It seems a given
Humans are flawed Thankfully
My dog is lenient

I found my spirit with broken wing upon the grass
Cupping it in my hands I cradled it
And laid it in a shoe box
On a bed of Shredded hopes and dreams
I did not know from where or when it had fallen

I recalled my eyes squinting up at the sky
It soared so high above the clouds
Always too high to see
But the tug on my heart
Like a kite string in my hand
Pulled me upward

I knelt near the wounded bird
As he pecked at his bedding
Not to rearrange but reconstruct
I gave the lush plumage a long gentle stroke
My hand was cold and numb

He sang to me
A song of yearning
Of passing through white clouds
And water droplets drying in the warm sun
Cerulean sky fading into indigo
Oh but how his eyes did sparkle
Singing of floating among the stars on spread wings

His psalm ended
Tears burnt my cheeks
My heart was broken, my soul lost
When an abandoned child deep within
Cried from the shadows of my mind
You need only set him free
Lift me and together we’ll watch the majestic fight
In awe and wonder
As we did before the fall

I brought the child into the light
My soul felt reborn
It saw the world anew, as I came to know
The child I let go astray
My spirit did so rise
Looped three times about our heads
Then rose up, soon out of site
But still firmly tethered to my heart

I lay amongst the yellow chiffon flowing about your knees
Blue and gold play between the leaves
My cheek cradled in your soft palm, scented with meadow and wild flower

I reach up entwining my fingers in a silky web of flaxen hair
Lowering your head, I am flush with anticipation as you sultry breath reaches me
My lips raise to meet yours, sweet and moist as strawberries

I drink deeply of your wine
My cheek brushing your breast
Eden is open once more

Our love has reached heaven and made it so

Ah revelation.
Morning sky opens, red, gold
Pen falls from my hand

Standing in shock, emotionally pummeled,
My life a wooden house washed into the sea,
Lashing waves peel the clapboards and the sea takes it.
The fabric of my being slides in tatters over my fingers.
She bundles the strips and ties them to a kite made of prayer.
Hand in hand we watch it rise.
I see everything I had leave as I grasp all I need.

In the glow of morning’s promise
I set out with much anticipation
Down a long winding road,
With excited expectation
Each bend beckoned me on.
Each brought me closer to my destination
When vines of doubt entangled me blocking my heavenly compass
I hacked, pulled and fought to not lose my direction
Breaking through, I was stopped short on a crumbling rocky projection
I looked across my canyon of failure with heart broke frustration
With a fool’s shame
I turned back the way I came
With leaden feet I shuffled back lamenting a journey with no gain
But smile as reflecting, the travel was an adventure full of promise.
Tomorrow I start again

Turtleneck days.
Red and gold autumn in the quad.
Coffee house intellectualizing,
Song and poetry open mic with 3 cord guitar.
Passing a joint in the alley.
Greeting the dawn on the floor of an overcrowded 3 story walk up.
Where has it gone?
A soft contented sigh crosses my chest,
As she stubbed the last embers in the empty breakfast dish,
And sunk deeper into the bed.
Her head nestled on the pillow,
Her face framed in salt and pepper silken curls.
She stretched out her arms and *******, still round but softer peeked over the sheets.
I lowered to her lips,
A soft moist whisper at my ear,
Where have they gone indeed?

On Easter morning,
I stood in prism light lifted on hymns of glory
I thought how Easter is based on death
How life lies between the quotation marks of birth and death

I’ve known the gutter and a home
Fellowship and adversary
Victory and collapse
Love that made me a better man each day
Love went away leaving me incomplete but blessed

Now little cherubs dressed in spring scurry about hunting for treasures
Moms and dads with guiding hands
Onlookers, clearing their throats and point fingers

Jesus, perfect and loving, gave the greatest sacrificed to save us all.
This I do believe
I do not believe Jesus now waits at some distant future
To embrace us and guide us to our rest

Jesus is by a bush nudging a plastic egg a little more in the open
He celebrated each up and got me through each down
He is the essence of spring, a world newly born, life renewing.
How does one say thank you for just a gift?

“Thank you”

Your leg lying across mine woke me
Your body sweaty against me
I see you face in moonlight shadows lying on my shoulder

I dare not move disturbing you
Disturbing a moment as perfect and brief as a single snowflake
As wonderful as a first kiss goodnight, you taste in the morning

We met at cross roads of our journeys
I took your pack, you took my hand,
We’ve been traveling together for bit now.

In the dark, your breath a warm gentle breeze across my chest
I know not who authors our stories, the chapter of you and me
Will it be a finale chapter for one of us or will you take your pack at the next   fork

Now, this moment

I will not move

Why can’t I die? Why Can’t I die? Why Can’t I just die?
Over and over and over again in my head.
Absolutely imploring.
Why can’t I die? Why Can’t I die? Why Can’t I just die?

Draw in a deep breath.
Such a fool.
An iconic rhetorical question.
I know why I can’t die.

But maybe for a short while.
My soul so wants to visit home.
Enjoy a little bit of peace.

Strip me of everything
Oust me from my home
Undo all I’ve done
Leave me nothing.  I am still blessed
My riches cannot be possessed
All that is of value cannot be owned
Try to hold, a sunbeam, a spring breeze, a new-born’s cry, your lover’s laugh
Everything of man will decay and pass, but these things are forever
She is as ethereal and eternal as all of God’s blessings and she keeps my soul

My brain sits on a bed of white-hot embers,
        Feverish with nightmares of failure and loss.
My heart is a furnace burning in passion for a love no more.
She who’s cool body wrapped mine and moist kisses quenched
        the blaze is gone.
Her tender soul and ethereal ways now watch over from so very far
        away.
My soul is ashes.
Above flies a phoenix.
Many eyes look up filled with awe and inspiration.
My flames are fanned by the mighty wings.
          I’ve become the fire. I will burn forever.

The glowing cross
Framed in black skeletons with
Tattered green flesh flapping in the wind
It guards the fall
Beyond, the peaks where fire rises
Lighting the sky
Bending knee, bowing head
God is here

Sometimes the mind is sharp, but the body is failing
Limbs that hang useless now form a prison as strong as steel bars

Sometimes the body is healthy, and the mind is lost
The world beyond the eyes unknown and confusing

The glow of living is blocked,
as quickly as grey clouds blown by hurricane winds cover the sun

From tears of joy to tears of grief
God is behind the curtain
Heaven is a promise that can’t be broken

Winter surrounds me.
grey and charcoal clouds stretch horizon to horizon
wind howls over a white land
I cry and my face burns
but under the shivering is a summer’s warmth
my heart is a furnace that warms my soul
soft eyes and ethereal touch, with each embrace, each kiss,
the steel around my heart grows red, casting a golden glow
you are and always will be my fire