Poems

Autumn greens my soul like apples and honey As it roots dawn’s golden glow into Earth, Floods the sleeping land with wet dreams. In the nubs of iris and denuded roses Nibbled to death by summer’s grasshoppers It breeds hope of life springing to renewal With migratory birds returning to abandoned nests And deciduous trees […]

Rabbit in the moon, What are you planting in those dry, rocky craters? What can you hope to grow When the only water is on the North and South Poles? How will you harvest lotus seeds for moon cakes? Will you sweeten them with stardust? Water them with hope? If you succeed, may I have […]

Hearts break so that we may feel more deeply As lasting love webs over the broken places With threads of gold. Thus the imprint of your smile glows in my heart like lantern light, Softening the cracks and brightening the dark corners. I will warm myself with your memory On clouded days that chill my […]

the place where sun meets moon passion//stillness// is the fulcrum where hearts balance. sunlight//moonlight– when my shoulders are too weary to hold up the sky I float in your nothingness, nonjudgmental//innocent, finding the place where sun and moon kiss and gentle discipline with compassion, quieting the palpitations of my heart.

White fire blazes, Fresh snow-flames glitter Like sun-kissed diamonds In endless chiaroscuro of light and dark Moon-silver glimmers Mercurial to patch thick Pools of liquid night. When earth shrugs off the twilit cold, Dawn gilds winter fields. Threads light through capillary trees, Connects earth to sky, And my heart to all that is.

T’WAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS AND IN SANTA’S WORKSHOP, The elves were all drunk on peppermint schnapps. Santa sighed and exclaimed, “It’s just as I feared. There will be very few presents this year. Parts are stuck on ships afloat off the coast. The delivery system’s turned into toast. Can a child understand, will they […]

The lie lies between us//You ask “Are you alright?” “Yes.” My voice riddles, “I’m fine.” Except for this smothering uncertainty Like an overheated electric blanket. I lost you a little more today. Someday I will lose you completely.

My bones are of the earth and will return to the stone people Who have fashioned me. My blood is living water, ever flowing until it returns to the ocean that refuses no river. My breath is the wind moving upon water, Forming the Ineffable Name with every inhalation/exhalation. My spirit is the fire of […]

T’WAS THE THIRD DAY OF SPRING AND ALL THROUGH THE HOUSE Not a creature was stirring; neither cat, rat nor mouse. The great outdoor world was soaked through and through With sleet and rain and a sprinkling of dew. So back to bed go the kitties snug as bugs in a row, Dreaming of catnip […]

Rain nourishes flowers and weeds, Sun’s blessing can blister and burn, Cooling wind trumpets into tornadoes, Earth massages our feet until we step on a fault line. Each day we walk a narrow ribbon of road Delineating the demilitarized zone, Trusting we will not slip from the high wire So we balance on a knife’s […]

Song unsung///but singing still Of cats and cookies And I-hate-chocolate-but-is-there-anymore? Of toes painted prettily then hid beneath wool socks And the joy—oh the joy— Of getting out of the house and into the blue wash of sun Sweeping clouds off mountains; Joy enough to surfeit the heart and this is enough, Enough Although your operatic […]

What if the holiday lights all go out? Is that what a festival’s really about? We may not have presents wrapped glittering bright But we’re gifted with stars in a vast, velvet night. No feasting this year raising cups of good cheer, But we can still take a deep breath of cool, cleansing air. Though […]

When I release you, you will return on the wind; When the earth calls to you, you will break free as water rising into mist Your image is more than a yellowing photograph, It is etched on the granite of my mind, Carved by rivulets of time flowing unceasingly, Molding memory into canyons where eagles […]

BETTER ANGEL, JUMP OFF MY SHOULDER Devil makes a lot more sense. He doesn’t jibber past or future, Only speaks in present tense. Devil never will reject me Like those “Others” always do. He tempts me, “Wait a little longer And you’ll get what’s coming due.” Devil says he’s my best buddy (They are wrong, […]

