subtle
points of weaving
until the cold
gleam of shards
of the onyx air
clung to her form
like an inky abyss,
the very reverse
reflection
of black snow
spilling and seeping
into her essence,
filling the weeping
in whispery presence
until all she could do
was curl into the
soft embrace
of obsidian,
surrender her soul
to the starless sky
and let
it in

You burn with the morning dawn
Caresses and confessions
Redefining bakery
With the sugar of smoke on your lips

Dancing in jigsaw puzzles
Some pieces missing
With those called a past life

Shower
While I write sonnets on your mirror

Some local coffee shop
For lunch
With autumn air

Strange festivals of film midday
Botanical wildfire of a picnic forgotten
Late night haircuts with unskilled hands
Stars by lakeside
As drunken men stumble by

Soon clock renews like unmistakable moments destined for memory
Sleep calling our names while we call each other home

Little blue marble
Hurtling through outer space
With lone yellow star