We are not phoenixes

We are not phoenixes
Rising from the ashes
Nor the survivors of
Life threatening crashes

We are two enablers
Once blind but now can see
Selfishness cured us of
Our disabilities

Wanting to say something

Wanting to say something
Meaningful and profound
Express an emotion
With the purest of sound

The zipper on my coat
Is giving me trouble
Ending exploration
Denying my Hubble

A lark in a wheat field

A lark in a wheat field
Van Gogh painted but one
Yet just off the canvas
Beneath the summer sun

The unpainted larks fly
It's an exaltation!
We are here together
In purest elation

A naked traveler

A naked traveler
In winter without wear
A changing climate that
Forces the will to bear

Nothing to stand between
Even feet without shoes
This invitation to
Experience and use

Avoid immitation

Avoid imitation
Surely, it's not the best
Rise from the trough and reach
A solitary crest

Cast only one shadow
Without a foot in the shade
Stare into the darkness
And strike fire without aid

Reject the balance beam

Reject the balance beam
Life is wider than wide
Find not only the depth
But each far reaching side

Twist the kaleidoscope
Beauty in every turn
Embrace the uniqueness
And its fortunes to earn

Stoic on the sidelines

Stoic on the sidelines
This wallflower in bloom
Not the center of a
Social media room

Here out of the traffic
Off of the beaten path
Remaining true to self
My formula, my math

You know that I loved you

You know that I loved you
There's no question of that
But you didn't love me
Every care was a trap

Somebody to Love is

On the radio now
Strange to realize 
The wisdom here - and how

This isn't the first frost

This isn't the first frost
Thin rings around my tree
Each year a survival
Every Spring a decree

I'm alive and fighting
Winter can never break
A spirit wanting more
Each time that I awake

Not here for the future

Not here for the future
And not a rainy day
White canvas before us
No rules on the array

Of colors and textures
Literal or abstract
Our lives in abundance
And without the subtract

Snow is perched on branches

Snow is perched on branches
Like daydreams in cradles
As if the great Dippers
We're star laden ladles

Squirrel nests above look
Like knotted shoelaces
While juncos below are
Pecking for food traces

The family tree and

The family tree and
The fresh smell of sawdust
I am grafting my limb
Only because I must

The probability
Of lightning striking thrice
Horrifies me knowing
It's already struck twice

A life with narcissists

A life with narcissists
Injustices unfurl
The constant irritants
I am the biggest pearl

A voodoo doll controlled
By one who doesn't care
Time to pull the pins and
Swiftly exit the lair

To know I'm not upset

To know I'm not upset
My blood's been let and let
Although my mind is set
Emotions will follow

Tragedy without tears
The tumultuous years
Pulling wrenches from gears
Are hard pills to swallow

I am not the pin oak

I am not the pin oak
I have let my leaves go
In my winter thoughts I
Only want to see snow

Moving forward without
Memories of summer
Putting down the flute and
Marching to the drummer

The two of us in light

The two of us in light
We find ourselves often
Seeing a future with
All our flowers open

We know reality
Always looms its way in
Our lives are both destined
And designed from within

Two exhausted salmon

Two exhausted salmon
Choosing to stay downstream
Swimming against currents
Is no longer our dream

Jumping the waterfalls
Leaping dawn until dawn
Best to reprogram our
Coordinates of spawn

If I turned inside out

If I turned inside out
I know I'd look the same
Complete transparency
The hallmark of my name

Before you, crystal clear
Deeper than Lake Tahoe
This is how I feel and
You can see what I know

When there is no answer

When there is no answer
The unknown should be taught
The question mark is first
God is an afterthought

Is there a creator
Don't answer yes or no
Have hope, have doubts, don't care
But answer I don't know

What are we to do when

What are we to do when
The population errs
The masses mishandle
Pass judgments without cares

Is it a pendulum
It feels like a slingshot
Or a thumb in the eye
A widow maker's clot

