It’s cold and dimly lit, this hall of everyday.
My fingers trace atoms, material and unforgiving.
I pause at the door, inconspicuous, but familiar.
Beneath it myth and whim cast shadows on the floor.
I can smell the gardens of wisdom and lore
and almost believe it a memory.
I don’t remember when I lost the key.
Good things are never seen going, but gone.

Raindrop rhythms
Bebop
Lightning in the night
I heard a
Grumbling
Mumbling
Something
Coarse
Double pane brokers
Negotiate the storm

Strange enough to say that I am with you
Stranger still to hold you in my arms
The planets don’t align this way on purpose
I wonder if the moon surprises Mars
With serenades and unexpected flowers
With notes to say I’ll miss you while you’re gone
I hope you’re startled right into my orbit
Delight me every eve and every dawn

I know the tongue
Behind my teeth
And the skin across my ribs
I know the peaks and valleys
Of my protruding knuckles
And the hair behind my head
I know the rising
The falling of my chest
And the scarcity of my whiskers
I know the eyes
Open to wonder
And the callous of my feet

I do not know the fear
Behind my cowardice
Or the judgment in my eyes
I do not know the depth
Of my ego’s tangled roots
Or the necessity to please
I do not know the anxiety
Grinding my bones
Or the lies of my heart
I do not know the color
Of my citizen soul
Or its longing for company

Fear
Distrust
Bad blood
More blood
Bitten dust
Angry eyes
Lots of eyes
Story fires
History bleeds
Baltimore streets
Burn in madness
When asked how we should mourn him
Freddie didn’t speak

Love is green
Life to spark life
From rooms unseen

Ever wide eyed
Song of our children
Strong as the tide

Hope for the risen
Making all new
Accepting the given

Color of youth
Branches to vine
Green is the truth

Truth is divine

at first bite
lavender blossoms
perfume the air
on soft sugar hills
under lemon suns
always one step above
the crumbling earth

and after
such presence
as to inspire memories
of the just now
of the longing
reminiscent
before I should be