The patchwork quilt of my life stitches velvet to corduroy, linen to gabardine In a crazy mesh of incongruent textures And yet The kaleidoscopic interlace of mismatched colors: Seashell pink, indigo, olive green (no combination I would wear in public) Speaks patterns of mutation as I glint a hint of promise Of what I might […]

The ponytail atop her head is askew, Her cat’s eye glasses are smudged, Her two piece suit is rumpled and Her slip is showing. She’s balancing a sheaf of papers and a laptop, A lunch bucket and a hatbox with a torn lid. Like Shiva she needs 6 arms and only has two. I’m disappointed […]

Someone for whom you throw open wide the doors of your heart And invite inside for a cup of tea. No matter that the cup is chipped, the tea is weak, That there are dust bunnies under the table. You can be who you are, embracing this moment Discovering the essence of the person you […]

the limb might break! What will I do if I make a mistake? I’ll fall to earth, crushing my bones and lie on the ground till I turn into loam. But is that so bad, if dust I become? It’s the foundation from which all things come. It’s strong and secure, absorbs snow and rain, […]

I’m cleaning my closet and throwing away The ill-fitting garments I wear every day: Frustration, self-pity and nervous distress, It’s time to give anger and envy a rest. Once I am emptied, there’ll finally be space For all the bright colors my grumbling’s displaced. I’ll wear silks of joy along with a smile And gratitude […]

The pearl beyond price, The gift so sublime Is the one we ignore– The blessing of time. It’s measured in seconds It’s lumped into days. We tick tock the minutes And wish it away. But time becomes precious When it is in doubt, When it’s tight and restricted We reel from the clout As we […]

TODAY I am grateful for all the things I don’t have: An empty stomach Broken shoes Clothes caked with mud and sweat...

At times we need a white room where all is cool and still— A soft place where edges have been blanketed in fleece, where earth blends into sky, dissipating borders. Infinity blurs. Nothing agitates the mind as snow falls Delicately, purposefully, Hallowing space.

If wishes were horses, then beggars would ride—We say this old adage and take it in stride.Yet our hearts still long for a wish to come true,So these are the blessings I offer for you:May the sunlight always open your eyes,and breath freshen each day; may the good earth riseSoftly to kiss the soles of […]

May Rafael, God’s Healing Power, wrap you in his wingsAnd ease away the aches and pains life’s tribulations bring.May Uriel, the Light of God, guide you through the night,Sprinkling stardust in your path to make it clear and bright.May Gabriel, the Strength of God, raise you when you fallAnd hover ever by your side to […]

I will not be crossing the threshold of heaven,I will stop at the stoop and sit in the dustwith the old criers, Mother Rachel … La Llorona, Kuan-shi and Banshee?all are bent crones with broken fingernails and ragged hair,tear furrows are carved deep in their faces from centuries of weeping.I will join them and we […]

a single slice of bread, I give thanks for the pillow on which I lay my head. Breathing in//breathing out//standing on two feet// eliciting a smile or nod from strangers that I meet. I’ll surrender my humbug self and fill my heart with light Till it becomes a gleaming mirror that glimmers in the night. […]

I work in my garden daybreak to day’s end.Despite the laborious hours I spendhoeing and raking and pruning dead leavesthere’s always an overabundance of weeds.Somedays I don’t mind though I stoop and I bend,somedays it’s all I can do not to rendmy hair in frustration—why do I care?This chore’s overwhelming, too oppressive to bear.My futile […]

Moist, cotton-candy tufts of snow cling to pink-peach blossomsAs old pollen decays under the skeletons of autumn leaves.New pollen bursts free from tight-fisted, baby-buds.Dawn is simultaneously gray and gilded.Day is indistinguishable from twilight except for the activity of insects;The sky is big-bellied, fluffy as a muted calico cat.Temperatures flit like a mourning dove;Cold cuts deep, […]

pink, fragile as butterfly wings,… miraculously escaping killing frostsI’ve endured Sol’s blistering heatSky’s teardrop spills of paltry rain… ripening, sweeting in summer’s brutal furnacebuffeted by bellows of torrential winds…. in Fall I break open, food for songbirds.My pit falls to the ground to languish perhaps,… or be swept under a protective mulch of leavesto savor […]

Moon kisses Sun,then whisks into darknessSun blossoms with renewed lightsoothing our uplifted faces,illuminating our eyes,merging us into the ocean burstthe gilded energy dispelling darknessswelling the universe and nowtaking root in our hearts.

