across the log
as graceful as a dancer...


rising out of the water
jeans and blue t-shirt
like a weighted blanket

muddied and wet
the girl of the lake
delighting in the fall

the playful eyes
that wild in her smile                               

(I too
knew that smile
intimately
once
and dreams were plentiful
as the songs
that kept me alive

but the wind walks
a singular path
through the tall grass
surrounding lakes

a thief tip-toeing into another day)

It's all done by the name.
Elephants and ants know it.

Let the rain fill your soul
So you don’t cry

she asked about side effects and though
after reading the instructions felt there

were none apart from the pigeons
noted before

when suddenly came the surge of energy
born from hatred of the overgrown

box hedge

we love the little national trust hedges
clipped and sturdy

not this high hanging woody affair

tried to trim the top
ended sawing the bottom
destroying the thing

a fit of peak they say

and having done so moved on to the other
larger affair by the gate

which rhymes with hate

you see

the joy next morning
when looking out
saw them gone

later the asda man came

You are my joy
My light and happiness
When you smile
Light enters a room
Your laughter lifts up the world
Your energy is pure warmth
When you walk, it’s pure melody
You are unique
There’s no one else quite like you
When you are gone
There’s darkness
Emptiness
No colors
Life is dismal
Only gray

sitting on my windowpane. I strain
to see him. He can fly
into that azure sky. But I can’t
touch his feathers. He only sits
as a stick.

Yesterday’s a bird
that flew. He was there! I saw
him square as my window. Now
he’s a billow.

Today’s a bird
in my hand. He takes
as I give him. And if I’m
sure of myself –
sure as the snow melts
on the late spring grass
I’ll know if I should
steady my hand
or wave my arm
like a flag at half-staff