Clouds are falling asleep

Clouds are falling asleep
The sun yawns before night
Pitches its black ten with
A lantern of moonlight

Celebrating the dust
Passing in a light shaft
Time erasing time and
All the moments we laughed

Remember black fireworks

Remember black fireworks
At Toledo's tower
Was I rescued for love
Or was it for power

Left questioning the past
And the space between stones
Now that the roof is gone
Damn, let there be poems

Everyone of my stones

Everyone of my stones
You used for your cement
Replacing your glass house
For a walled compartment

All no's to this and that
Like an eroding beach
People, places and things
Such as a summer peach

Complete admiration

Complete admiration
For those that I am not
The seamstress, the athlete
Farmer and astronaut

The mathematician
To people who can paint
Animals growing old
Without words of complaint

We must rid our gardens

We must rid our gardens
Of hate and bigotry
These invasive plants of
Harm and brutality

Celebrate our beauty
Come closer together
We can choke out these weeds
No matter the weather

Right at the end of a

Right at the end of a
Murder mystery tale
How could it have been them
The kindhearted and frail

How could we be so blind
We were right without weight
But we have tipped the scales
And charter our own fate

Can we live and forget

Can we live and forget
Shrug our shoulders and let
Time erase our regret
As we fill our blank days

At first an afternoon
Becoming moon to moon
The entire month of June
Until a clearing haze

When you no so much you

When you no so much you
Become a nobody
The fruits of Life pitted
The water source muddy

You said don't plant daisies
They're too brief of a show
We don't care what you think
That's a good thing to no

Ripples in the mirror

Ripples in the mirror
Go away, no nearer
Chaos is much clearer
When contradictions rule

Hating the things we love
Squeezing the peaceful dove
Dance becomes push and shove
To keep a stagnant pool

How could we not have seen

How could we not have seen
This mountain in plain sight
Fearing all the "mind" fields
Staring at feet, not height

In their presence we were
Always on the north side
No sunlight, no passage
Shoulders wider than wide

All these philosophies

All these philosophies
Are not paving the road
Struggles are a struggle
No prince comes from a toad

Understanding the World
Is accepting chaos
So little finds order
Just look at today us

The end of an echo

The end of an echo
Rebounding the last time
Left waiting for faint calls
The next number of prime

Abandoning the hope
Lost wishes in a well
Dreams destined to a dirge
With no tongue in the bell

Our blood type is the same

Our blood type is the same
But what flows through our veins
Has a different name
Each of us answers to

So similar a mate
In both our loves and hate
But the contrast of fate
Will divide me from you

Walked a mile in my shoes

Walked a mile in my shoes
And still no empathy
This is your existence
No understanding me

You help put them back on
And help tie their laces
Then disliked my walking
And beloved places

Emotions like fashion

Emotions like fashion
Should have timeless pieces
And designs discarded
When time and fit ceases

A change of mind can be
Better than scenery
Growth comes from within and
Not in the greenery

Time for the geese to go

Time for the geese to go
Again the winter snow
Reflect on what we know
That wasn't known before

No more the hem and haw
To avoid the cat claw
The lion with the flaw
We've left and close the door

Searching for the abstract

Searching for the abstract
Wanting simplicity
Collecting words like stars
From a far galaxy

But above is the moon
And the clouds and then me
The abstract fades to a
Sense of reality

Here in the Overwhelm

Here in the Overwhelm
In the pinnacle bloom
The essence of living
Like new birth from the womb

Seizing braided threads that
Were once loose and blowing
Holding to the moment
All feeling and knowing

Bring this change of season

Bring this change of season
And look back with reason
This was not treason or
AWOL from petty wars

Never speak my feelings
Hushed without appealings
No to mention kneelings
To cleanse the footprint floors

Always speaking but the

Always speaking but the
Words are never conversed
Is the world ending and
All our futures cursed

Summer peaches are ripe
So why can't we all sit
Because I see the bounty
And all you see is pit

We stood up and just left

We stood up and just left
An alarm to take pause
Empty seats at tables
The absence of applause

