You asked me what’s my minimum.
The least I can survive
The fast to which my self must come
So that our love can live
Love’s math is not zero sum
I get more than I give.

The answer to your question is
My minimum must hang
In the place called paradox
Where yin turns into yang

Where minimum and maximum
Are two words for the same
Where one grows small so one grows all
To wax the one must wane

Where waning is no sacrifice
Because these two are one
And my retreat does you entice
To be all that you can

I try to hold my love inside
No talk no taste no touch
I try to give you room to ride
Out from my love’s too much

So please remember every time
You wish you had a note
You’d be rich with just one dime
For each one that I wrote

For each one written in my mind
Or printed on a page
But never seen, so love stayed blind
And gave your life its stage

To give you room to live your life
To let your hawk’s heart soar
Your heart needs space to make love rife
My heart knows less is more

The pasture steams with dusky fog
The poet dreams of his dead dog
The fall of day the rise of night
The people pray that wrong be right

Tiptoe cross the dampened leaves
Listen for nocturnal life
Soak it up and soak it in
Silence is the only sin

Hear the drip and hear the drop
Frost has come and now the rot
Kingfisher sings crazy song
The people pray that right be wrong

Looking over lily pads
Green floats over slate grey sky
Dragon climbs out the lake
Now is time to do or die

When times are good and there is rain
She leafs full tilt
Disdaining dread of drought

Betting on the come of future rains
A luscious jungle of gorgeous green
Swirling overhead

But there are no guarantees
If day follows day with only summer heat and sun
All born cannot survive

A choice must be made
Terrible triage
Children sacrificed for parent’s sake

She tourniquets her limbs
Newborn leaves scream, wither
Yellow, dry and drop to the ground
To feed the mother in another year

A rising tide of pink blush
Climbs the bedroom wall
Pries sleepyhead from his bed
With its siren call

This old man stumbles down
To watch the world awake
Sun tells the truth, but tells aslant
Across a foggy lake

I’ve spent my years and spilled my tears
Doing what I was supposed
Now time has come and time is done
And what has my life showed

One last chance to dance the dance
To do something worthwhile
To leave a mark so angels hark
To truly make God smile

But how to choose before I lose
When so much is at stake
All I can think is take a drink
And sit and watch the lake

It screams aloud that God is proud
What use meek little me?
God can’t prance without audience
He needs someone to see

Augustine said:  “Do what you will”
That is the crux of love
And so I sit in awe of it-
Creation’s treasure trove

I am not by conscience bound
I reap but never sow
No higher purpose can be found
Than to enjoy the show

There is a boy inside of me
A most mischievous child
Who hurts his love, but most himself
He keeps the romance wild

He dwells in a land of absolutes
“She loves me loves me not”
All or nothing, life or death
A terrible game for a tot

His highs so high, his lows so low
Ecstasy and despair
Yet he’d not trade those two extremes
Less feeling for less fear

Because less fear would also mean
Less feeling of the highs
He hates but holds the horrors
That his heart might hold your sighs

He’s unsophisticated
Unsure ***** unwashed
His love’s too simply stated  
But he loves unabashed

This bearded one who watches him
Knows compromise is real
Yet in his heart he wishes he
Could feel that trembling still

And so they go hand in hand
A most unlikely pair
Their three legged race a funny farce
Still makes you shed a tear

How can this work? How can it last?
These two extremes in one
Can child be father to the man
Man child to the son?

Keep the passions of the youth
To melt with fiery fusion?
Keep too the crone’s wisdom, truth
To know hell’s an illusion?

Who shall win this battle?
Which one shall remain?
A young child’s fire, an old man’s peace?
Must there be loss to gain?

Perhaps there is an answer
That does not end in pain
That marries well the best of both
Convergence of the twain

All this struggle that you see
That is so hard and painful
Is these two Jacobs becoming free
By wrestling each his angel

There is really no such thing as truth
For if there were
Then there must be lies

There is only that one thing called fear
If you doubt it
Stop and hear our cries

There is really no such thing as right
For if there was,
Then there must be wrong

There is only that one thing called power
If you doubt it
Try telling truth to strong

There is really no such thing as love
For if there were
Then there must be hate

There is only that one thing called need
If you doubt it
Convert me to your faith

There is really no such thing as life
As long as we all
Claw and strain and strive

There is only that one thing called strife
If you want to live
Quit trying to survive

No wonder we chose spring for Easter
All nature joins in resurrection
Today, I found blood on a feather
The reckoning keeps coming faster
Invention killing all connection
Dead bees among the heather

Life and death and in between
A crazy quilt of paradox
Shall we be ****** or saved?
What in heaven does it mean?
Was Jesus crazy like a fox?
Is joy doubled, sorrow halved?

