Maggie has fans
in Afghanistan
far away
in another land

Not a poem
today
but a card
for a friend
who is not yet
seventy
but more than
sixty

Sunday afternoon special
should have been
the daily destination
floating in space
an unfamiliar place
'sacred union' newly found
turned us upside down
We didn't know what to do
This was too new
for me
and for you

She gave her wisdom
from days of yore
She could have given her more

She gave her a heart
the size of a small bird
to feel and heal the world

She gave her a vision
free from fear
It could have been more clear

She gave her a smile
but still she cried
The smile could have been wider

Red rose petals fall
like flakes of snow
and the water in the creek
is very low

I thought I live in England
where we almost drown
when hope of summer
comes around

Today if we want rain
we must run off
believe it or not
to the plains in Spain

When you get to the bottom of it all
inside of the tiniest egg
When the last layer of onion is gone
and all of your dreams are dead
When there’s nowhere to go, no one to see
no air left to breathe, and no one to be  
then you’re free
free from the game, free from your pain
free from the dangers of the sea
free as a bird, from this world,
from all the laws of gravity
free from sermons about the burning
from silly schools full of fools
forever vows and furrowed brows
free from regret and free from death
free from tinsel trinkets and tokens
free from promises made then broken  
When there’s nowhere to go, no one to see,
no air left to breathe, and no one to be
Then you’re free

Night and day
Don climbed high
all the while
but one day
he was
Stymied by a stile