As water is to cleansing rain
and heat as to burning flame,
so are you to me; the same.
My fiery rain.

Fill the gutter of my mind.
Fire the coal your heart has mined.
Burn me to the end of time.
Your fire does reign.

r ~ 4/1/14

Their words
Like the softest cannon fire
Shrapnel finding every mark
In blood and brain and bone
and heart
Leaving us to bleed
for more
Till fire, now silenced
turns to dark.

3/30/14

Still night broken by call of soul owl
watching over the lodge of my father's brother.
The next world awaits my uncle.

His walking clothes prepared.
His feather oiled to a brave sheen.
Knife freshly sharpened in beaded sheath.

He calls to owl. I'm ready.
The women begin the journey chant.
My father dances with joy tears.

3/30/14

Read to me
while I lie here with eyes closed against the sky.
  Read to me with passion
of the smell of lemon
  and musk wrapped in silk and satin.

  I rest here in your voice and drink
your very words.
  Read to me with lilt of breath.
Breathe me to the brink
  of lasting
as I sink into your sighs.

Read to me gently,
  read softly into the night.

r ~ 27Mar14

'Was built a wall of loneliness
The blocks were made of hopelessness
No door, no gate, no openings
A moat within the inner ring
The sides sloped down to emptiness

'Was kept away the happiness
With salty tears so copious
The songbirds cried and took to wing
'Was built a wall of loneliness

The sky lay down in weariness
Grey clouds did tire of dreariness
So steep the walls no vine could cling
So cold the wall kept out the spring
All hearts cried out in brokenness
'Was built a wall of loneliness.

r ~ 26Mar14

He sniffed the wolves
~found them wanting
Wolves sniffed of him
~found him daunting

The shepherd fears
not beast of prey
With shiverin' lambs
he greets each day

Upon the hills
and braky glen~
shepherd watches
o'er his friends

And when the night
calls lambs to sleep
the shepherd sings
while grey wolves weep.

r ~ 25Mar14

Life provides the contours.
Poets provide the shading and colors.

r ~ 23Mar14

The chimney on top of hill
with tumbleweed surrounds
Wind-scarred handfired brick
red as Autumn's dress
Ballast stone adorned foundation
carted from far distant shore
Stones once stored in hold of ships
from even further lands
Stones mined by strangers
speaking many languages
except his own, the builder
of this chimney, forlorn marker
against the sky
All that remains of his home
Well balanced, builder
Well founded.

r ~ 23Mar14

So much water, so much iron
Alas, no gold, but copper by the ion
Glows in my skin late summer days
And tastes of blood and flint and maize

******* salt, my spit, my hair
Breathe my tender air, my mollis aer
Anoint me with a cloak of sweat
And with my sword I will beget

The earthy side of me, you see
Nickel, zinc, ah, yet no mercury
Take my dirt, my earth, my stones
Build a castle with my bones.

r ~ 21Mar14

In fallow field
   Where corn once grew
I chanced upon
   An old mule shoe
I pondered on
   The many miles
The shoe had plod
   In mulish style

In river bed
   Now dry as bone
I came upon
   A worn millstone
Wondered aloud
   The wagons full
Of new milled corn
   The mule had pulled

In old grey barn
   Within a stall
I found these words
   Carved on the wall
George Washington
   Once slept here
Best **** mule
   From far and near
;)

r ~ 20Mar14

She came to us on wings of Spring
Of Marian the birds did sing
Her cat-nipped tails tells tales
Do make hearts swell
And to her a sweet refrain
Happy Birthday, Marian

r ~ 20Apr14

Water wives live sheltered lives
Amongst the coves where pirates rove

Daily catch is makers match
Where red hot stoves hide fresh baked loaves

Water men are thick and thin
So often strove where shipmates hove

Water child is often wild
The treasure trove where pirates roved

r ~ 19Mar14

The waning hours
Asleep in time
A dream in rhyme
Desert sublime
So says the moon
So setting soon
Upon the dunes
Cactus flowers

r ~ 19Mar14

His dog died,
and that’s all there was to it.
Except it wasn’t.
Those words in between,
the missing of a friend,
the times relived;  companion
dog that did him in.  Joyful.
Bit his heart and made him write
such words so right,
that I went home
and kissed my dog
and played with her in the garden.
And we both lay down in the dirt,
and will again tonight, and every night.
Until she sleeps.  And I with Daisy.
All because his dog died.

r ~ 18Mar14

For me, it's not courage
or a lack of it
that keeps me hanging
'round. When I boil it
down, it's love in the bottom
of the kettle that keeps me
breathing. I don't think it is
possible to love too much,
but man, I feel like I've been
breathing for a long **** time.

r ~ 16Mar14

Gray permeates day\
   Bluebirds dancing in puddles
   with raindrops splashing.

r ~ 16Mar14

You send National Register of Historic Places Evaluation of the Freeman Creek Site, 31ON076 back to the contractor without payment because the Methodology chapter had no rhyme or meter (or reason, for that matter).  

r ~ 14Mar14

Hello ****, some water?
You're looking well for
Such an old stone.
Wish I could say the same
For Keith, but then, he's
Aging real, isn't he? :)
He ain't fading away too soon.
Well, I'd like to say that time is on my side
But I'm all out of time and I have
Yesterday's papers to read before
Dinner at Ruby Tuesdays. Let's spend
The night together and paint it black next time.


