Learning from the valleys

Learning from the valleys
Layers of sediment
And the low lying fog
Repeated regiment

Answers hanging like fruit
But forbidden to eat
But an apple a day
Keeps the crazy away

Here in the long shadows

Here in the long shadows

Pulling on brevity

Finding too many words 

To write a melody

Grasping for details, big

Picture out of focus

Clamoring for reasons

Or some hocus pocus

Someday this nothing day

Someday this nothing day
Full of the unfulfilled
Will be a treasure chest
With all its contents spilled

Cumulus clouds in a
Culminating sunset
And traffic cars caught in
A tangled highway net

In beautiful coral

In beautiful coral
With the world Christmas groomed
Last week, a clematis
Outside your window bloomed

Someone who was lovely
Reached out to kiss my hands
Soon the bells will ring, but
No more days, nights or ands

You are gone, everyday

You are gone, everyday
Adds to yesterday's height
Some tree leaves won't fall, stuck
Like starlings in fixed flight

Not clinging to places
Each one, a slipping shawl
Life's ornaments fall from
The bough, cradle and all

Survivor not victim

Survivor not victim
Ability to heal
And not bruise like a peach
Thicker rind, harder peel

Share the experience
Even after the scab
Never forgetting but
Not reliving the stab

In all this persistence

In all this persistence
A sense of withdrawal
Off the path, quit the race
Not look at tomorrow

Not see the human race
In nature find solace
And accept the knowledge
That no one is flawless

Let us cross the threshold

Let us cross the threshold

Without bags of anger 

And bloom in the sunlight

Far from present danger 

In the psychedelic 

On stems of stamina 

Rejoice freedom beneath 

Stars of Andromeda 

When is enough enough

When is enough enough

Analyzing the crack 

The earthquake eruption 

The plates not going back 

Can we shape our future 

We are not made of stone 

Not let PTSD

Be marrow in our bone

What is our mission here

What is our mission here

Love and improve, not hurt

Ourselves and all others

Before the toss of dirt

No me, myself and I 

Not table chair, a bench

What is a helping hand

Pot and pan, hammer, wrench

Weather universal

Weather universal
But not the storms inside
A gold fish bowl heart or
Water not purified

Comfort found in sharing
Can clear the storms so skies
Have beautiful sunlight
Or starry emphasize

Cerebral replacing

Cerebral replacing
Emotions once so raw
Like using equations
To sketch, doodle or draw

Organizing my thoughts
Is this wisdom or wise
There's new understanding
Shared with each pair of eyes

This object holds feelings

This object holds feelings
Once a foundation stone
Is now a skipping rock
Sinking after it's thrown

Dining table for one
A balcony of fools
Cannibal suffering
From bulimia rules

Early years, splintered wood

Early years, splintered wood
No opportune to branch
Up from the roots, phoenix
Unbridled horse, no ranch

In helium of air
Success is survival
Wrenches thrown in engines
Will impede arrival

In this mica moment

In this mica moment
Grease splatter of Hubble
In the magnificent
Not a cent of trouble

There was a Cape Cod home
A green roof with shutters
A kitchen radio
A sunroom of clutters

A fellowship of one

A fellowship of one
An albino four leaf
Singularity yet
A knife inside a sheath

Part DNA and part
Invention, built with tools
With emotional cliffs
Dives into unknown pools

At this moment breathing

At this moment breathing
Just as you breathe these words
In these city lights, where
Are all the sleeping birds

Like past generations
Just names, dates and places
Is this touching you or
Expressionless faces

Adieu gray elephants

Adieu gray elephants
Apes and giraffes, goodbye
It is such a zoo here
You cannot keep alive

Tyrannosaurus snake
And Antelopes rex
Clearly these will be the
Newest dinosaurs next

Can we sever the past

Can we sever the past
Only see far ahead
Outgrow our habits and
Layers of ourselves shed

Allow ourselves to change
Weather all the whethers
Find metamorphism
From fish scales to feathers

In the chaos was us

In the chaos was us
Fewer words to discuss
Always making a fuss
When we wouldn't behave

All of it was petty
The swinging machete
Making us confetti
But we refused the shave

So this is the future

So this is the future
That crawled here for so long
Its blossom before us
Celebrating its song

It played a quarter note
And then it aged too fast
It went quickly away
Our memory must last

We all venture forth with

We all venture forth with
A little certainty
A plan, a hope, a dream
A sense of urgency

Still there's always something
Daily emergency
That disturbs the peaceful
Walk in Life purposely

