The bitter heart eats its owner
It's a fearful thing to love what death can touch

Their goodnight kiss felt like two blind animals bumping into each other in the dark
She felt in that moment that she loved him as much as it was possible to love anyone
What she felt was something like hard rain; violence
                                                                ­                      and brightness
                                                                ­                            and beauty
What formed in her mouth were the words,
Which of us is flawed?


He began to feel anger at the peace he found here and the complacency of the blue sky and quiet roads
His fists were in his eye sockets, his head exploding with the ruin of lives
As he set out, he felt a kind of happiness
He fell
            and he fell,
                               and the earth that we call sweet became his executioner


There is a point when the body relinquishes its pain
and waits dumbly
The savage animal eating his heart would someday grow weary
When do you stop being
                                           human?
When the body is so befouled, when you have groveled so deeply, when bitterness eats your
                                   bones?

The birds move from one tree to the next, building nests
This is how we live
The wind erases our footprints as we move
                And then one day, we are no longer alive on Earth,
                         And the footsteps are gone forever
The land is our blood, the clouds our hair

We are doorways, openings into something greater than ourselves,
Something that we don’t understand and will never understand
One cannot know why things happen as they do
We have nothing precious in and of ourselves
We are only precious that we are part of something too big to know
Every person alive thinks they are the center of the universe, that they are everything
When in fact each of us is less than nothing
Liquid, like a river
Season by season
Hope,
           and hope again.

Lefty , I can't imagine how he got his name
Always did things backwards . . . so . . . . .
I was not surprised when he up and went away

Never said why , when , or where he had to go
Now he is growing old where as they say
"Only God Knows"

What are clouds anyway ?
Water vapor in the sky ?
I think it is so much more

I think they are recycled tears
Of every broken heart that ever be
Falling to a desert below

My cactus flower
Blooming in the night
So none will see

She keeps her love close
Protected by her needles

I sit and watch her bloom
And before the sun has begun
I leave looking for lefty

And the reasons I quit
Are the excuses I choose

Between the desert and the sea
Where the cause will be
Clouds keep winking at me

The circle is broken into pieces
I speak in deserts of sand
Drown in seas of lingering waves of pain

And I have no clue where lefty went
Only remember a cactus flower blooming
Without the thorns between the two

I want to be deep in the woods
and lay you down in the greenest depths
that hold quiet for now.
But soon calls, cries, and roars
will determine this territory ours.

The forest is not an easy place
for the mere humans we are in this instant
to establish. But our fervor is unmatched.
Crushed leaves and shattered limbs
speak testament to our deeds.

The clouds close the sky
but neither lightning or thunder
dare approach us here
for how could simple light and noise
hope to stand against this force of nature.

Rain pours from unreachable heights
as if it were to quench the heat;
as if it fears for the trees and soil.
We will not be abated yet
our geminated critical mass, relentless.

In the end the skies have had enough
and the earth is cool again.
Stars on your sighing released skin
and the moonlight plays on mine.
Deep in the forest green, the outside world unseen.

1389

Touch lightly Nature’s sweet Guitar
Unless thou know’st the Tune
Or every Bird will point at thee
Because a Bard too soon—

drunk on each other's turpentine
from your wet kisses
       your wet body wedged between
        my wet body and the kitchen counter
        the sky's rim breaching through windows
you'll find my love between the soul and shadow
the equinox of days and night,

i love you and your secrets buried in the unbloomed flower
        keeping its petals to itself
the fragrance of rain and the aroma of earth
        i will wander amongst these fields, open
        i watched you grow
i will not love you a certain way, as i do not know how
        i will only love so close that with your hands on my
        *******, they become close like hands
   i will only love so close that your eyes will see what
        i dream of when i sleep
i will only love, because i only can love

From a silence to a simple buzz,
A gentle hum slowly grows.
Never a whinge or a moan,
Just a quiet conversation.
Not lonely today, a few friends join.
Moving swiftly,
Weaving around the room.
In and out, bouncing off each other,
Opportunities as open as the door.
Not worrying what others think, brave Fly.
Surrounded by predators,
Poised and ready to pounce.
Fly, you don't care?
At least you've fulfilled life.
Not fearing death, courageous Fly.
Friends always by your side,
The promises they make and never break.
Loyal company, nonidentical,
Individual and unique.
Not trying to follow suit, but be content.

Dear Fly, you remind me of me,
Happy alone, but worth more as three.