Keeping the photographs
But not keeping in touch
We're here to celebrate
But for you, not so much

All these years a bonsai

All these years a bonsai
Longing for an orchard
Producing Life's sweet fruits
Not all  wired or tortured

Yet, it is not too late
Here in this fertile soil
Unbound and branching, I
Can feel my roots uncoil

I am very sorry

I am very sorry
For letting you both go
All the seasons and years
Together toe to toe

My bonsai transplanted
In a field far away
With hopes of growing tall
In a natural way

Again a full circle

Again a full circle
We have been here before
Looking out the windows
With our hands on the door

They say insanity
Is doing the same thing
Expecting new outcomes
We must exit this ring

Another disconnect

Another disconnect
No longer in orbit
The past put in silos
The future we forfeit

Receiving gifts with strings
Bows untying to knots
The haves are truly halves
That half until have nots

Outside the envelope

Outside the envelope
To have broken the seal
Read our letter out loud
To all the World reveal

Pale leaves are turning green
Bonsai roots transplanted
Like crippled Lazarus
Alive and enchanted

A realization

A realization
There is no looking back
It's not a portrayal
But a rope without slack

But why couldn't we see
The wolf in sheep clothing
And the absence of joy
And time spent in loathing

Hereditary gene

Hereditary gene
In the Y chromosome
An oddity in life
Like leprechaun or gnome

Where love of self implodes
Like a black hole in space
Sucking up all matter
Because it can't embrace

This slave is your master

This slave is your master
Servitude dictator
In their generous debt
A true puppet maker

Run as far as we can
Land and heart need distance
Aim arrows long and high
Escaping resistance

Linear tic-tac-toe

Linear tic-tac-toe
All the XXX's and OOO's
No one wins, so let go
Happiness lies ahead

Stop wondering what's wrong
Too many years, too long
Singing the same old song
'Til vocals are just read

In the September light

In the September light
An answer to it all
Nature moving forward
Just let the acorns fall

Planning in the Winter
For planting in the Spring
The losses of summer
And the lessons they bring

We are no longer moons

We are no longer moons
At last we are wild seeds
The landscape before us
Be it orchards or weeds

We hope for the future
As we cope with the days
We enter open doors
And not lock them and braze

No true catastrophe

No true catastrophe

No incident, no crime

So close to the summit

To deviate our climb

Embracing time and change

Fruit ripens, acorns fall

We will find ourselves home

Without building a wall

Reaching the positive

Reaching the positive

Us singing Gloria

Together travelling

To some euphoria

Of pieces and parts that

Are collectively whole

Like a sky full of stars

Or a diamond in coal

Forbidding the past to

Forbidding the past to

Determine direction

Not a rudder, oar, sail

Or future intention

Yet it is not cargo

To be thrown overboard

Becoming an anchor

An umbilical cord

Words I've never chosen

Words I’ve never chosen

Yet meaning understood

Proof we are two branches

From identical wood

Brevity and beauty

Yet nothing eternal

Nor despair and duty

Are a lasting kernal

A gift to the future

A gift to the future
We will never unwrap
A beautiful dream if
Only the world could nap

Unattainable hopes
So worth aspiring to
And each generation
Thinking old thoughts are new

Just because it's broken

Just because it's broken
Do we break it some more
Once irreparable
Destroy or just ignore

Why make smaller pieces
A sense of inspection
Accept that it's broken
And skip the dissection

Not a tree of heaven

Not a tree of heaven
A struggle in the rocks
Or cattle or a bird
Shunning both herds and flocks

Still, here I am fleeting
Even the stars collapse
Importance and a sense
Of survival will lapse

Wisdom anxiety

Wisdom anxiety
To know but can't alter
Watching the mishaps or
The unknowing falter

Failing education
Lack of experience
Brings an impending doom
Without interference

Here's a day of beauty

Here's a day of beauty
News of tension and gore
Summer day with light winds
With terrorism galore

