a longing

I steer my boat

beneath the lacy moss of

cedar trees where a  lark  drapes

her song,  a spray of flowers, along

the whispering stream.

Beyond the shallows a wooden bridge

where we cast our secrets to the water,

goldenrod along the bank witness the

 breathless embrace of  lovers.

So blue were your eyes those summer days,

 how endlessly deep the longing.

art by Steve Hanks

A Winged Bird

I am who I have always been

a shiver of soft reeds beside the river

or the cascade of  waterfall.

Gypsy crows rise  to a soft dawn sky

gathering their kind they circle

back for me.

 

I can scarcely  bear the

splendor of the world,

it’s wonder humbles

the wisp  of me.

Minutiae of eyes and ears

and speechless tongue

Stunned by the promise

of a  red sunrise.

Elegant trees  lift up

their mighty arms,

grand  gods in prayer,

host to creatures

large and small,

a cornucopia of life

fills their noble crowns.

 

I want to sail across the sea,

this tiny fleck that is me,

a winged bird   bearer of

no possession,

fragment of the universe.

 

 

fine art America

 

Translation by  Bernd Hutschenreuther

Ein geflügelter Vogel sein

Ich vermag kaum, den Glanz
der Welt zu enthüllen,
ihre Wunder schmälern
noch meine Winzigkeit.
Details von Augen und Ohren
und Zunge, stumm,
erstaunt vom Versprechen
eines Sonnenaufgangs.
Vornehme Bäume erheben
ihre erhabenen Arme,
mächtige Götter im Gebet,
Gastgeber unzähliger Geschöpfe,
abgezupft in rot und grün,
Füllhörner mit Nüssen und Beeren
zieren ihre edlen Kronen.
Ich möchte das Meer durchsegeln,
winziger Fleck, der ich bin,
ein geflügelter Vogel, Träger
keines Besitzes, ein erfreuliches
Fragment des Alls,
einem jeden sichtbar.

Deutsch: Bernd Hutschenreuther

 

the lethal dose

There are days  shadows course

through me like a breeze,

pressing deep into my life line and

the air is the scent of a stale satin pillow

where I refuse to lay my head.

I don’t fear  those intrepid ghosts,

I embrace and release them with

failed  gravity or the force that once

held the cupped hand of my lover.

The sky was alive then with every shade of

blue and the clarity of Windsor eyes

where I longed for space.

Desire is a stranger,  a lethal dose,

 encountered beneath a sacred mound.

art by Laura Makabresku

in my favorite dream

I walk beside you on snow swept sidewalks shivering from too much life.  Your fingers wrap around mine as my hand clings to your shoulder shielding me from the chaos of rushing traffic.  Snuggled against you I am captivated by your impossibly sexy voice discussing note worthy events that fill your day.   Surreptitiously my mind slips away to desirous play where you sip honey from my swollen lips releasing urgent butterflies from my rib cage. At our favorite café you order tea,  for me,  hot cocoa brimming with frothy cream that  your eager lips flick from mine.  In this realm all cares  cease to exist past  the prism of our window where  in the soft glow  snow flakes dissolve into a light drizzle and we softly fade into  a parallel world of lovers.

 

 

 

 

Animal

Most of us have experienced it.

Unrelenting obsession that defies reason.

Denying its existence we shut down

its pathway, deprive it of oxygen,

shiver in the dark only to discover

it thrives on the night beneath

translucent veils that ignite

and inflame the  fire of desire.

 

 

  Pinterest

In This Dream

Between sleep and wake we

fall like stones into a silent lake

traversing birth and mortality.

Water pearls drop from  unfastened palms

tiny moons slipping through fingers.

Deeper I find you in the  iris of cat eyes,

not your spirit or rose tinged snow but

flesh and bone and sinew whose sigh is

an ancient strophe where we do not die

but flourish with the  sprouting seeds.

 

 

 

 

 

reinvented

Summer gardens

of  bobbing blossoms

wave beneath a pale blue sky,

I want to be there once again

naked among broad   fronds

unashamed among bird of paradise,

clinging dew drops on sun drenched thighs.

Meet me there once  again before  Summer

bids farewell.  Feed me sweet red apples while

they are nothing more than fruit

 

 

 

unless you ask

Unless you ask

I will always make you go

before the birds invoke the day,

leave our scent on the crumpled

sheets to the cats.

Though it is somewhat embarrassing

I love most among poets Aristophanes

and sultry dreams of cherubs that twitter like

juvenile birds drunk on adventure.

Unless you wake me to the soft sound of Coltrane,

the rich taste of espresso, the breath of fruity herbs,

I will always make you go before

the sun breaks the horizon.

 

 

 

Painting by Michael Lipke   (1953)

 

 

unruly lover

For you I will be

the sun who shines

without expectation,

a breeze that shapes soft

passages when you travel

uncertainty.

Let me be your madness

that sets  desire in motion,

the moon pulling tides

drawing you closer. 

When my words fail

my body will speak to you

Of air and flight, strings of stars

let me be the light you

return to.