carefully I cradled the garden seeds
depositing them in the incubating
warmth of the earth's black womb
then buried my heavy heart there for a season
I thought of my cousin Roger who had just
relinquished the magical breath that animates
all living beings in this universe
it didn't matter that he had abused his body and
was an emotional wreck most of his brief life
more like a brother, fond memories of innocent play,
mischievous fun and a generous, loving persona
poked through fresh and green
like tender infant shoots
these were the perennials, the lasting bouquets
that could never be laid to rest
the fluffy double orange hoop skirts of the hibiscus
dancing in the corner
and the African daisies laughing purple faces
make me smile
I could feel my cousin's Spirit whispering in
the gentle Florida breeze
"hey, cuz, life goes on.......forever!"

there is dew on my lips
sweet secretions of
an open heart
Oh dearest
hold me while
we listen
to summer rain
dripping down
damp warm navel
of the earth
steamy pools rising
your eyes
the air so thick
with love

You were here
last night
tangled up
in my
ebony dreams
and arms
i can still feel
the mist of your
breath on my
neck
i prayed that you
wouldn't vanish
that this kiss would
last
beyond the
first rays of
Dawn
and the
sweet duet of
the skylark

The tempest in your
Soul
the gale in your
heart

even the frailest robin
finds rest in the
open arms of a
solitary tree

Let me lay my head
on your rain-drenched bough
feel the flowers bloom
watch the stars shoot
across your eyes
once.....
again

Easter hymns
rise sweet and melodious
from our lips
white majestic lilies
sound their fragrant trumpets
kindling childhood memories
of new spring clothes,
shiny black patent leather shoes
lacy pink bonnets and my Mother
holding our hands as we skip
off to Sunday school
tears frozen in time
warm streams run freely
towards her familiar lap
and soft *****
on this day so dear to her
Soul
I gaze wistfully across
unknown boundaries
and wave to my Mom
strolling through Paradise
hand in hand
with Jesus, Our Lord

Fighting sleep...
Night's velvet hand caresses
my face

Crescent moonlight illumines
my copper skin
lily

Day once so robust, solid
and real

lies still, cold and silent
on the bed next to me

All the schemes, dreams and wishes
cremated in the dying red bonfire
of the setting sun

a starry void descends
overtakes me
and
I
disappear
for
now

words fall empty silent
pained into the altar fires
life without You
an unbearable cross to bear
ash is smeared across my forehead
but not just for Lent
now I wear the tattered rags and carry the begging bowl of Shiva
even the crematory dust of my bones
shiver in the hereafter
for one blessed whisper from the lips of
my beloved

smoke ringed whisper
luminous swan
glides unseen
across a pale, misty, phantom pond
i glimpse my rippling reflection
and for a breathless moment
lightning pierces the crouching shadows
a labyrinth of stars spirals out of control
on my belly a red cobra rising
I spread my hood heavenward

Open portal of Your endless eye
...........
a ray of light
slips through the keyhole

This morning I asked a rose
for a kiss
dew on her petals
tears from my eyes

All the emerald leaves in my garden
are garbed in noir
and Joy the parrot has shrouded herself
with raven feathers

We bow our heads, close our wings in prayer
to honor our dear friend, Sam the Cairn terrier
who gifted us so many, many hours of
sunny, frisky, faithful love and devotion

These memories bring a smile to our countenance
and lift our spirits beyond the temporal horizon
where we can clearly see
beloved Sam playing frisbee with God
running free through Doggy Heaven

