Wonder

Looking up I wonder,
an osprey doesn’t see me coming
my footsteps quiet in the sand
watching him tilt his head
at the sea below
gravity beckons
wings by his side
the single sheath of blue
leaving small white edges
turns then rises
a tiny splash sprouts up
in his talons floundering
unbeknown to my eyes
it was swimming there near me
snatched, no wake, no displacement
the ocean kindly waving
that’s when I wonder
in the grasp of an angel's wing
when my soul is snatched
from its incarnate being
will it leave no displacement
or even a wake
to the mundane expanse
in the sea of life.

Bending, Still Standing

At the edge of my becoming
I'm like a bending stem
of a daisy at the end of Fall
before it's white petals
wilt and drop
hereto I still proudly stand

Would like to think
my stamens will perpetuate
something of me
if not my petals
at least my color
and strength of stem

I’ve stood here for my
designated time
let the wind blow me
side to side
other species have stepped on me
stolen my pollen
but that’s the way
of a daisy it should be

So much I’ve seen
while standing here
how tall I’ve grown
the elements of life
have changed my color
some things I did not
understand but I accepted
it, allowing the sun and
the wind to do it’s thing

Today some of my petals
have begun wilting
none have yet fallen off
but soon to be covered in
loam at the feet of another
hopefully I will become
part of new growth

LQQking Glass

Washed my face this morning
The cool water dried
In the looking glass
my mother’s face appeared

Eros: Leave the lights off

Leave the lights off
so I can see you
with my nose
your sent will direct me
to the softness of your
breasts so wonderfully
caressing the sides of my
face, my cheeks

Leave the lights off
so that my finger tips
will be forced to be
gentle with their touch
as they search carefully
around the curves

they will touch tenderly
the brow, the slope of your nose
they will skirt the edges
of your ear lobes then come
down to rest upon
the succulence of your lips
the orifice that kisses
and breathes warm air
into me

Leave the lights off
so that my hands will
ride the sides of your arms
down to where the
wonderment where
my head now rests
upon lovely, lovely breasts

Leave the lights off
so that my finger tips
titillate the pinnacles
of these lovely bosoms
oh, feel them rise
growing reaching up
craving more of my touch

then as you arch
your lower back up
my hand slides toward
a sensitivity causing flutter
wantonly uncontrollably
just underneath the 'inny'
resonating vibrating with desire

Leave the lights off
for I think I have found
soft fibers of hormonal growth
in between the warmth of my
finger tips caressing the now
sweet moistness
slow, faster, you tell me
my sensual search
should it stop

Leave the lights off
and whisper in my ear
if you wish to journey
once again with me
in the dark

Sunday's Conviction

Looking out the window
this day of the week
see neighbor’s children’s
polished shoes on their feet
father and mother in their
best pressed clothes
scurry into the car
to meet with others
where they worship
their icons and deity
and embrace each other
this one day of the week

Monday comes, they fall
into a dark human abyss
with Tuesday fogging
that church going bliss
Wednesday’s and Thursday’s
forgot the lectern sermon
preached about brotherhood
Friday arrives Saturdays
follow,
the Christian words cantored
now seem hypocritically
hollow

Love's Cradle

wish to be cradled
by the arms of love
as once they did
pure and innocent
without conspiracies, no assumptions,
unconditional

to be loved and
me to love
the way I fantasize
Love to be
Mary and Jesus
Romeo and Juliet

where my mind, my heart
can escape if
but for a moment
as a guest of the spirits
that understand

Life as I know it
does not cater to such
fantasies
it teases with a paradigm
sketched of ‘smiling tears’
occasional contented joys

soon erased by
what Life beholds
extinguishing the smiles
with pains and sufferings
the fears of loss and death
the truth of tears

but if it could
once again
hold my hand
as if
to understand
and by chance there is no
Heaven at least
I will have been
embraced by Love

Wish List

When I think of money
and those that have so much
I wish I had more
I see one drive a nice car
I envy and wish I had a red one
When I see a large beautiful home
I picture myself in one
built with terracotta floors
mud and straw adobe walls
But then I think
if I had all this
I would be in the car
driving away from you
If we lived in that large house
we would be separated in
different rooms
and the money, oh yes the money
well the money couldn’t
buy me you

That Day in June

Remember that day in June
when our tongues
had shared in the tickle
of the drops we collected
from the cool drizzle
of the afternoons delight

Our faces raised upward
laying on the embankment
of that river who had also
shared our first kiss
locking our hearts
that day in Spring

Remember we giggled
when that toad burped
excuse me, I said
and the stream of water
sang over stones and sticks
from around the bend

