Rag horses shed leftover rain
dropped overnight from clouds passing
when we were deep sleep dreaming
All of our words lay down to rest
between folds of our clothes there
next to our beds
Sunlight spreads slow up between
quiet roofs down the street beneath where
people we’ve yet to meet imagine the same
Offerings of kindness
Rising in many voices
A choir of improvised repertoire
Without a director mouthing
Cues or wielding a baton
Movements of compassion
Calls for vigils of the voiceless
Sufferers hidden or locked away
Unimportant stragglers occupying
Shadowy edges of humanity
Fields of creativity
Undulating without want of rest
Collaborations across borders
Unheard of and unknown linking minds
With restlessly famous
Nests of hummingbirds
Barely larger than fairytale thimbles
Revealed as unexpected gifts
These hours and days of altered stasis
Toss madness with solitude’s clarity and wonder
I tried but I cannot yet do what must be done
Write a simple sonnet the friendly man says
Begin right after I read you this one
Maybe I haven’t yet worked hard enough
He seems so sure I’ll find the flow
Write about flowers or write about the blues
Write fourteen lines about buying new red shoes
Write a simple sonnet the friendly man says
Soon as you do you’ll be slipping into some silver sonic address
Reciting Dante while riding a horse called Volta
Through some echoing ancient forest
Next to Prosodic Avenue
I’ll be waiting for you.
Toss away your sandals
To ascend you must feel one with the dune
Inhale this silence
At crest gaze into ripple
Winds carry prints of those before you
Into the ether
Mind your time in its passing
Golden sands swallow sun so soon
Venus guides you
Descend with your shadow
Drift your memory to the other side
Full moon rising
I heard you singing a song whose melody spoke to me
Sunlight upon your door beckoned to move closer in
I heard your voice fall and rise in a language unfamiliar
Echoing distant quiet longing
Who were you then
Where are you now
Hesitation leaves opportunity unresolved
Are you singing still
Is the song the same
Wonder is the gift you gave me
There’s an opening in the sky
bright like idea clouds over head
Watch out for tall trees
Watch out for wind in rain drenched leaves
Watch out for burdens
taking up too much of your waking time
Pull me close
Pull me over to the side of this road
when you’re speeding
I will pass you through
My green will slow your heart down
Between grey waters
where heavy matters pass through
Our home on a ledge
I wander slow
past Mary’s door
I pause to see
her tapestry
hanging still
in her dark window
Mary’s door
locked from the inside
Mary don’t
live there no more.
Dear Child,
You look to me
with clear trusting eyes
believing with your infant mind heart soul
in the blood between your bones
I am wisdom strength and bold
all answers to all questions I hold
and one day soon
I will gift all clarity
to you.
If you listen
you can hear it soft in the distance
a harp or a flutter of wings
song of wind against fragile leaves
whisper of velvet rain in trees
light as breath
clear as waterdrops
of icicles in spring.
Pencil Notes 