I bathe my Father’s aged, worn, peeling
Nile brown feet
feet that once proudly trod the noble earth
from his island home in the Caribbean
to the island of Manhattan
around the world as a WW II vet and back
these feet are raw with life
patting them dry, gently filing the gnarled nails
even simple tasks like this so hard
for him to do now
and tender touches few and far between
He seems to enjoy the gentle foot
massage with sweet oils
my thoughts soak in rich memories of
Dad’s wise words and honest living
His imperfections, too, a monument,
a testament to one determined
to stay the course, to not quit, despite
emotional, economic and ethnic obstacles
anointing his feet with more oil,
I reflect on the early pain between us
how the balm of Love and Forgiveness
which soothes and softens
all calloused, hardened feelings
blessed us with healing
clasping my Father’s feet in my hands
I bow to his Lotus feet
he was my first glimpse of God and
Unconditional Love

In the city of my heart
I have gathered paradise
close to my *****
loose blossoms fall
like strands from well kept tresses
love smitten lips plant
wild unkempt kisses
unbridled fireflies
a thousand fold
on evening's glowing face

At an airport garden in Hong Kong
I sit and refresh my traveling spirit
amidst an effusion of lucky bamboo
Crepe white and fuchsia orchids
coyly fan their geisha faces

The Morning Sun, at first a pale opal ember
climbing over slumbering, stone-washed
mountains

Roars into brilliance
like a golden Peacock Dragon
strutting through China blue skies

I smile inwardly....
let the moment sweep me off my feet
Breathe in......
colors, sights, sounds
gifts....fullness

I love my little Buddha husband
sometimes I watch him as he naps
his face assuming the soft delicate
lines of a child or an angel
asleep on God's *****

I observe him in the garden
through the glass patio door
reflective light of the noonday sun
splashing gold over his bent form

Gently he snips fragrant rose blossoms
arranging a charming feng shui bouquet
for our kitchen counter

Cuddling close and cozy on our
chocolate brown love sofa
as evening casts a starry
love spell

I Thank God for such a
blessed and sacred life and especially
for my little Buddha's delight

The milk in your breast has
soured
and silence of desert tombs
echoes through your heart

Those eyes,
once whirling gypsy skirts
mouth red cartwheels, tambourines,
night fires, dark and moist
invite — wilderness

Birds caught on thorns
flail
like arms that reach out to
nowhere
slowly delivering HIM, piece by
piece
to lurking crocodiles

Your children, tiny white candles
gather flowers to fill the chasm
form a human bridge, a link
an aisle for you to walk down
only this time
Alone

Marble eyes weep real tears
Trumpets greet
ISIS resurrected
takes her place, whole, strong
Transcendental
inside the chamber of
Kings

eyes beneath
emerald lakes gazing upward
breath rippling green gills
mermaids don't travel in schools
but we see stars in another
fathomless, fabulous universe
and play hooky with dolphins in
the moonlight
sometimes the alluring world
of men beacons like a lost lighthouse
bobbing in the soft whale gray mist
and for a brief moment... we touch
souls

The Jasmine smiles
her tiny ivory trumpets
curving upward like elephant tusks
miniature cream colored cornucopia
quaffing silver showers
from my garden hose

I blink though the fine spray
a rainbow apparition
ripples midair

“Look Ma...” I whisper gently
“a rainbow...”

my Mother standing beside me
in the garden...leaves her
Alzheimer’s world for a moment
remembering..........

God’s Beauty, Wonder and Splendor

Dedicated to my Mom who passed away with Alzheimer's 2/1/07

Your kiss hangs suspended
hibernating somewhere
between here and
the Smokies
Indian Winter
rains pelt
the earth
brilliant feathers
woven though my hair
red *** ***
dot on my third eye
I kneel
a Hopi Corn maiden
planting new seeds
hoping for the
harvest of your
Love

Thunder answers my body's
sweet tremor
blue light flashes all around me
rain clouds so dark, full
and amorous
I lie close to the earth
pining for Your celestial touch
like the tall grass, the four winds,
and all the lost flocks roaming
this sorrowful star

