We meet and entangle,
An impassioned embrace,
That ultimately,
Crushes the heart.  

Bitter sweet love,
That flows and dies.
The folly of expectations
the key to its sad demise.

No perfection exists,
Except in the mind.
All the rest, an illusion.

They swarm in
Their thousands,
Moving as one,
Erratic it seems,
Rolling and undulating,
Rippling like a
wave on the sea,
Traversing the Valley
And Hillsides,
Seeking plunder,
In their numbers.
A well rehearsed
Sky dance perhaps.
A demonstration of
superior, formidable
and menacing forces.

Soon the air cannons
Will boom
And echo.
Hired men will walk
Among the vines,
Banging on metal pans,
Firing shotguns.
The swarms you see,
Wants the fruit.

Starlings care nothing,
for aged fermented,
Fine Pinot Noir,
By the glass,
Or bottle.
The grapes their prize.
Nor are they concerned
with the efforts of man,
Or his air cannons.
What is noise to them,
When fat sweet grapes
Are in plain view?

The war of the Vineyards',
A yearly event.

He lays there at my feet,
Deaf and nearly blind.
Wearing upon him
All the traces,
Of his 15 summers,
(105 in people years.)
His coat grown sparse,
A body gone frail and thin.
Fatty benign tumors below his skin.
A worn tired expression,
Almost always visible,
On his still sweet old dog face.

Yet there is something regal,
About this aged fellow.
With the dignity of maturity
He moves about his domain,
With a cautious measured pace,
And conserved energy suited
To the elderly among us.

He prefers one mounded spot,
In our yard, on high ground,
On the greenest grass,
In the summer sun,
That restores and warms
His old bones.

Diligently working the breeze
with his still receptive nose,
Sensing the things he can,
No longer see or hear.
Appreciating and feeling all
That he has left to him.
This likely his last summer.
And he and I both know it.
We two old souls can sense,
The end is drawing near.

I reach down rub and scratch,
His soft Yellow Labrador ears,
Tail rhythmically thumping the deck,
He succumbs and leans into my touch.
Closes his eyes and receives my love.

He is my son’s and grandson’s dog.
The first dog my son ever owned.
The companion that has slept
At the foot of my two grandson’s beds,
Since both of those boys were born.
Protector, playmate and devoted friend.
Without question, he shall always remain,
A most important part of,
This our own little,
Family Of Man.

Impatiently waiting,
Sometimes pacing,
Like a hungry Lion
Expecting his meal.
Obsessed and fixated,
Waiting for the smart phone to ring.

And so it has come to this,
Desiring your voice,
And image,
At least twice a day,
Waiting for you to engage,
Our Face Time on a tiny screen.
Living on Love
Long distance.

Alone we were born and alone we die.
Sure Mom is there in the beginning
And yet the journey is solitary.
Unless of course, Twins we be.
We do our best to attach ourselves
To Mother’s nurturing embrace,
her warmth and needed sustenance.
She tries her best to be our friend.
But we cannot hide forever,
Behind Mom’s skirts and loving arms.

Life beckons and we must comply.
Upon a road that’s rough,
filled with many turns and holes.
We journey on as best we can,
Searching for a new Best Friend.

People come and people go,
Searching for that one above all,
The one we hope and want to stay.
True Best Friend,
Dreamed of Lover,
Living Mate of Soul.

We come close now and then,
Kiss some Frogs and begin again.
Searching always searching,
For that one, so special friend.

Time is running out,
Perhaps we merely settle,
Someone is there,
The clock is ticking.
Convincing ourselves that we have
Found the one above all others,
Sheltering in their shadow for a time.
Profess our Love,
Say the words that bind,
Lay awhile in Love’s embrace.
If we are lucky,
Have a child.
The circle completed,
As it was meant to be?

That should be enough,
But it seldom ever is.
Sadly Love has a way of ending,
Even soul mates move along.

Then we’re raising a child alone.
Our best efforts pay off,
All too soon that child is grown,
Off to find their own Best Friend.

Once again we walk alone.
On our face age starts to show,
Pain commences to plague our bones.
Our once steady pace,
Now begins to slow.
Tick tock, Tick tock,
That damnable clock.  
Real desperation setting in,
Prior to our accepted resignation.

Then one day unexpected,
A new, old face appears,
Real friendship and Love is ours again.
Hand in hand we walk and laugh.
Rediscover the magic of making Love.
A little more slowly and carefully,
Then we ever did before.
At last, finding what we’d,
Always been searching for.

Too good to last,
It doesn’t,
Fate steps in and takes our friend and lover,
Once more we journey on alone.

What did we truly expect?
Nothing is forever.
That we knew real love,
Even once,
That’s Life as complete,
And fulfilled as any other's.

Actually, a Happy Ending.
Even aloneness has its merits.

Sitting on my porch,
A refreshing morning
Breeze gentling blowing,
Conveying aromatic scents
Of yard plants blooming,
The hum of fluttering Bee’s
Seeking Nectar among them.
The songs of early birds
punctuating all this convivial congeniality.
You can not purchase a ticket
to this particular show at any price.
Other than say,
An invitation to sit beside me.

Young dog at my feet,
Him with full tummy,
Basking in the sun.
I can almost see a smile on his face.  
Already he knows how to live.

There is tranquility here,
In my yard,
Among these plants and trees,
This grass so green, still fresh
With drops of recent rain a dripping,
The ethereal scent,
Of now wet earth arising.

No real need to go a traveling,
Far or even near a field.
I have almost all I need and want,
Right here in my yard,
on this porch of mine.

There is one other strong sensation here,
It is my feelings of utter contentment.
The simple things are always the best.

Look friends, this is a only a lighted screen.
On which people paint their dreams.
Spill out their fears,
Perhaps cleanse their souls.
Words printed not in stone,
Gone with the strike of a key.
Meaningless to all,
But perhaps their own creator.
Never intended to live forever.
As if they were wispy clouds in the sky,
Shifting, changing and then goodbye.
Does the maker of those clouds care
Who sees them there, need comment
of awe and splendor, an adoring audience
from below to lavish him with praise?
My guess is he does not,
Like our thoughts on this screen,
impermanent and fleeting,
His are flights of artful heavenly whimsy,  
A clear endeavor of self expression,
Not meant to last.
Put up there on his canvas,
Merely for his own enjoyment.