Lounging in the kitchen
When will the kettle boil
Cafes are blown up like
Low hanging fruit to spoil

Anger with absolutes

Anger with absolutes
Full annihilation
Unforgiving wanting
An assassination

Black and white thinking leaves
A checkered view of life
Not all realities
Can be cut by a knife

If and whenever should

If and whenever should
Trees no longer inspire
Or curiosity
Not renew but expire

Forgive me I am gone
Just a shell of the man
That I once was but now
No sign of who I am

Not exotic or rare

Not exotic or rare
Feelings that are cherished
Perhaps they're nothing more
Look everyone has perished

With only this one life
Travelling the narrow
Fearful of conclusion
I'm only a sparrow

No more downy feathers

No more down feathers
Green hardening to wood
The sun no longer high
Holding on like it should

Knowledge and guesses both
Finding posterity
The individual
Locked in celerity

No rainbow wide enough

No rainbow wide enough
Nor cloud covers that far
We share the same moon but
Not the wish on a star

We grapple and grimace
At an unfinished end
Abandoning closure
Of these wounds that won't mend

Trees bear silent witness

Trees bear silent witness
Not coughing alongside
Our congested highways
Stretching from wide to wide

Or asking for water
While collared on sidewalks
Or stranded on islands
In seas of black asphalts

If I had the answers

If I had the answers
And if they dashed all hopes
Still I would unleash them
And ask everyone to cope

We must liberate truth
Put an end to stories
Embrace reality
And all its hard glories

Caught in geography

Caught in geography
Places too far apart
From cities to loved ones
And matters of the heart

Even a plane ride seems
Like a trip to the moon
My pin on the map not
Going anywhere soon

This mundane massacre

This mundane massacre
On battlefields of days
Casualties of efforts
In a cyclical maze

The beauty of flowers
The dominance of trees
Just like us they fall and
In death are truly free

Misshaped and ill equipped

Misshaped and ill equipped

Failing hypothesis

Unsupported theories

Of an apocalypse

Ruin and damnation

Pollution in the mix

How is it possible

Just one man has the fix

Always moving forward

Always moving forward
Not forgetting the past
But recognizing that
It was not meant to last

Hopes and dreams are better
Than the keepsakes we make
Searching, striving, growing
It's the break, not the wake

Into reality

Into reality

And out from the abstract

Reaching finality

By accepting the fact

Just ocean, land and air

Spinning in outer space

No chimney, roof or chair

Or the walls of this place

Between truth and actions

Between truth and actions
Is there disparity
Even with diamonds there's
Some form of clarity

Not so, actions are more
Like flowers on truth's stem
A nature continuum
And not the graded gem

Exhaling to inhale

Exhaling to inhale
Let go, allowing in
Finding life to whistle
Even when air is thin

What is life?  "I don't know."
Moments of time that's ours
With those we love amid
All the countless flowers

Afraid to be one note

Afraid to be one note

No sense of melody

Inprisoned in a cell

Guilt with self-felony

Angered at bravery

That never came to be

Iron-willed and fisted

But surrendering me

Dancing on Lexington

Dancing on Lexington
A rich summer July
The Chrysler a high point
Until a stormy sky

Dropped raindrops and droplets
Flooding the ballroom floor
In the intersection
At fortieth and four

Effortless intellect

Effortless intellect
Emotionally pure
Starving for wholeness and
Stability in blur

Gravitating to a
Simple saturation
Of wisdom and kindness
And love's coronation

Celebrate the basic

Celebrate the basic
And not only the rare
Collecting the common
Simplicity of air

It's not a finial
But a foundation stone
The internal Higg's both
Fundamental and lone

Cloud shadows on treetops

Cloud shadows on treetops
As the hill starts to climb
In one single rhythm
No melody or rhyme

So far from luxury
Back to the organic
Fewer days requiring
A mind or mechanic

The house is now a noun

The house is now a noun
Even the trees are still
Sunrays like stone columns
Across the window sill

