a petal, soft to touch
tender and well-watered
edible and fragrant
a botanist's delight

is this the place i long to be?
a place where once, in memory
sounds danced, as if alive,
now silenced, and warmth deprived.

gone are those happy days,
swept under hidden waves,
Time, the subtle thief at play
takes what we once held, away

in stillness, i witness life's parade,
the circus closed, its tents set free;
faded hues on past september
dreams once chased, now burn as ember

yet in ashes, a spark may hide,
a glimmer of days gone by;
embrace the past, but do not dwell
existence is a fleeting prize.

you don a guise, a shield from wind and sun,
and march across the sand toward the dawn

through valleys and over peaks, with no end in sight.
the journey is lonely, and your heart grows cold

until two cloaked figures happen by,
jumping and gliding to a somber song

the music’s beauty is incomprehensible –
sung with an unknown tongue

but still, you travel with newfound friends,
two strangers in a strange and endless land,
counting the beads of sand that slip away,
while pondering the meaning of this quest.

even after the travellers depart
you carry on, up to the mountain’s peak,
and from the top, you see the world anew,
the desert small, the music all around.

and finally, you understand their song,
the symphony of the journey: life, and love

bourbon soaked vanilla,
for those long and brisk
winter evenings, craving
warmth and sweetness.

orchid boat,
for the sailor on the ship
on high-tide seas --
a sublime flavour on the tip
of his tongue.

the candle inside
this dimly lit room
simmers;

still she burns,
and the fragrance
is bliss

her words -- ragged breaths,
guide me through enchanted land;
between slender legs, i happen upon
the mouth of her arousal