We laid there supine
for that moment of innocence
when all was fine
our harried cares and worries
were carried away
by that Monarch miracle
in its gossamer wings

That day is remembered
tendered by the gentle
heartbeat in that secret
chamber of my heart
where it stores
that lovely day in June

Tortillas Replace Forks

My toes are crooked
fingers broken
painful arthritis
fills my hips and back

Roll off the bed
when I wake
struggle to raise my body
feel like the walking dead

Reach tools are
logistically placed
to put on socks
shoes with no lace
my days bring challenges
trying to save face

I can no longer use
a fork or spoon
let alone a knife
I eat with my
fingers and hands
tortillas serve me well

Feels good the earth
underneath bare feet
in lieu of a grunt
I choose to smile
helps me forget my pain
for a little while

I now sleep upright
in my recliner
no more stuffy nose
or waking my wife
with my snore
lumbar vibrator and heat
restful and soothing sleep

I've made Time my friend
my activities slightly revised
seemingly clearer are things
and more appreciated
when life moves slower

aging is Life's constant
like 'change' is to the universe
so I accept, adjust, advance
slower but with a smile
barefooted with my tortilla
in hand.


sending one's health
into demise

Thank you Gabby

A flower
whose radiance
and waft of sweet
altruistic scent
abounds
sacrifices through
inclement exposure
risking animus
and the ire of weeds
who try to choke
the growth of
her refreshing petals
that kissed the hand
of life and it
reciprocated giving her
a second chance
to plant her seed
foreseeing her beauty
in a flower bed
where her petals
fall fertilizing earth
cultivating other growth

Choice (Dedication Rep. Gabrielle Gifford)

Am I alone
fearing the loss
of my home
not the edifice
or individual abode
but that which is within
the Human kind
I struggle with all
the vitriol
the distasteful
disdainful hate
that affronts our
better nature
We fling mire
at each other
because others
tell us to
We neither question
their direction
or accept personal
responsibility for
choosing to follow
the base of
which is our
primeval make up
in lieu of choosing
to accept the challenge
of resolve through discourse
We attack, we demonize
rather than choose
to understand
We close our eyes
rather than try
to discern truth
I fear the loss
of heart
of mind
of soul
of humankind
Soon enough
it will be taken
from us and
we will have
wasted the freedom
of choice

Song in my Heart

hark the song
in my heart
the strings
you strum
set a tempo
without missing
a beat

silent moments
in marsh and
elephant grass
hid me
fearfully wondering
if those trying
to hurt me
could hear you strum

wondering
will I ever
hear you again
you made
me smile
tears of joy
came quietly
when safely
I came home

you beat
in rhythm
in harmony
without fear
once again
I'm free
to Live
to Love

What to Wear?

A quarter Life left to live,
if that,
Three quarters behind me,
blindly searching
trying to find an indiscernible
joy thinking it was there,
somewhere.

A touch of wisdom now prevails
understanding better the balance
of life, it’s reality
somewhat juxtaposed in space,
in the universe

I’ve had time to look
in the chest of drawer where
the attire of life is stored
Have segregated that
which I can wear and that
which I cannot.

Now that age has lassoed
my physical growth
I must put aside that which
no longer fits
Look around, try on
and choose what's best suited.

My tastes have changed,
my selfish view has also
My discredited needs have been
hemmed and been redressed
No longer must I search
for how I must dress,
it is seamless and before me

Welcome the dawn
of my Autumn
I am now dressed
appropriately for you

Lonely Gallery

Today, a second day
of moping
Yesterday I realized
my words were no longer
being read
When once they were
my conduit of expression,
my catharsis.
There were those that shared
my mind, my heart and would
share with me their’s
No longer do they seem
to hear me laugh or sing
share my day time reverie
or night time dreams
They seem to care no
longer for when I’m lonely
or hear my tear drops fall
The pain and angst I feel
of unfulfilled social causes
fill my book of writ
They no longer tease or
have anywhere to go
My words are sprawled about,
strewn, complacent, now
apathetically floating in cyberspace
Used to use their colors
to paint the pictures
on my life’s canvas
But what’s the use
if no one visits my gallery
I may not be a Matisse
or Vincent van Gogh,
appealing or not
but just the visit,
someone just to care

Dare I Welcome

Dare I welcome your embrace
though I’ve gone through many a phase
instilled with a belief based on faith
unknowing and of whence the truth
accepting the promise of ultimate grace

My earthbound heart abounds with hope
wishing the soul be led into heaven’s gate
whose rendering is cast by the hand
of a loving maker that treasures humankind

My hope is that our journey’s destiny
encapsulates the ever changing beauty
shared in this earthbound life
and will provide a loving hand
to those who had not much