Echoes of roars from a
Joyous coliseum
Now sediment on floors
In this mausoleum

Confluence of tunnels

Confluence of tunnels
Forging a single path
Reaching the same number
With such different math

Ancient ruins leveled
Exposing fertile fields
Van Gogh's sower sowing
Our seeds of greater yields

This is about our love

This is about our love
The power of the word
That can make every noun
Turn into every verb

We exchange a symbol
For each of us, a ring
How our lives are more than
A person, place or thing

The random bird in flight

The random bird in flight
In the soft morning light
When the owl says goodnight
The day full of promise

Corners that should be turned
Utopias of yearn
Too many things to learn
Comma after commas

Call it a common thread

Call it a common thread
Or a DNA trace
A same disposition
Or wrinkle in a face

Or twinkle in an eye
The long stride or quick pace
We are a family
Within the human race

Just some derivative

Just some derivative
A mere deviation
Seed from a fruit or a
Grafting propagation

Add a new box to the
Periodic table
Find the chicken or egg
Disprove some false fable

All this talk of lonely

All this talk of lonely
Yet I am not only
No matter how homely
My thoughts look in a dress

Stars looking for a strand
Great oceans bound by land
The fingers find their hand
Universal caress

Seeking higher beauty

Seeking higher beauty
In the muddy mundane
A simple white daisy
In a vast field of grain

Searching inner landscapes
Only finding scorched earth
Sowing foreign seeds in
The genetics of birth

There is no rush of words

There is no rush of words
Such incomplete phrasings
And scattered, detached thoughts
Undigested grazings

Empty periscopes or
Archaeology dig
Perhaps it's time to plant
When there's no sign of sprig

What is left to be said

What is left to be said
In no time, I'll be dead
Here is the Life I led
Expressed in simple verse

I love and love returned
Steady as the World turned
Achieved dreams yet still yearned
Days were without rehearse

A destination lost

A destination lost
On this Final Friday
The impromptu surprise
An evening getaway

We were moved by still lifes
What the artist had shown
Like visiting a tree
In awe of how it's grown

There is no rush of words

There is no rush of words

Such incomplete phrasings

And scattered detached thoughts

Undigested grazings

Empty periscopes or

Archeology dig

Perhaps it's time to plant

When there's no sign of sprig

Allowing exceptions

Allowing exception
Can make the difference
Regardless if it's not
The common preference

Little variations
Makes the world different
And possibilities
Endless and infinite
 

Not mathematical

Not mathematical
Not found in calculus
Or beads on a wire that
Slide on an abacus

There's no equality
Or fabulous balance
No math to speak of in
Affection and talons

Nothing left to be said

Nothing left to be said
The well of words gone dry
Autumn trees, winter fields
Or the moonless night sky

Remnants of my own voice
A chorus, a refrain
Grow paler each echo
Across the same terrain

Born in Marietta

Born in Marietta
Along the Ohio
Moved to White Plains outside
New York City's metro

Then to West Virginia
And Toledo's Northwest
NYC called again
Then Ohio to nest

Another place and time

Another place and time
Completely uprooted
Yet the life we lived there
Cannot be disputed

They say it's another
Chapter or even book
But still from time to time
We go back for a look

Our ancient history

Our ancient history
Written on passing winds
Thoughts have evaporated
Once filling up our brims

The fury and fever
Are now read like cold facts
Both sides surrendering
Under self-imposed pacts

How to add excitement

How to add excitement
Moments without a care
To the disappointments
In our daily despair

Shearing the wooly sheep
Proceed without caution
Racing down avenues
Past complete exhaustion

Like threading a needle

Like threading a needle
It has to be just right
Perfect mathematics
A constant speed of light

Yet love is not a truth
Often the odds defy
The view can't be the same
When staring eye to eye

When the heart is broken

When the heart is broken
It fills with empty words
A hollowness, a hole
A void of any verbs

Yet an apology
Touches deeply, with love,
The bottom of the heart
And overflows above