Ah, John John. There you are.
Why, you don't look any older
Than the day you metamorphosed.
Pardon me while I flick that lady bug
Off your back. Always were popular with the gals, weren't you. Speaking of, Eleanor Rigby stopped by yesterday to help me with some chores and offered to take you to her strawberry fields forever if I would give you up. I told her that she was in line behind Abbey up the road and Penny down the lane. You hound dog, you.

Eric, you old derrick. Seen a domino
'Round here. I seem to have misplaced one.
Watch it, I see some snake eyes in those
Weeds. Need to get that old *** Layla out.
What, lazy?  Your faith in me is blind, old son.
You are in the presence of the lord of the stones.

Mr Fogerty, how ya been?  Nice day today, eh?  
Have you ever seen the rain like last week?  Coming down like water out of Niagara. I was beginning to wonder who'll stop the rain. We were fortunate, son. Coulda flooded.

There you are, big as a dirigible and heavy as lead. Large enough to be a cornerstone to that stairway to heaven.  Ought to have named
You Zeppelin.  We could use you to build a dam for when the levee breaks. By the way, seen a black dog around here lately?  Neighbor Bill's been going through some good times and bad times. He's feeling dazed and confused since his old lady said babe, I'm leavin' you and now his dog has run off. Man sure could use a whole lotta love. Well, best be movin' on.

There he is!  My main man, Neil. Bud, you are showing your age, but still rockin' in the free world, I see. I remember the day I found you down by the river some time back after the gold rush. I was feeling helpless till that pretty cowgirl in the sand with a heart of gold took pity on this old man and gave me a hand loading you up into the back of my VW.  It was like threading a needle, and the damage done to my back without her help would have been something awful. She was a real cinnamon, that girl. From Ohio, if I recall. Well, I see the sky about to rain, looks like a hurricane may be coming. Could be a real thrasher. Tonight's the night that we shoulda been having a harvest moon. Well hey hey my my old friend. Time for this southern man to head on in. You hang loose, and I'll be seeing you in the by and by.

r ~ 14Mar14.

A wrinkle in time
       born with hair gray
  and fragile bones
       jutting against feathered skin.
Black eyes cry
           for joy that day brings.
  Child of ages sings
         to Mother Earth.

r ~ 13Mar14

Black sand morning sky~
   Scorpion strikes from the south
   Orion hides now

r ~ 13Mar14

With broken wing
She tried to fly
A broken wing
The ruse she tried
On broken wing
The sigh, it died
For broken wing
Her lover cried

r ~ 12Mar14

In deepest wood
  A home once stood
Roses bloom by chimney fall
       An old stone wall
Lines remnant trail
Gives heed to open well
                     Where lilacs trace
                           An empty space
                       And fills the air
              With scent to wear
                 An apple tree
       And mulberries
           An old home site
                 In morning light

r  ~  9Mar14

To ocean's roar--the sea oats dance
To music of--nor'easter's glance
Holding fast on--windswept seashore
Lending hand to--rippled dunes' chore

Paniculata's--feathered lance
Leaves not the sand--to nature's chance
To leave in dunes--an open door
To ocean's roar

Sea oats seeking--perfect balance
Barren beach and--storm's dalliance
Shorebirds nesting--while sea gulls soar
Still ocean tries--and shouts for more
Sea oats bending--yet still they dance
To ocean's roar

r ~ 9Mar14

Sky bleeds thin red line__
    Obsidian blade cuts deep
    hinterland of time.

r ~ 8Mar14

Desert pool shimmers/
   Drinking water from cupped hands
   Cool sweetness of life

r ~ 5Mar14

Seven billion strong
and each one of us
alone in our thoughts.

r ~ 3Mar14

Sailing feathered clouds across the blue sky
Haloed sundogs clinging to white mares’ tails
Storied concentric glories way up high
I’ll leave a soft rainbow colored contrail

Sailing feathered clouds across the blue sky
Flying towards the sun’s healing golden crown
Come and sing when you see me sailing by
Let go the darkness and let light resound

Sailing feathered clouds across the blue sky
Shards of memories and rose colored ice
My love my love my love let go the sigh
Please remember me to the by and by

r ~ 3Mar14

Big Bear swims tonight-
    Stars reflecting on water
    Painted by van Gogh
    
r ~ 1Mar14

Faded snapshots through time
Where each moment was real
And the world was all mine
Straight and strong was my keel
    
r ~ 28Feb14

Of all of the habits that I have claimed
  The ones that could have maimed
The ones that could have killed me
   Should have stilled me
And those that will eventually
    Somehow I missed the habit of simply
Being happy
    The habit of greeting each dawn
As another day won
    Like my sweet Daisy
Rolling on her back in the grass
    Beneath warm sun

r ~ 21Feb14

Another Staph Meeting day
Power Point bullets fly my way

r ~ 18Feb14

I squint  just right
And capture a memory almost forgotten
Jars of fruit and honey fresh from hives
Filling shelves in old smokehouse
Home-made butter and molasses
In her kitchen
Waiting to smother
Biscuits warming
On black cast iron wood-stove
Boxes of buttons
An old cameo
Split wood in corner
Old sleepy dog on porch
The house on the hill
Where Mom's Granny rocked

r ~ 16Feb14

So you lost your innocence
    in a darkened cemetery in Fallujah,
do you go looking for it
     on a grassy, sun-drenched hilltop in Arlington just because the
light is better?  No, not you.
     You return to that dark place and break every marker, leave no stone unturned, disinter all  ghosts tossing them to the wind and shout     
     "Want more?".
 Marching upright/quick-step/head high
     back home to Bethesda to find your peace.

r ~ 15Feb14