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with breath you found me
wandering, wading along the
turquoise silver shoreline
of your eyes

as if in a dream developing
at high tide
the amazon cobalt thighs
of the ocean moans your name
gushing, churning up sea foam
and glistening sand

tows us out to vastness
no land beneath our feet
nothing to hold on to
not even each other

clay-baked women beat their clothes
clean on river rocks at dawn
cook rice and dal on an open
communal hearth
beneath a natural lantern
of Indian stars

for 20 rupees a day, roughly
half a buck
I have seen men and women tie
rags to cushion their heads
towing heavy mortar
for new construction

yet there is always a
brotherly smile gleaming
and sisterly hands eager to share
what meager provisions earned

these are no feeble folk
no fashion slaves or mere mortals
melodious bhajans mingle with
the sweat from their brows
and mantras, leelas of God
echo through the
Taj Mahal temples of their hearts

I raise my bhakti glass to the
backbone of India
Her kundalini rising
innocent, humble
village peasantry
true priests
gopikas and gopalas
who actually live
the Vedic life

We shared the same bunk bed
in the tiny Astoria projects apartment
I laugh to myself recalling the 3 AM singing sessions
we crooned right along with the Bradshaw brothers
stocking caps plastered to their heads
doo-wopping on the benches below
beautiful voices framing the cold,
unforgiving, angular brick buildings and ghetto nights
Sis, you were my head pall bearer
shouldering the shoe-box casket
along with an odd collection of project kids
forming a procession up 27th avenue
towards the green steeple church on the hill
solemnly we laid Pixie the cat to rest
“Last Looks” I quipped before lowering the box
she had accidentally slipped out of the window
and was not as lucky as Winston Parks
a young toddler who had fortunately
landed in the bushes
when our newborn twin brothers, Chris and Pat
surprised our parents bringing the count to 5 siblings
I officially became the 2nd mom
a reluctant teen, my head buried in a book
simultaneously rocking a twin carriage and stroller
LOL...seems like only yesterday we were camped out
in apartment #6B planning all sorts of mischief
now there is a pile of little shoes next to my door
and the next generation trudging in
with water pistols, bubbles and coloring books

stars crinkle under our feet
bouncing off the blades of moonlit grass
carried downstream in the canal behind
my house
I walk down memory lane with my brother Lou
Lou lost it in his teens diagnosed schizoid
but able to function under guidance and meds
together we lug a cumbersome old wooden box
to the trash
gently I quizzed him
“do you remember us when we were little
on our sled all the snow and fun we had?”
Lou stares blankly into the night,
“I was never small, I was made 6 ft. 3 in.”
“but I have a photo of us”
again Lou denies that such a time ever existed,
insisting that he sprang full-grown
from the mind of some unknown madness
Christmas lights blink coloring his face
red then green
“That's alright Lou, I remember....”
whispering goodnight
I tuck Lou under the blankets
of my heart
and watch him trudge away
a small boy in a gray snowsuit


“Time it was, and what a time it was, it was
A time of innocence, a time of confidences
Long ago, it must be, I have a photograph
Preserve your memories, they're all that's left you”

(Simon & Garfunkle, 1968)

tip of the flame
is lucid blue
it’s nucleus a
golden spiral
of undiminished
rapture
look at all your bright
faces
there is an incredible sovereign joy
that dances independent of
earthly suffering, sorrow and pain

I covered your wound
with a piece of my heart
what will it take to
stop the bleeding
here is my love
don’t be afraid

when our lips meet
radiant petals burst open

Drink in the Light
of the sun

evening bells ring
silent vespers
call to prayer
the earth lays her
head on Heaven's breast
our tears mingle with the rain
and the huddled gray masses
and I know even my faint
whisper can be heard
I love you

My heart is a celestial bedroom
where my Lord hastens unto me
I have placed a garland of stars
around his neck
and pierced His ears with the honey moon
His skin is anointed with the
fragrance of Love
and His feet are the only pillows
my head cares for
when He smiles my life finds
inner meaning and dances about
like a giddy lovestruck maiden
drunk on His holy name