Release golden leaves, let them fall to the ground.Surrender the wind that blows cottonwood down.Yesterday’s vanished like shimmering dew—Tomorrow’s a dream that may never come true.Embrace this moment, although the timeIs sweet and it’s bitter, like sugar and brine.These moments pays quickly, all that will lastIs love that’s extended, linking future to past.

I am graced with dual lives: one in memory, one in present time.The first is a life gratuitously given,The second a life I give in return.Both of my selves hold baskets: one flower-filled, one empty.Every day my shadow self places a blossomIn the basket of reeds that my tangible selfBalances precariously with both hands.Some blossoms […]

OCTOBER REFLECTIONS HEL the Norse giantess—fingernails long and clawed, encrusted with loam,tosses her smoking hair tangled like gnarled tree roots.She dances life: dances death in a whirlwind of ice and fire.The underworld shudders, contracts, breaks open like ripe fruitspewing seeds of life through worm tendriled soil.Helheim is a vast mansion, its rooms dark as wombs.There’s […]

Your precious little heartBeats in time with mine,You are the heart within my heart,Our souls are intertwined. Our hearts both beat as oneTo the drumbeat of the EarthThe chord resounding unifiesAll life in grief or mirth. I hold you in my heartAnd lift you to the lightThat permeates our fleeting breathAnd dissipates the night. Time […]

solitaire child batting at dirt clodschasing white cabbage butterfliesdancing on weedy fragranceover waves of rolling green… revenant child and butterflyarise from the dusty field together—ghost-white butterfly fluttersmemories from the coreof my heart.

May we depart with graceIn our proper time and seasonWhen we have grown ripe as fruitBroken open to shower seedUpon the attendant ground. May we give back generouslyAs we have generously been given: breathto gentle and refresh the earthAnd smooth back the azure heaven. May our life’s breath mingle with the Breath of LifeAs a […]

Collywobbles twitterpate as foudroyant fumnabulist toesa wire swayed by favorian breeze as willowaw garboils, blowswelkin to crepuscular brume, grimalkin-gray this bosky lea,too panglossian to be atribulous, he hums a chansonette, proceeds—tumescent boodle’s badinageburbles bromides and brickbats,piffling their dithyramb, a nimiety of bafflegab. A florilegium of psittacism,catawampus rodomontadeto wordmongers comme toi or moithis lobglolly of persiflage, […]

You are the golden heartwithin my heart,I am the golden heart within your great one. Memory’s balance::joy and grief: I have lost you//my heart holds you still// Moon grounded on Earth,fire dance on air; water cuppedin in two loving hands. gold butterfly wingsstir eternity: I glance,pass into shadow. embryo moon floats,tugging tides toward dawning dreamsbirthing […]

Powder-sugar-snowDusts off the Old Year’s debacles,Sweetens New Year’s dreams. Rising sun//gilt roseUnpetals// melting nightmares//Fear dissolves like dew. Feral roses creepThrough milkweed; wilding gardenHeather’s passed away. Crystallizing sap//Time solidified// gold inAmber// ancient tears. Shades and hues poolingAzure, turquoise, cobalt blueBlend into one sky. Shocked quartz remembersWorld ripped apart; explodingWith ten thousand suns. Sparrow lying on groundThin […]

