One bird told another
and he in turn
another
until
in no time,
word was passed
halfway 'round the world;

and though the bluebird
could not communicate
the exact
meaning
of the language,
so foreign,
still, he sang,
and the sense
of the thing
was imparted;

and though the woman
did not know
she was hearing it
in the bluebird's song,
that secret thing
the man had told
the nightingale
so far away
was imprinted on her heart,
and she felt it
and put her hand
over her breast,
and breathed in
and smiled;

And the man
did not know
what the birds
had done.

I love you with my
heart, hands, eyes, breath, feet and lips.
will it be enough


I can feel them there,
heartbeats echoing softly
when I hold you close


Give your love to me;
I will treasure and hold it
with an open hand


Hungry to see you;
and even after they do,
my eyes still want more


I hold my breath and
count to twenty to quench it,
this longing for you


When you laugh with me,
my soul feels so much lighter,
my feet start to dance


Silent lips await
their chance to sing your praises,
or kiss you softly

when an owl screeches,
when a child interrupts,
when you look again
and it isn't there,
when the poles shift
and the earth rumbles
and the voice of God says, 'quit',
when pundits prefer,
when a light bulb burns out,
when your computer reboots
because of a power outage.
when you have to hide it
because of a knock at the door,
when moist lips entice you
to forget what you are doing,
when a vagrant breeze
lifts the paper,
when you've achieved
the fourteenth line,
when the dentist
is through with you,
that's a good time
to end a poem

We’ve all felt it,
been thwarted by the
thwarting forces of Thwart,
left to wonder
what we’ve done,
what was our part, well
come inside and ponder
until the forces depart.
You would think it simple
to just get up and go,
do the things that
you want to, but
oh, no, oh no,
the first tool rule is
always applied, that
the first thing you need
has found somewhere to hide;
you hunt and you search,
it’s nowhere to be found,
and you thought your organizing
skills were so sound; here
have some tea, sit for awhile
and talk to me. It’s the gremlins
I say, they are always trying
to mess up my day. Oh, you don’t
believe in fairies and such,
then, what do you think
has been hindering so much?

I woke up
wondering,
why is the sun
shining in through
a north-facing window?
it was
my big maple tree,
bright yellow
in its dazzling,
autumnal display;

the trip to town
was a glorious drive,
the sky
full of falling leaves,
windows open,
my half-finished poem
flapping
on the seat,
I drove more slowly
dodging wooly bears;

the autumn colors
remind me
of the corduroy shirts
I wore
as a boy,
and the multi-colored
drip candles I made
in my bohemian days;

I’ll do my shopping,
then see if the leaves
have fallen
from the gingko tree
on the college lawn,
then go back home
and think
of all the things
I’ll write
while sitting
at the kitchen table
this winter,
by the woodstove,
when the leaves
are all mulch
in my garden,
the snow is falling,
and evergreens
reign supreme.

You can listen
to the news,
you can express
your views,
you can point your toes
when you dance,
but the future, my friend
will unroll like a scroll
and there won’t be
a thing there by chance.

There are things
that you hear,
there are things
that you fear,
there are demons
inhabiting dreams;
but events that unfold,
or so I’ve been told,
are not the results
of man’s schemes.

So retire your talk
and just go for a walk,
look up at the stars overhead,
and be thankful that you
have no claim on the view,
and then, laugh, be happy,
go to bed.

Black and white are all the same to me,
I have this attitude because I’m blind,
I never wanted this to be;

when people touch me, I want so much to see
just who they are. I know that I would find
them different, not like in this darkened sea;

and the sort of person that I want to be
is always thoughtful of others, and kind
respecting their differences with charity;

We all sometimes act toward others stupidly,
not thinking how they’ll take things in their mind,
we call them names without apology;

So can we all just stop the vitriol and be
a race of people who have left the hate behind,
and try to broaden our humanity?

There are many things that make us disagree
But maybe we could leave them undefined,
And concentrate on things that make us free,
Like love, respect, and our accountability.