your eyes
            are
          so explosively
   captivating
                    i feel like i
   float in space
                 every time
      your blue
                    and
                          my green
               collide,
    creating a new earth.

i longed for you
but i couldn’t find you
for shadows,

the moon shone weakly in the
december cold,
my shirt washed out
like a blowsy cloud,

everything singing
of winter ghosts,
time just an illusion,
**** frost like
a sharp indigo blade,

bleached out at the seams
like a whale bone
the threadbare night
unwound,
layers of grey shadows,
lustreless,

my lips yearned
for your lips,
my legs for
your legs,

the roses of the
sweet night
a flowery mist,

but still i could not
find you and my
lonely heart
raged like a
raggedy storm.

Pay your obeisance to the Lord,
you'll be paid back with prosperity.

The priest towers above the throngs of devotees.

Within the Lord's precinct is a rush for repentance
the arrogant bows down here
the wealthy falls on the ground
the poor renews plea.

The priest preys on their prayer
the Lord's coffer is full.

In that heavenly scene,
all sins are forgotten.

I'll travel no more
at last my mind
has decided to return home
after its excursions to so many
unknown worlds.

Time to stay in
to reflect.

There should only be
one known world--no other-
that of my own is large enough
to contain all known continents--

my past rambling was a folly-
a thousand times I might traverse
over some foreign ground or shore
and yet return empty-handed
for I've left with thoughts
already imposed upon myself

the misled willing of self
the seed of its discontent
and potential destruction
that which is locked in
cannot see itself out  
deadlocked!

Over arid deserts
the heat scotched
my skin--it peeled
me like an onion
with knife-like cuts
I bled
in pain
my suffering
I couldn't understand

the arctic winds
as though seeking revenge
showed no mercy
my eyes they blinded
I was a helpless victim
at every bend.

I'll travel no more
there's nothing
for me to know
beyond myself

in such simple
and humble acceptance
I'm renewed and reborn
I need not venture
into another shore.