A caravan of clouds

A caravan of clouds
Is crossing Lake Erie
It's Spring migration though
The warblers are weary

All eyes on the north to
Feel Canadian free
Starting a family
In a red maple tree

Originality

Originality
Inspiration within
Without an influence
Leading to next of kin

A self discovery
Of the essence or core
An ocean odyssey
To untouched fertile shore

I am a butterfly

i am a butterfly
Longing for the cocoon
Bring back January
And not the coming June

The world becomes too wide
Glorious profusion
Gross over abundance
And human intrusion

This abandoned heart will

This abandoned heart will
No longer occupy
Yet ghost gardens still grow
Evidence of the try

The shell of a locust
Skin of an aging snake
A point of no return
Despite longing or ache

Are these eight lines merely

Are these eight lines merely
Long run-on sentences
Of hopeful tomorrows
And past repentences

Scribbled on note paper
In hurried handwriting
And transposed to print like
A rod used for kiting

The magnificent words

The magnificent words
Strung like lights in the dark
Perpetual echoes
The forever, hark hark

Jewels, precious metals
Forming crowns of content
Worn with fluid gowns on
A high throne of intent

To live without master

To live without master
Not slave or consumer
Of wants and dreams like an
Unstoppable tumour

Not driven by the past
Or future hopes or fears
Accepting the risks
Unchartered life careers

Forced to participate

Forced to participate
Technology success
The state of art beauty
Ugliness of progress

The consumption of land
And water full of crud
The misconception of
The World is still a bud

Perfect day to be had

Perfect day to be had
Seize without urgency
Just glide, gallop or skip
Avoid emergency

Find equilibrium
Joy to give and receive
Rally in the moment
We can never retrieve

Not only inspired by

Not only inspired by
Great days of fair weather
Sun drenched or skies tipped with
White clouds of loose feather

A poet is much like
Painters of open air
Resorting to still life
When the sun is not there

Softer than Sandburg's cat

Softer than Sandburg's cat
Perhaps on kitten feet
Fog on Lake Erie and
A silent shipping fleet

Are passing like perfume
My senses once acute
Become fully absorbed
And then render me mute

Are we celebrating

Are we celebrating
Sparklers and confetti
Simplifying our lives
The tangled spaghetti

Exuberant skipping
Not fearing the next step
And only choosing sleep
When exhausted from pep

Never out of focus

Never out of focus
Neither a smear nor smudge
Can blur or erase it
It refuses to budge

Like an afternoon sun
Never giving a break
Or each night a full moon
That forces you to wake

To keep moving forward

To keep moving forward
So much is left behind
Fashion trends and friends of
The most beautiful kind

Inundated with the
Outdated and cliche
There is more in the past
Than in the present day

Apples and oranges

Apples and oranges
Is how the saying goes
Here I am an acorn
For a hip on a rose

It's neither here nor there
DNA rolling dice
An acorn for a hip
A segment for a slice

Better to peruse an

Better to peruse an
Encyclopedia
Than to comment on all
This social media

Seek facts and eloquence
Insults and the profane
Only contribute to
The chaos and insane

Narcissistic mother

Narcissistic mother
Does the devil reside
In your offspring and in
My own poetic pride

Does introspection and
Self-analysis mean
I am like my mother
Beware the mirror gene

Is there nothing left but

Is there nothing left but
Times to commemorate
No foot in the dance to
Exalt and celebrate

Trying to bury hearts
With flowers and no thorns
Weigh facts without judgement
This hung jury still mourns

All for god family

All for god family
The perfection and smile
No sign or mention of
A supposed wrong-turn mile

Stomping on lumpy rugs
Always a slant on slights
Lying that love is blind
So don't turn on the lights

Without the eternal

Without the eternal
Life is without meaning
Rising, standing, walking
Then falling from leaning

The imaginary
Brings some comfort and peace
Unproven illusions
That our time will not cease

Searching for Life's lessons

Searching for Life's lessons
To comprehend or reach
Among the dead light bulbs
I long to find my Nietzsch