I started through the garden gate, I saw a spider’s web(now usually spiders fill my soul with dread)but the little creature wove so fine a tapestry of laceI couldn’t find it in my heart to tear it from its brace. Now I wonder how many times disaster came my wayunbeknownst to me, who ambled blithely […]

As I block the catmouse scampers behind bookcase; nowmouse nibbles books. heartbreak house: broke doorglassless windows, sagged clothesline,weeds squat on porch. moonlight silvers bonesin fingers grasping shadowsvanishing like breath. worn tires hit gravel,ten years buried; unburiedheld in aching hearts. knotted fists collapsecowed by steel-eye glare, tight mouthincised in silence. when they come for mybody, check […]

pine shadows creepingautumn gold … stalking cougarpauses, growls, moves on. thirsty colors dryas dust … starved trees dream watersky turns a dry eye. fiery harvest moonscatters ashen clouds: Phoenixrises from embers. goblins caught in sun//////now rocks squat pimple-facedby dust-riddled road. red-winged blackbird cryshivers reeds, ripples riverthreading earth to sky. sky presses hungeredlips to parched earth,drought […]

They’re precious little killers stalking on their tippy-toesDeciphering all they need to know with a whiskered, velvet nose.Listen—micies pitter patter. Look—there’s birdies on the wing.Crouch low-and-pounce on crickets, when those bugs begin to sing. Doing everything they pleases as they strut their walk-about,Napping lightly with ears open to the faintest hiss or shout.Enjoying a sunbath […]

sticky sun honeyssoft jelled shadows; leaves cool deeplight balances dark. vines wilting greenburgundy roses fermentclaret summer wine succulent green pods//red berries feed the hungrybluebird of my soul. sun viridescentsings brilliance//melts shadowed rootsdisclosing tangles. lilacs blush to greenfragrance fades with memoryhushed farewell to spring.cinders of roses,grayed rags of pink blossoms clingto stark, scarecrow trees. grass sings […]

DAY I The death angel was never at our door,blocking the light with huge, ragged wingsrust stained from smoke and blood. The Divine had already filled the room with PresenceSoft and scintillating as a violet veilFalling then lifting in a moment of twilight. And in that instant when the gates openedThat divide the light from […]

lac’n’lavenderclose your eyes//we’ll meet againin another spring. pink-white-frill blossomsberibbon grandmother trees’gnarl-twisted branches. butterflies startleshadows to sunlit flight; lightspills thru flitting leaves. crabapple trees swirlpink-beruffled petticoatswhirl in windy dance. angora-gray cloudswash down thickly matted earthwith bristly cat tongue. light finger of snowtraces breasts of earth: mountainsheave against soft sky.quickening of greenon tessellating branches:lilac dreams lilac. pregnant […]

SNOW drapes from branches, reflects the rising sun SNOW diminishes to flowerets on tips of trees SNOW melts to pools nestled in undulations of the earth SNOW crystallizes to icicles suspended in night air SNOW awaits the dawn

An April fool,I dance thru puddles without shoeshatless, coatless, freezing.I risk deathstanding under a cloudburst, cradling love’s butterflyheld fragilely in my hand.Rain falls like shards of glass.the butterfly quivers, succumbs.I cup both love and death togetherwhat else can I do?To tighten my fingers into a knotand run loveless, head bent in the battering rain-that too […]

gnarled and twisted treesalone and yet togetherin the soft, gray mist. lightning split dual treeshoots emerge: one emerald green.one deadwood. winter washed Earth corpsewrapped in snow shroud. clean white bonesblind sky. deaf-mute clouds. stony white boned fieldsanemic sky bled of huecold sun burning grass. granules of hard snowconjured milk from witches’ titshold breath’s spellbound ghost. […]

To own the heart of a woman is to experience the Divine.Until you have counted out 268 Ranier cherries(The exact number needed to make a cherry pie)You do not know the infinitesimal patienceRequired for the act of creation … until you have participatedIn a conversation with four women laughing listeningAll at the same timeYou do […]