New knowledge is not the

New knowledge is not the
Same as new direction
Can we alter ourselves
New seed propagation

A patchwork of foreign
Thinking and emotions
Adopting a language
And series of motions

The World Trade Centers fell

The World Trade Centers fell
The everyday person
Smoke dissipated but
The tragedy worsened

Years of ripple effect
New generations born
Without any knowledge
Of before it was torn

Always well intentioned

Always well intentioned
Yet missing the mark
Aiming for the stars but
They're just shots in the dark

Not smelling the roses
Checking each i and t
Chasing desires of those
Who can't sleep for the pea

Boxing injustices

Boxing injustices
Empathy and anger
An unfeeling person
Is my only stranger

Living transparencies
Spirits that overflow
Into one another
Except those that say no

Plateaus are elusive

Plateaus are elusive
The extinction of norms
Triangle, circle, square
Are not the present forms

Trails on a precipice
Movements can be fatal
Yet a fall down could be
A return to natal

Not at the beginning

Not at the beginning 

The owl on my shoulder

Still wading in lessons

To learn when I'm older

On a trajectory 

Whisper becoming shout 

Seeking a lullaby

Cymbals and drums drown out

Is this my Both Sides Now

Is this my Both Sides Now

Today my tide is out

Once flooded and thirsty

Now, empty shells about

Beyond introspection

The humanity net

Walking the ocean floor

This time not getting wet

In the denseness of days

In the denseness of days
And short circuiting nights
Finding a perspective
To minimize my plight

Smiling with Down’s Syndrome
Or facing some folly
The impaired crossing streets
Cancels melancholy

Past, present and future

Past, present and future
Photographs, distant parts
Holding hands this moment
Seeking Hope in our hearts

Racing for the tassels, yet
Knowing the eternal
Will bring a dark abyss
To grind down our kernel

Looking for the commas

Looking for the commas
To make sense of the mess
Too much information
Not progress but digress

How to connect the dots
Create constellations
Simplicity of stars
Circumvent frustration

Cutting down the forest

Cutting down the forest
To plant a row of trees
Organizing the wild
Passion just to self-please

Losing the organic
Not letting nature change
The upkeep exhausting
For gardens on the range

Breaking the breakers or

Breaking the breakers or

Gravitational pull 

Releasing the anchor 

And the moon that is full 

Freedom is a frontier 

Uncharted and diverse 

It is abstract and wild 

And not measured in verse 

With empathy, with love

With empathy, with love
Feeling another's chords
Allow their overflow
To flood your own accords

Dip your brush in their paint
Entwine a common thread
Shout their joy, bleed sadness
Add seating to your head

This rain does not cleanse me

This rain does not cleanse me

Wanting pure nests of snow

Aging with my regrets

Seeking past tense of go

Craving the curvatures

Land, the sky, a Life's path

We thread but one needle

In this infinite math

This tree will outlive me

This tree will outlive me
But it will not outlive
All is slowly reaching
The bottom of the sieve

Beautiful morning and
Tomorrow morning, too
Regardless, no matter,
Whatever, then adieu

In the port of Point B

In the port of Point B
The boat is small to C
Baggage and cargo from
A can no longer be

Discard, making debris
Needing to stay afloat
Transition to future
Without anchors to tote

In the petty wars of

In the petty wars of
Narcissistic abuse
Walking on eggshells to
Avoid the necklace noose

Mount Rushmore river rock
Crazy Horse Monument
Running in a crazy
Horse derby tournament

Lines of impulse, intent

Lines of impulse, intent
Calculated or coarse
Secrets, a hush or sigh
Shouts of matter of course

In the past or moment
Eternal albatross
Or the albino moose
Sometimes, the paper toss

Lack of an alphabet

Lack of an alphabet
Without musical notes
No rhythm of movement
Or colors of paint coats

The World wearing its souls
Around it’s neck a clasp
Of moon and wished on stars
Heavy with hopes that lapse

Here in darkness ignite

Here in darkness ignite
Tulip cup, buttercup
Under pressure in coal
No left, right, down or up

No dividing zero
Original as pi
In the universe and
Not merely beneath sky

Prejudice religion

Prejudice religion
Gender, race and then gods
Sins and salvations held
By the various rods

All of this DNA
Tribe pitted against tribe
Disrespecting feelings
Of self value and pride

How would we live our years

How would we live our years
If we had known of this
The destructive ones with
The narcissistic kiss

Wiser perhaps stronger
Early journeys to path
Fewer cloudy days and
More joyous without wrath