At times there's more than a
Solitary answer
Perhaps offspring of a
Superman and dancer

The extraordinary

The extraordinary
Like a butterfly wing
A beautiful design
On a transient thing

Basking in the moment
And not grasping for straws
DNA composure
Born into nature's laws

Mountain meeting mountain

Mountain meeting mountain
Why can't we meet like seas
Two incongruent paths
Find fluidity ease

Shrugged shoulders and crossed arms
No gain or surrender
No future to be had
When all is remember

Just one more syllable

Just one more syllable
Allow me if you please
Like ending a sentence
And letting loose a sneeze

Defy the forty-eight
Besides the rules are mine
And so the exception
This poem has forty-nine

The possibilities

The possibilities
When the canvas is blank
Paint the laws of physics
A circle and line flank

No matter the method
Pen, pencil, paint or chalk
Drawing is simply when
A line goes for a walk

We wild seeds must gather

We wild seeds must gather

Shrug off feeling tortured

By time that escaped us

Let’s welcome this orchard

Like comets travelling

Wanting constellation

The connection starts with

A pull then rotation

The cicadas in us

The cicadas in us

Once dormant are awake

Not an eruption like

Volcanoes or earthquake

Nor the prying of clams

Stealing the pearl inside

Just two planets aligned

Gentling causing a tide

Art in its brevity

Art in its brevity

A moment in suspense

A solitary oak

Far from a forest dense

A basic expression

Without punctuation

An element of thought

With self-explanation

An art without fashion

An art without fashion

Perpetual instant

Forms of embellishment

Simply non-existent

No interpretation

Triangle, circle, square

Revealing the hidden

As obvious as air

To become more flexible

To become more flexible

And not hold a firm stance

Merely step to one side

And engage in a dance

Change posture and placement

See a new point of view

Try on another hat

Or slip on a new shoe

Two prodigal siblings

Two prodigal siblings
Each brings a fattened calf
To celebrate a feast
On each other's behalf

Both rejecting the skew
Alternate the magnets
And let the water flow
Once lazy and stagnant

Here upon us a Spring

Here upon us a Spring
That you will never see
Above you flowers push
And trees begin to leave

The Shakespeare question of
To be or not to be
This Spring the quandary
To celebrate or grieve

Simply spit out this pearl

Simply spit out this pearl

Irritant eviction

Better to be empty

Than polishing friction

Embrace new beginnings

Find a new spot to spawn

Absorb the light of day

Allow the night to dawn

Searching for bravery

Searching for bravery
Must muster some courage
To step into the World
And not be discouraged

Blink and not be blinded
Give but not be given
Somehow find the balance
Drive but not be driven

Before tulips trumpet

Before tulips trumpet
And branches play their strings
Before the unison
The melody that sings

A chaos unfolds like
An orchestra tuning
A sharp, a flat, then key
Full harmonies blooming

Stop the World from knocking

Stop the World from knocking
Push bulbs into the ground
Wind backwards until the
Green willow leaves have browned

Magnolia madness
Forsythia fury
Like overdue letters
Answered in a hurry

To crash before cresting

To crash before cresting
A potential not gained
Perfect verse and chorus
That is never refrained

An achievement with just
One moment of defeat
A flower that fossils
A zenith incomplete

Here we are let's pretend

Here we are let's pretend
We're nowhere near the end
Gardens still left to tend
No wish to disappoint

Struggle to stay on top
Don't halt as others stop
And plant the perfect crop
Assess your vantage point

The empty net again

The empty net again
So far from the first thought
Kneading water like dough
The lessons learned not taught

Swimming in vast oceans
The crowds stay on the beach
I'm treading, not touching
With safety out of reach

The sun sets behind me

The sun sets behind me
Gold and photographic
Black fireworks of birds fly
Free above the traffic

Hinged on a daily life
A box full of matches
Each lighting the next one
Until the door latches

