She was very much lost
between the boundaries
of the vast space of the unknown
and the place of no return,
trapped within the space
between two unfamiliar dark worlds,
she peers out straining her eyes
in vain to see beyond
the glittering city's walls and the tapered off grounds
and receives no redemption
for her curiosity,
but only the hushed voices
and concerned stares of the
figures in masquerades
one by one, they usher her
away from the crystalline windows
and gently urge her
back into the masked ball
under a glistening chandelier
and the soothing haunted notes of a violin
and the red delicacies and sugary sweets
on the polished marble tops
soon, she is lost, completely immersed
in the melody and transparency
of the masquerade ball
as the two worlds outside the window
loom overhead, threatening to engulf
the illusion as a whole.

I feel your eyes emblazoned as stars
stitched into a river of ebony
your hands, how they extend from heaven
wading across our distance
tasting of cedar and salt to my mind
of every dream I've yet to realize

I squeeze the rind of you
from coastal sunsets
drinking your essence as blood red pulp
you sing within the cicadas' song
as I wander through tufted sea oats
searching, longingly, for your voice

the whimsical splash
of your laughter is a brilliant fusion
of lemon, fuchsia, and tangerine zinnias
framing my cottage pathway
you become the smile
of every face I encounter,  
the tickling glimmer of sunlight
between scrolls of Spanish moss
dripping like lace from my heart

you are wisteria and wine
late summer afternoons spent
in naked conversation
I want to be drunk on you today,
tomorrow, every day
we're promised tucked
beneath your chin,
slumbering to the sound
of your cool rain
coating oak leaves

you teeter
on emotional frenzy
each word etched slowly
in sensuous curves
of flickering candlelight

your taper drips
from tempting fingers
burning my heart's inseam
singeing tender skin
in enticing wakes

come closer
beguile my air
with your enchanting lips
flutter my skin
in your heartbreak's hollow
& seduction's cries
tease my ear, hold me near

I want, I crave
your sleek
whisper's verse

to be your shimmering muse
wafting inside dreams
melding within fragrant breath
to feel your poem's potency
blistering my tongue
such intimacy carried
within the vessel of my soul

coyote calls make canyons quiver
stars sleep in ponderosa trees
dry your tears in the fire’s glow
wild is a pretty place to be

I've feared death for so long
I hope that mine will matter

Rickey Henderson on 3rd base
Hey batter, batter

Slow throw back to the mound
In this world I ramble and roam

Rickey on the Oakland A's
Rickey stealing home!

Tin pan, in hand,
fists closed,
clutching a thermos.

He has brown eyes,
a scarf, striped.
He sits on the floor.

Legs crossed, a cane
between the fragile limbs.
He is there, watching.

The sun casts a shadow
on narrow buildings;
tall enough to blot the heat out.

There was a fire here
until the police
put it out.

"He probably did it to himself," they say.
There are marks along his neck.
The scarf covers them, but they know they're there.

It takes a lifetime to unlearn
The half true stories I believed
By the time I learn
It is already past decades

Discerning discerning discerning
Asking questions about the untruths
That tug at my heart...


Freedom is my birthright
It was my belief that blinded me
This I did not know until...

I turn around to my heart
To have an intimate moment
With my one true friend
In it I  find freedom