I fear not my departure
from this mundane existence
all I ask, if at all possible,
that I be held by the hand of Love
and with the other, hold
the hand of those that shared it
with me

Welcome, New Year

The fresh Spring gave pleasure
of new birth to my eyes,
my sense of smell delighted
in the aroma of Nature’s breath

the summer sun caramelized me,
the wind and ocean tide
blew my hair, the cool sea brine water
cleansed the sand away,
I stood naked in relative significance
not unlike the ocean waves splashing
against the cliffs applauding the seagull’s
riding the wind

The fall dressed me in Autumn reds,
while robins, wrens made their beds
knowing a cool breeze from the north
would soon coat with white the homes,
accost our finger tips our toes
with bites of frost and numbness,
resent the abandonment of the warm

This conical of vision
and small web of existence
is my denizen, built and moldedpro
every year by all that shares
my abode, melded into my
realm of wonton change
volitional prescribed proscription
not unlike anyone else’s
of common cognition

A year is but a window into Life
composed into a time piece
by our forefathers to reflect upon
their mundane accomplishments,
attempting to cheat the darkness
with light wanting to manage
the seasons and sleep

I smile when spring appears
I am that summer sun,
the changing colors of the fall,
together melded in this conical vision
through all my aging years

Let’s feed our hungry
give to the poor,
speak of world wide calming,
start a new calendar
by our commitment to ending ‘war’.

Pondering

Pondering in the early dawn
looking out the window
overlooks a birdbath
where a crimson red cardinal perches
also a large blue and white blue jay
both have crowns on their heads
wonder if I have one

A grey cool mist has settled
tiptoeing on the grass
grasping the trees like a veil
strange that their’s no pristine
cover of white upon this landscape
on Christmas Day

A log is crackling with
blue yellow red flames
bursting of freedom
in my fireplace
soothed by soft vocals from
songstresses coming out of a music box

If this be the last Christmas
last Hanukkah, last Holiday,
called for by philosopher kings
and ancient calendar makers
then let their be calm and peace,
sated bellies, warm embraces,
Love

Two Hearts in Delight

Can I reach into your heart
for just a moment and feel
it’s palpitations

wander into your soul
and feel the spirit of
your giving not as
nebulous as it’s portrayed

Can I touch the softness
of your skin pressed against
my cheek and as my lips
warmly challenge yours

then whisper those little
words that become
truly so large in the imprint
they leave behind

If you let me
I’ll brush your hair back
taking pleasure in your eyes
as they peer deep into mine
noticing Love
emote from my heart

Walk with me by my side
from the dawn of sunlight
till crimson dusk of day
let those that might see us
share in the delight
of Love at play

And the moon gives
the night a romantic insight
and the stars begin to dance
providing you and I
gentle memories of
two hearts in flight

The Quiet of Life

Sometimes I take your heart to task
your souls aghast
your mind to the undesirable past

Life is not, all
chocolate filled cherries
some will have their pits

We all want that golden sun
to awaken our morning eyes
with the sound of an aviary
when we rise

But once we open our eyes
we must face the storms
that sometimes fill the Sky’s

We choose to read
the sweet poetic words
and listen only to music’s
mellifluous sounds

when words read not to our choosing
and a note is dissonant or flat
we close our eyes
cover our ears

John Lennon’s ‘…Imagine, there’s no Heaven,
there’s no Hell…’, then;
roaring ocean waves would not be feared
but be viewed like the harrowing of soil
needed for new growth in Spring

We should embrace the storm
for then will come the calm,
when there's pain and angst
then comes appreciation of
it's cessation, then,
quiet and health

Do not shush me,
turn your eyes
or cover your ears,
share me with others,
I am Life

Welcome Home

If I say to you, 'thank you'
do you hear me through your pain
your flashbacks still haunt you
beyond the patriotic refrain

My return back in the seventies
not a voice or hand extended
lungs still filled with agent orange
and the napalm smell offended

inculcated surreptitious motivations
of sacrifices upholding liberties
Communism, arms of mass destruction
fear replaces truth's entreaties

trust is garnered by a leader
from sons, daughters, husbands, wives
to dispense an ideology of democracy
interfering in a nation's sovereignty,
asking for the sacrifice of lives

we bring them home from hell
a feigned handshake and nod
give them alcohol and a pain pill
without insurance or a job

we bring them back to families
whose children now have grown
sitting at their dining table
surrounded by little faces now unknown

we've now brought them back
another war wrapped in a lie
how many more Vietnams and Iraqs
so much more 'life' must die

the world view of America
is hypocracy of Christianity
conjuring reasons for making war
and our politicians saying to our soldiers,
an unrepentant, 'Welcome Home'