Is it all a gag?
Not knowing gives me chills
Two calves playing tag
Romp over verdant hills

The old man had been alone
For a long time now
How long? Hard to say…
Time had gotten slippery in recent years

No one else lives there
He does it all himself
Cooks, cleans, pays the bills
He had paid them hadn’t he?

He didn’t mind the solitude
It was peaceful
People were a mixed bag
More trouble than they were worth

He had his dog
That mutt that wandered up
And wouldn’t leave
Despite his protestations

Speaking of the dog
Where was he?
When had he last been seen?
Ah, that devil Time again!

Maybe he had run away
Wasted money
On that bag of food
Molding in the pantry

What’s for supper?
Check the fridge
Well, that makes supper simple
An egg or an egg!

Should I check the expiration date?
Not without my glasses
Which had disappeared
Around the same time as the dog

Fried or scrambled?
How about scrambled
Like my brain
Still got my sense of humor!

Turn on the gas
Where the hell are the matches?
That’s right
I took them to the fireplace

I left the TV on?
Yep- Now it’s on the news
Then comes Wheel of Fortune
And final Jeopardy

Whew! I’m out of breath
From that short walk
From the kitchen
To the living room

Better plop down in the recliner
Power back and rest a spell
And anyway
Today’s news seems worth watching

Jeopardy’s on now?
Did I doze off?
I must have
What’s the question?

Something about bombs
And London and World War II
Oh, I know this
It’s a German word!

What’s that smell?
It is so familiar
Tip of my tongue
But I can’t say what it is

Is it danger?
But it seems to smell so sweet
Wait- final Jeopardy is here!
I have to concentrate

World War I
A new weapon
That contains no steel
I know the answer- It’s GAS!

All my shows are over
Nothing left to do but eat and sleep
Christ! I forgot to cook my egg

Grab the matches from the fireplace
Amble back to the stove
Strike the match

I’m at the cash register
Picking up a to go order
Making small talk with the hostess
Suddenly I hear your voice
Close enough to touch

You had to hear me but you do not turn
I look at you not looking at me
I make the leap

“Hi. Good to see you. Meet my friend.
Hope you are doing well. Take care.”
What goes unsaid says far too much.

You the independent one
Wanting someone only to enhance you
Needing no one to complete you

Me, with my holes to fill
Fill with someone like me,
Someone who needs me just as much

I pay the price, take the food, walk away
Unsteady on this new ground
Born in the earthquake of our meeting again


Each morning commute  
Every black car met
Makes false promises of your return

No sacrilege is love
That dies but yet remains
To nurture what’s to come

First thing every morning
On these cold, dark days
Amidst the bare branches
Above the fallen leaves

They bring something wondrous
I’m not sure how to name it
But I know it like my breath

Seeing them there
Little bits of heat
Hearts beating wildly
Warms mine as well

Emily said it best
Hope’s a thing with feathers

Three days
Can be a lifetime
So they say

Three days
To burst forth from the deep,
Find a mate and die

Three days from death ‘til resurrection
We live in different worlds
Still, the pond holds your reflection

Low clouds scurry overhead
Dividing heaven and earth
The living and the dead

Cool mourning mist
licked my cheeks
I hadn’t cried in weeks

Now a new era erupts
Time measured out in coffee cups

Change, in my pocket
Already spent
Some unseen veil is rent

Sitting here in shade
Plans best laid  
Mice and men unmade

You see them oft this time of year
As earth turns dark and cold
Bugs dancing a frenetic pace

What drives them crazy? Is it fear
Of dying ‘fore they’re old
Being omega of their race?

When evening comes so fast and hard
When surface becomes too still
Sky purple/pink with blood

Are they like me once playing cards
Hoping time to ****
Houseman’s cow contented with its cud?

Rhymed to death before its time
By A.E.’s most depressing verse
Assuring though we die, that we die old

Why do we insist on rhyme
That life’s a blessing, death a curse-
A lie the the poets have forever told

So little bugs, please stop and listen
No need to be like Mirthridades
All one must do is to be still and know

Be still and let your cold death christen
Peace in Heaven and in Hades
You don’t have to go on with the show

All written because someone died
Or feared the empty hole
Nothingness personified
Talk of heart and soul

Foolish patter in the wind
Whistling in the dark
Yet when we reach that bitter end
Bite is far worse than bark

A subject one cannot ignore
An object lesson learned
“Not yet!” the anguished do implore
Dispensation spurned

A thousand lines to heal the hurt
A thousand doubts remain
The quick remain to feel the quirt
Cling to the old refrain

Faith has brought me safe thus far
Faith will lead me home
But is the answer truly found
In any ancient tome?

