Brief love is greater than none
Tiny truths, more than some
Sunrises they are, reasons to wake
Keep fresh in mind, for soul's sake

Maps have regions that can't be seen
Pegs that fit, never intend to be
Betray not truth and love known
These are gifts, these your own

Baristas, patrons
Even the quicksteppingsuits
Can read you like a book

Your face tells the story
"Tempt not a desperate man!"
They see all your chips on the table
Out like that

A few lines of heartfelt disclosure
Now appear
And you disappear
Back to the world's rhythms

you wounded soul
what comes over you
to clothe you in disdain
your joy and love
used to overfill every cup
in pouring distance
do you remember?
you emanated joy
your face
your speach
your walk
good lord! its in your eyes
you insolent desperado

did you hear that?
a song calls us to dance
a joie de vivre
calls
and if you can't hear it now
i will give you all the sacred
space you need to find
your way out
of the pit you've found
yourself in
until then
there's a loud hawk around here
with stories to tell

thoughts are improved
with natural desires
of great love
of un-monetary riches
incomparable yet-relatable
compassion fueled graces
& unboasted expressions of
divine handiwork

at best, tonight ends in rest-filled sleep with possibilities
of an old lover probably taken for granted

at worst, well, it can always get worse
no use dwelling on such things
those scenarios receive more than their fair share

quick one at the ale-house
heart open this january evening
dimly lit by coal-fueled electrical responses
illuminating habitual relapses of overconfident tones
and dishonest scared shitless eyes
clothed in the modern pigmented
grey and black dyed organic Patagonia cotton

everyone wearing grey and black?
even the messenger bags?
caps beanies glasses hair-clips

holding nothing against
fearless beauty loses the modern-cliched surroundings to be validated by none other than the undercurrent of the entire universe

A friend just survived
A terrific storm
Of great loss
It would not let up
Nor let her out
For months
    and months

And once subsided
Her mother
Then her father
    were lost

And her heart
Split
And some rawness came out
And some of what she was
    lost too

Perhaps that part will come back
But it's not so important
Because she now stands
As only one can stand
Who has looked this terrific storm
    in the eye
Who has ridden out such a storm
Who has seen
    The beast
But she still stands
Yes, she still stands

And the earth should know
It now has
A woman of terrific power
And terrific knowing
Walking on it

with a disposition of see-both-sides
you carry enormous doubt
that a single soul shares
the immensity of feeling
towards this morning's joined
moon-and-sun-rise

while also knowingly-free
from lessons learned
from childhood whisperings
from connection with stars
from rationale conclusion
this to not-to-be

I recited some poems
    from old English masters
At a recent funeral
And the christian minister
    asked me afterward
If I have found
    Much poetry
        In the bible

Being rather familiar with the text
I stood there
    Silently confused
        And didn't get to respond
            Before he walked away
                grab handing the flock

I did not understand
Had he not read the psalms?
The writings of Solomon?
Or David?
The song from Mary?
Had he not read the first chapter
    of Genesis?
Had he not thought of Paul
    quoting pagan poets?
Did he know of the
    Hebrew rhyme
        in the song of songs?
The original language letters
    of the longest psalm, 119
Had he never meditated
    day and night
       on Jesus' intro
            to the sermon on the mount?

Perhaps I misunderstood
    his question
Or, perhaps, he misunderstood
    the whole entire thing

a gentle, timid, quiet soul
held back in unknown chains
many years a dormant stirring
boiled-over passion remains

then a swift break - glass ceilings down!
observing ancient law
society errs in naming most
she conjured her wild claws

quiet dormant sleeping lion
a great story, in us all
ferocity caved copper chains
unshared passion, safe and small

break a father's glass ceilings down
operate in truer laws
let not society cage t' beast
conjure up your wild claws

Brood to face the fear
Chief restrainer of create
To work that matters more
Dual directors of all fate

Both exchanges guide
To the very steps that lead
Potential’s portion pours
An opulent elixir bleed

resentment looks bad on you
as does calamitous offense
zealous to justice, you cried "unfair!"
but comparison
    is the thief of joy
    the consistant producer of noxious suffering
remember laughing cares off
so hard you forgot
    the details of the offenses
releasing the mind to behave like a...
school-boy, approaching heaps of raked leaves

Forget not to one day die
First cognizance, first know
Penetrating place and pace
Go go go...and...then...go

Rumored shores tickle all fears
But further petting hope
Causality disbelief
Antediluvian cope

Gifts from departing you must give
Should include beauty's fold
All that all can give must be
Leaving back less untold

Don't shy to artistic next
Because of it's unknown
Abate not long echo reign
Unable to postpone

.
Solitary voyages
With capacity's charge
Whisper each confidant's song
These messages, not far

There's people always with us
They're conversation's voice
What's read, echoed, repeated
Is motive over noise

And rather than giving creed
To that which smiles the most
Gale forced regret blows the stern
Return of ancient ghost

The lone muzzle for the beast
Which fogs entire seas
To entertain love, beauty
With freedom where you please

ideas are worth discussing
for those toward meaning go
first color sunrise worth noting
for takers of breaths slow

Someone told me
My poems sound like they're
Written
Two hundred years ago
By an incomprehensible lunatic
To which I can only reply
"Whitman or Emerson?"

gonna break out
the final ride
the other side
of all elaborate eyes
there's life exploding in the night
while my heart beats for more
plight flight - freedom's fight
desperate to the land of too many choices
to the end of all things
to dragon lair and blonde locked hair
there's a chance

In the shallows, lie shallow words
The hint of substance found
Remark of minute, cheap and safe
A trivial, temporal sound

Lone whispered tales who dared into
Dangerous seas beneath
Souls and hearts tapped by the allure
Of what’s beyond the reef

Meaning resides in deeper seas
Where there is more at stake
And to ignore it is praised by
Most lack courage to take

Feet planted firmly
On the earth
At a favorite park
Sky is vibrant
Exploding with color
High altitude
    enormous Clouds
The kind that could get dark and angry
If they wanted to
But will probably leave
Well enough alone today
There is no wind
And I am here
Looking for the truest truth
I can find
Which seems to be
Only heard
In ears lacking arrogance
And I
Standing here
Am going to have to carefully
And gently
Listen
    to hear it

a dim reflection skips a beat
complete with foreign tune
matter not wholly familiar
where voice and image loom

inside - or outside - looking in
peering at copy dark
impressing shadow silhouettes
awake only in part

endure now the present tarry
the mirror's steady lies
and the twelve year old is still here
after shutting both eyes

you must have a mind of grace
to wildflowers in winter see
touch softly and kiss these
not waves, but small tastes
not dreams in empty mass
but humbling feats
unexpected, sudden sweet
apparitions by rocky pass

In a dark Inn of sour brew
I speak it plain and slant
I clothe my wolf in sheep and cape
Exerting can from can't

Pounding ******* the minor chords
I summon all my strength
Stopping for neither rest nor test
But pushing on at length

I will find courage when its lost
With fuel of good or ill
With fire of heart, and lungs that draw
I give up all but will

crazy, but that's how it goes
millions of people living as foes
maybe it's not too late
to learn how to love
and forget how to hate
mental wounds not healing
life's a bitter shame
I'm going off the rails on a crazy train

today's form is best - with
gracious smile, confident chest
for skies lie in deadpan blue
onlookers played, fortune's fool
unleash your comment, set all aflame
is this not why you came?