The best time of my life?It’s now—it’s today!No point in regrettingWhat the wind swept away.Tomorrow’s a dream, a net flung so vastIt’s tangled with wishesThat may not come to pass. What’s real is this momentIt’s abundantly clearI should live it with joy,Not jitter with fear. Whether fearful or not,My joints will still ache,The ceiling may […]

Falling gold//brown leafKisses my fingers lightlyJolting me awake. Leaf dancing on windReleases summer; nestlesInto Earth’s embrace. Leafy canopyCollapses; lattice remainsClean sky bleeds through. Trees wear autumn ragsSoft sky blanches palest blueWind whitewashes sun.

The killing frosts have not yet comeThis gentle October, Yellow butterflies—refugees from shorn alfalfa fieldsDance across the stubble like whirling leaves. Butterflies and autumn leaves intermingleIndistinguishable in the failing sun. Twilight hovers, a pause between day/nightLife/death, inhalation/exhalation. We experience eternityFor less than a momentBreathe againThen move on.

I tried to hold youBut your name was written in moonlight.It slipped through my fingersEven as I reached to grasp it.Wind took my breath away. You shattered like fine china,Trampled back to sandBy those who should have cared the most. Emotions pale; only a husk remains—A name carved on marble. We soldier on, busy with […]

Gentle souls ride the soft undercurrents of restless time Rushing towards eternity.They are not uprooted in the winds of chaosBut bend to straighten again like willowsSwaying in the rain. Their devotion is the meshUnderpinning both light and dark energy,The constant that remainsAfter the storm has passed. Their memory is a reflection in a rain poolMirroring […]

How can you stopper a hole in your heart?Use a cork or a plug of chewed gum? How can you mend the raw, jagged edgeWhen your heart has been ripped out and torn? Tape won’t adhere, and string will not holdTo tie it together again. It’s broken and trampled and bleeding and cold.You wish it […]

The sages say the world’s sustainedBy prayer, by acts of love,And Holy Word that opens gatesIn heaven high above.Yet prayer and Word and kindnessAs pillars only standWhen they are held firm in placeBy strong, sustaining hands.The hands that pray,The hands that give,The hands that work and striveTo make the world a better placeExemplify a lifeLived […]

Look—even when there is nothing to seeListen when silence falls.The fragrance evoked by the wind through the leavesIs elusive, and yet it enthralls.The taste of blue in a conch shell of pinkSwells the morning sky.It’s the nectar that praising angels drinkAs they sing in the dawn’s honeyed light. Finger a moonbeam, a soft strand of […]

Of all God’s great giftsThe one most sublimeIs the simplest blessing:The gift of pure time.It’s a blessing to greetEach dawning new day,To savor sweet sunlightIn November or May;Whispering thanksEach exhalation of breath,Standing amazedAt night’s star brilliant depth. Like a string of rare pearlsOn chains silver and fine,The years are a tapestryOf God given time:With moments […]

Wrapped up in blue paper,Tied with gold threadAnd garnished with green.Open the lid—it’s filled with promise.Put thought into motion/actualize dreams. Breathe in and breathe out,That takes no effort.What you do with your wordsRipples through worlds.Stretch out your handsAnd fill them with sunlightIt’s real/it’s intangible,Like luster of pearls. Taste the wide windThe flavor is subtle,A fragrance […]

When the sun goes dark, I will be your lightTo guide you through the darkest night.When the wind blows cold, I will keep you warm.My love’s a shelter from the storm.When you drink the dregs of a bitter cupI will lift your spirits up.I am the sound that is not heardUnless a memory is stirred.I […]

I know I am molded of stardust and dreamsAnd that I am oh so much more than I seem.I’m energy woken uniquely to life—Although I am spirit, it seems that in spiteOf my rational mind, my sadness and mirthI’m also deep rooted in the fabric of Earth.I cannot deny this primordial stateOr my blissful delight […]