Poetry to soothe the sting
Syrupy as molasses
Sweet bye and bye of which we sing
****** of the masses?

Job was poetry they say
As was much of the Bible
When darkness falls we seek a way
A fable or a foible?

Job perhaps has said it best
Explained it all by half
The reason for the final test
Is God’s hilarious laugh

Take this paper written on
Use it to light the fire
Pile the many others on
Make all death poems’ pyre.

A traitor’s kiss
A child’s return
A fighter’s fist
Ecstasy’s burn

None of these
Can claim the prize
Each knee shall bow
That all might rise

You were a rough and tumble love
And I so want that kind
The honest real encounter
Not the love that’s blind

The love that sees and seizes
Savors ***** and screams
Howls of joy and sorrow
Pleasure mixed with pain

A love as real as rabbit
A love as deep as mirrors
Reflecting all infinity
Laughing at the terrors

At first it was delightful
Your water was my home
You buoyed me up and held me
We each begged each to come

We zipped it down, we looped the loop
We never left the house
We played what if, we played why not
We talked of being spouse

But as it grew more serious
The stakes began to rise
And I could not leave easily
I'd looked into your eyes

I was *** committed
I was in for all
It was far too late to jump
Far too far to fall

We swam in your water’s depths
Farther from the shore
I did not care for you were there
To hold me up and more

But when you ducked beneath the waves
I turned and you were gone
I knew I was over my head
And sank just like a stone

The daffodil cried out to me
Look until it hurts!
Your little eyes such foolish spies
Shall quickly feel my quirts

You never saw such sight as me
And never shall again
Beauty such as mine you see
Was not made for man

This sight you sought is dearly bought
Even though most wondrous
Those thus caught must be taught
Become my Erymanthus

Erymanthus was blinded by the goddess Aphrodite when he saw her bathing naked after she had made love to Adonis.

Early morning brought her
Sunlight off the water
Footlights for the forest
Highlighting every leaf

Hours pass before us
Quieting birdsong chorus
Stealing dew from flowers
My mid morning Grief

Deciding now which way they should go
To and fro

Hiding in this green protective world
Nature unfurled

Lining up dead limbs to mark the way
Nothing to say

Fallen tree blocks the old way through
As though he knew

Trimming trails no one will ever see
No one but me

Tumultuous sky
Greys and blacks
Darkness from the north  

Wind so loud
You cannot hear
Waves crashing to the shore

Though trees bow down
You raise your arms
Face into the gale

Like some new Moses
Fleeing Pharaoh
Faith overcoming fear

Singing some soft Sufi song
Becoming feathered one
Rider of the Wind

A rat snake hangs around my house
Over six feet long
He knows the place is his, not mine
Spoils don’t go to the strong


So elegant he slides about
Never says a word
Unlike the one in Eden
That made man the world’s lord

Pays me no attention
Knows I mean no harm
His sense of sensibility
A true snake charmer’s charm

No awkward lunging steps for him
On our bipedal knees
A thousand joints along his spine
let him move as he please

never in a hurry
seeking out the sun
what’s the point of worry
The day will soon be done

I told my friend about him
He asked to come and hold
I said when again I see him
You will first be told

He slithered cross my path today.
Recalling what I said,
I asked the snake what he would say
Then to my friend …I lied

We walk, we stop
Looking, listening
No words pass between us

maybe one short whistle
if I choose a different path
than the one he started down

His head turns quickly, his ears alert
A deer, a bird, a squirrel?
We synchronously freeze, awaiting confirmation

A doe approaches-we are lucky
The wind is behind her
Amazing how close she gets

A moment of communion
Then she jerks her head
Flips her tail, is gone

There are days I feel like them
My own head hanging low
Life’s blood slowly ****** aside
But even then I know

Soon the sun will shift away
Returning precious shade
Mists of midnight’s cooling fog
Coming to our aid

Thank God the wind was right
And I was sitting still
As she tiptoed through the forest
And slowly climbed my hill

She, like a ballerina
Going through her dance
Quietly closed the distance
Willing to take the chance

Pricking up her black tipped ears
Flashing her tail of white
Wanting to know me better
But ready to take flight

Then she dared come no closer
Slowly raised her head
Held me in her piercing gaze
Asking: “Alive or dead?”

I thought I knew the answer
I thought I’d held the Ring
I thought I’d had all that I want
Not needing anything

I was alive, or so I thought
Before that moment came
Then her gaze pierced my side
‘til blood and water ran

Only in that moment
Did I truly learn
That all eternity
Is in the moment born