Verse: Morsel

(based on a dream recounted by @juicymorsel. Apologies for the ending.)

at night
i close
my eyes
and see
the sea
inside me

i hear
it call
my name
asking me
to dive
to follow

but i
hold fast
it is
a long
way down
from here

just imagining
the drop
when gravity
hastens me
to her
terrifies me

and when
i think
i just
might jump
i hear
a voice

a name
i heard
years ago
when i
was nine
not mine

'the bells
they ring
for annie.'
i don't
know what
it means

and suddenly
my ears
are ringing
is it
school bells
church bells

it could
be christmas
it could
be sunday
for all
i know

one moment
of grace
the sea
in me
claims as
her own

just before
i am
revived, restored
to the
waking world.

Verse: Epistle to Her

(so... @imreddy4u asked me to do a poem. As always, I asked for a starter - a word, theme or phrase to work into it. She sent several phrases that are constants in art, particularly love songs. But the fact they are constants does not in any way diminish their power. Or their veracity. So, I worked on it, incorporating some notes I had jotted down from a book on Tao. And then I focused on my muse... m'lady. So, while it is still @imreddy4u's poem, m'lady's spirit is in here. I hope this Epistle is more elegant than didactic. It was probably best that I left out @imreddy4u's musings about why kittens & puppies are cute, but not baby rats...)

how can i
live without you

you may as well
take the music

of the universe
with you when you go

and all the stars
i pin my hopes on

would be just distant
anonymous lights

i would cease
to wonder

how deep
the ocean

how high
the sky

without you
in my life

your love
returned me to love

that expresses itself
to you

in this moment
and every one after

and if i
should lose my form

i remain
calm knowing

you are
my center.

Verse: engulfed

we
who are lovers
love

we
who are stretched
by insatiable gravity

embrace
each other
as always

we
celebrate the pleasures
of the unknown

and
oppose clamor
with our calm

begging
silence for one moment
more

yet
beyond this love
where we live

somewhere
the sun is kissing
the sky

and
i am engraving
your name next to it

with
each and every
breath.

Verse: the secret life

(by request for @mytweecwetlife)

i
in my secret life
i go with strangers

i suppress the urge
to howl, and sigh

at every transgression
i see, real or imagined

and they don't know
they perish in haste and hate

in a single thought
it thrills and repulses me

ii
in my secret life
i dream

of wealth
and ease

that i
am someone else

intricate, elaborate
tableaus unfold daily

in my waking hours
and subconscious

stretching far beyond
the realm of possibility

and ending
when I hear my given name

iii
in my secret life
i find you

the hard thrust
of our hips

betrays the softness
of our flesh

and our voices
hide in whispers

far from the prying, public noise
of the world outside.

verse: Cicadas

(After reading my Autumn poem, novelist @KMWeiland wondered if I could do a summer poem. I asked what to include, and she gave me a list of ingredients. Though some of are not local, I did my best to incorporate them all. Except meadowlarks. I never said I was a good chef.)

walking home
this evening

everything feels
impossibly close

it's like that line
from that old movie

this the anvil
of heaven

the cottonwood
aglow like fireworks

and even the sun
is moving slow

inching to the horizon so
it doesn't break a sweat

and lingering there
as the clouds roll in

waiting for
the cicadas

and the celebration
yet to begin

intoxicated
by the warm air

their muscles
contract, relax

in a symphony of castanets
and fingerclicks

and the thunderheads
respond in kind

tears of joy
pool around my sandals

and my toes
quench their thirst

grateful for
this small blessing

the dog days
are upon us.

Verse: Tammy's Song

i was born
a child
of snow

and i went
as far west
as you can go

sought out
the sun to tattoo
my skin

so winter
could not
find me again

the snow
in my veins
became sand and sea

warm rains that
dissipate in an instant
baptized me

from the peak
of Puʻu Kukui
to the shores of La Perouse

home is not
where you come from
but the place you choose

others
will make this pilgrimage
and they will not stay

they merely hear
the trade winds
but i am in their sway.

Verse: camperdown elm

beneath the bower
the canopy of branches
that bend like arms
and tangle like serpents
in a self embrace
i count the strands of leaves
ribbons of green
like party streamers
that deny the persistent sun
and marvel at how still
the pond water has become
the illusion of nature
slowing down, catching its breath
when it's only me
that is the most amazing magic trick
of all.

Verse: bring the rain

(for @yourjoye)

when you come back
next time
bring the rain

i've forgotten
the lovely sound
of its listless voice

the way that
each drop perishes
in an instant

accumulating
on the window sill
like ash from a cigarette

i love those
lonely moments
the most

when there is
no one else
to tell our dreams to

when the only light
is the tired eyes
of street lamps

peering into
our apartment
from below.

Verse: autumn

(For @GenniferwithaG)

this
is a season
of frivolity

of sand
sun swelter
and short skirts

and though
i do find much
to love

in summer
i prefer
autumn

people say
it is a season
of decay and death

but for me
it is a season
of vibrancy

a season
of bustle
and many returns

return to work
and school
to structured time

to mornings
as crisp as corn flakes
or fresh sheets

to leaves
with lips
of fiery reds

that stretch out
their arms
to fly

and to the harvest
when the earth feeds us
from her soft bosom

before wrapping us
in snow and singing us
to sleep.

Verse: aspirations

(for @EAwrite)

i want
to be
a butterfly

i want
to forget
words that injure

i want
to weave
beautiful illusions

i want
to awaken
into calm

i want
to let go
of many things

i want
to dream
of magics

and i
know that i
want too much

how can i
stay close
to shore

when i have
tasted the water
from mid-stream?