Moonflower in the dark

Once you were Juliet
A Nino Rota rose
Dreamy and meaningful
Both poetry and prose

Alzheimer's erased you
Left nothing, not a mark
And now you bloom like a
Moonflower in the dark

An unopened present

An unopened present
No unwrapping or reveal
The moments left stranded
The emptiness we feel

Days discarded, destroyed
No foundation to build
Nature will come claim us
From the weak to strong-willed

Chin up feeling regal

Chin up feeling regal
Then taken down a peg
Simplicity of Life
Has become a bad egg

Counting moments like each
Penny, shilling, peso
No time to live but then
What the hell do I know

This desire for freedom

This desire for freedom
Only leads to hardship
The cement slabs slowly
Eroding chip by chip

Change is never peaceful
In soil that surely lacks
Like an Ailanthus tree
Growing in sidewalk cracks

No ifs just yes or no

No ifs just yes or no
Ignore options or chance
Find the inner oak that
Holds firmly to its stance

No time for wavering
So cast the final vote
Declare it and cry out
In just a single note

All above are gray clouds

All above are gray clouds
I can't escape below
As I travel this road
Between bookends of snow

So many dreams started
Now wear a strange disguise
Like a new moon concealed
Behind the cloudy skies

Let it happen outside

Let it happen outside
Among the passing crowd
With voices and traffic
And a car honking loud

People going somewhere
How quickly they scurry
And I'm the only one
Not in any hurry

Accept the tragedy

Accept the tragedy
In order to release
The anguish and sadness
So the trouble finds peace

Absorb the darkest truth
Drag it under the light
Prohibit its shadows
Thus reducing its might

My last word will be love

My last word will be love
Not some cryptic sentence
And not my life story
Failures or repentance

Just one word to describe
A radio wave thread
That traveled from our hearts
In space forever wed

Beauty has more chances

Beauty has more chances
To live long and survive
It begs for better care
With the hopes to arrive

Into caring hands to
Be sheltered and nourished
Sad only if it fails
Recalling it when it flourished

Gripping the evergreen

Gripping the evergreen
With my branches of oak
Both want and jealousy
Of luxury when broke

From season to season
Many difficult times
Bountiful and then bare
Descending then more climbs

Here in January

Here in January
A day that hints of Spring
As if February
Or March could never bring

The Arctic air or snow
Or blizzard conditions
Yet today feels like Spring
A juxtaposition

Loathing the majestic

Loathing the majestic

Wanting a Rothko scene

Roadway, cornfield and sky

Guard rails and trees between

Or sand, oceans and clouds

Thin waves crashing ashore

The other in between

A setting sun once more

Letters of engagement

Letters of engagement
Affection at distance
Yet close proximity
Is met with resistance

Just like the saying goes
About the fonder heart
Always growing stronger
When they're farther apart

Here at the start of Spring

Here at the start of Spring

The Icarus in me

Pivots towards the light

Like the leaves on a tree

Above the freezing mark

Snow shrinking on the lawn

Soon crocuses will rise

The initial Spring pawn

Our Sunday best and whales

Our Sunday best and whales

The film superimposed

In between waving hands

A dorsal fin has nosed

Too young to understand

That stars never twinkle

The fabric of our lives

Cannot be unwrinkled

Reality is not

Reality is not
Some form of invention
It's uncontrollable
With mere intervention

It's sloppy and cruel
Yet its errors precise
Both beauty and chaos
Stars thrown like they are dice

Past the center of mass

Past the center of mass
What we see becomes saw
The process of aging
Time and nature's one law

Yet no want of return
Spring and Winters old
There is yet a future
With petals to unfold

The grandest of hopes lie

The grandest of hopes lie
Lifeless in a prison
Never having freedom
Like light through a prism

Waiting to be buried
In a stoneless graveyard
They cannot exist when
Reality is marred

Surrender my future

Surrender my fortune
And give up my good name
Forsaking the future
For a moment, the same

Breathe light into darkness
The two of us as one
These fractions forever
Not loose pieces, a sum