Sit on that bench awhile
Look up at that sky
Listen to the birds call
Imagine what they talk about
Early one morning when you’re feeling glad
Grateful just to be still around
Lace up your boots and start walking
Up around the corner
Climb some hill
Take that stick waiting
There among the ferns
Grip it like a sheep herder
Like some old woman or man
Yes, keep on moving
But pause for breath too
There is time enough for everything
If you value the precious in you
One lonesome dove cry
Late afternoon clouds drifting
Silence between breaths
Go to the beach. Go to the part where nobody lingers. The heron is watching. Seagulls survey. There’s the smell of saltwater. Seaweed tangled among stones. Fragments of shells. Half crabs. Splinters of sunwashed bone. Hear the song of the waves drifting out drifting in. Redwinged Blackbird calls from undercover of wild roses.
Driftwood messengers
Heartbeat rhythm on the wind
Shifts of time
I could have left a note
but it’s windy over there near the bay
You’ll be back before the melting
they remind us every day anyway
I listen to Neve and The Deer Children
sing songs in a language I do not understand
Which path did you choose at the crossroad
I wonder over morning coffee
Where is her other hand you’ll probably ask
when you arrive and find my sign
Why are there no footprints
either coming or going
Winter earth
Hints of Spring
Ice sings a ripple song
What are the chances one sweet Sunday
you’re snowshoeing in sun just passing
a girl guide troupe with raised open palms
enchanting Whiskey Jacks to alight
Coastal Range holding their mystic line
Salish Sea shimmers like raindrop diamonds
And you’re hoping these picks hold steady
Save your neck from the icy risk at the rim
You stall as you feel its presence
Silent watcher eyes your stumble through
White stallion in camouflage in plain view
With each step you draw ever near Wind whispers come on lean into your edges Filtered light leads you along this one way path Hum your melancholy melody in a minor key You are not lost just drifting through This place is everywhere and nowhere Cross that emerald pond to another side Your horse with wings waits there for you to ride
He is dancing to the river bed beats
beneath a canopy of Douglas fir and Cedar
Step into his rhythms as you skip stones
over low rippling waves near sundown
Deep in an echo valley of moss and lichen
forest creatures pause to sway
River man brings joy to their hearts
in a sweet sorrowful serenading kindly way
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
Meet me there early
Drakes and hens in calm waters
Morning lights the bog
Pencil Notes 