The sages say the world’s sustainedBy prayer, by acts of love,And Holy Word that opens gatesIn heaven high above.Yet prayer and Word and kindnessAs pillars only standWhen they are held firm in placeBy strong, sustaining hands.The hands that pray,The hands that give,The hands that work and striveTo make the world a better placeExemplify a lifeLived […]

We are one/We are many/We are part of the flowOf wide running rivers to the oceans’ great hold.The force that enkindles intuitive sightConnects us to stars in the vast, cosmic nightAs well as the smallest of lichens that growsAt the roots of a redwood’s gargantuan folds. We’re enlivened by breath—all who are bornEmbodying spirit in […]

When deep despair surrounds us like a tower falling down—Of steel and glass and grayest ashAnd the world turns upside down. When the anguish of uncertainty turns our mortal hearts to dustAnd the saltine tears that ceaseless fallBlur our weary sight with rust. There are angels who, with outstretched handsWill catch us as we fall,Who […]

Little soul, sweet and kindMost precious love I’ll ever find.Little eyes so deep and brightFill my heart with joy and light,My memories don’t ease the painAs shadows flit, I look in vainTo see you race across the grass,I’d run to you and hold you fast!I cannot help but hope and prayWe’ll meet again at heaven’s […]

Sing of joy and love,They bless each breathThat is a prayerAnd promise from above. They steadied you along life’s path,Sheltered beneath their wings.They shared the laughter and the tearsLife’s cycle always brings. And now as shadows gray the dayThey come in lambent light,To gather you home in encircling armsBefore the fall of night. The angels […]

If wishes were horses, then beggars would ride—We say this old adage and take it in stride.Yet our hearts still long for a wish to come true,So these are the blessings I offer for you:May the sunlight always open your eyes,and breath freshen each day; may the good earth riseSoftly to kiss the soles of […]

Fire Star burns dry, whorls brick-dust // gouges cold mons, vales poles melt, expand, breathe

If this were my last day, I would still drink my morning coffee.I would still feed the cats (after all, life would go on…Even if this were my last day).If this were my last day, I would still make my bed—Why be untidy now?But this time I would be grateful that I had a bed,And […]

The lady outside who looks in the mirrorIs wrinkled and weathered with age.She has to squint and lean and peerWhen she looks at a printed page.Her hair is thin, it’s straight as a pinAnd turning from brown to gray.The lady outside reminisces and sighsAs she dreams of yesterday.When the girl in the mirror had a […]

I’m cleaning my closet and throwing awayThe ill-fitting garments I wear every day:Frustration, self-pity and nervous distress,It’s time to give anger and envy a rest.Once I am emptied, there’ll finally be spaceFor all the bright colors my grumbling’s displaced.I’ll wear silks of joy along with a smile,and gratitude that never goes out of style.Love fits […]

When the sky turns to ash and the day’s bitter black,Lord give me the courage of Alvin the cat.Give me endurance to find my way homeThough I’m lost and I wander deeply hurt and alone.Give me the faith to know I’ll surviveIf I make a small effort to just stay alive.Give me Your strength when […]

God’s laughter is the laughterOf a carefree child.God’s song is in the rainbowSpun from cloud to cloud.God’s name is in the life breathThat every being exhales.God’s face is on the crimson skyBefore the sunset pales.The calligraphy of rosesIs written in God’s hand,And the warmth of the west windKnitting ocean against sand.In the twilight of the […]

Two Angels came in the first blush of night:One sooty and ragged, one shining and white.We embrace the white angel with flowing gold hair;We’d drive off the dark one, if only we’d dare.Both angels bring blessings for hope and for peace,For gifts unexpected and troubles’ surcease.We take the sweet balm that the light angel brings,Health, […]

Little soul, sweet and kindMost precious love I’ll ever find.Little eyes so dark and brightFill my heart with joy and light,My memories don’t ease the painAs shadows flit, I look in vainTo see you race across the grass,I’d run to you and hold you fast!I cannot help but hope and prayWe’ll meet again at heaven’s […]