Reversing the shredding

Reversing the shredding
Finding Truth not my own
Forgiving, forgetting
Dropping rocks never thrown

Choosing to grow flowers
Throw seeds and nurture sprouts
A dense variety
That chokes out all the doubts

This thought like a splinter

This thought like a splinter
May as well be lightning
I stand, a single tree
Seeking the enlightening

Soul out in a clearing
Wanting space, instead struck
The search for an answer
A splinter that is stuck

Born into gravity

Born into gravity
Bearing a camel's hump
An unloving mother
A passive father lump

Trekking without water
Chasing their oasis
Always the end result
Spitting in their faces

Midday melancholy

Midday melancholy
Accomplishments delayed
Checker board now chess board
The plank must be inlaid

Graduation to grace
Anoint me Big Dipper
Find a stern happiness
The ironclad slipper

The tip of the iceberg

The tip of the iceberg
The moment at this now
So much Life beneath me
Explains the reason how

Life goes by in a blink
My eyes always squinting
Open the aperture
With no thought of wincing

Inching near the abstract

Inching near the abstract
Losing the match and gas
Dropping the flintstone and
The magnifying glass

A buffalo nickel
To a cashier, five cents
To not know its value
Is the greatest expense

We are blooming and not

We are blooming and not
In some darkness or shade
Here in the open air
This is how we were made

Opening sunflowers
Branching out into space
Standing tall in bright light
From our tips to our base

Agonizing details

Agonizing details
Surgical precision
In the end, meaningless
A pointless incision

Asking reality
To find the back burner
Allowing dreamers to
Become a self-learner

Where do our dreams go that

Where do our dreams go that
Meant more than anything
Unkept promises to
Ourselves that didn't sing

Having to stare hard at
Trivial things at most
Cheering small successes
Knowing the dreams are toast

Not Life of pure wood grain

Not Life of pure wood grain
Many knots in the wood
Branches bold and broken
The continuous could

Markers, forks in the road
Extensions of the self
Now planed and varnished and
Repurposed as a shelf

In triangular time

In triangular time
What has, what is, what will
Seeking a sense of pi
Past a chipped windowsill

Bodies falling apart
Tulips and peonies
Basking and then bursting
Life’s aging injuries

I am my child’s adult

I am my child’s adult
Product of my own youth
My second set of teeth
After each missing tooth

The flower on the stem
A fall blooming aster
Coming into my own
Being my own master

Matches without a fire

Matches without a fire
Without flames or a blaze
Wandering lightning bugs
In twilight’s purple haze

Gather the pine needles
Unravel the sewn quilt
Pile on the syllables
Of words that Life has built

This is not an echo

This is not an echo
A tide returning back
The light on the moon that
Would otherwise be black

It has the strength of thread
Holding buttons to cloth
Viscosity of glass
Changing slowly as sloth

In decimal places

In decimal places
Urging for completion
The abstract washed ashore
Survival’s secretion

Simplicity of space
Environmental one note
But fearing the pasture
And nothing left to wrote

Inside these rail fences

Inside these rail fences
The wild cannot be tamed
The spirit of the Art
Outside the picture frame

In the rigid routine
In the sameness of day
The progress of the stars
Beyond the Milky Way

Approaching a frontier

Approaching a frontier

No chicken and no egg

No fruit, or seed, nor root

Without a stem or leg

A cloud from the ethers

A belief in a nod

Creating in darkness

Without a sense or God

A century of life

A century of life

Seasons blooming, sweet fall

Winters of wonderment

Summers of great recall

Love and contentment with

Fads and fashion flashing

And after all these years

Look who still looks smashing

Accidental future

Accidental future
Destination mishap
Is mere discovery
Than a loud thunderclap

An unmarked entry to
A world both fresh and new
A new landscape, new sky
A newer shade of blue

From an older poem

All that I have witnessed
And never once arrived
From faulty to perfection
And in between derived

A concrete conclusion
Where nothing really grows
So truly, what is Life
I conclude no one knows

Choosing to ignore can

Choosing to ignore can
Be the same as neglect
Not participating
And only to reflect

Glossing over subjects
No hug, no helping hand
Not asking questions or
Trying to understand

Not a sense of maybe

Not a sense of maybe
Find the affirmative
We cannot have madness
All of us have to live

Marginalization
Or living on the berm
Is unacceptable
The answer yes if firm

Why prove this once again

Why prove this once again
The equal sign the same
Crazy is still crazy
No matter what the name

But a rose is a rose
So why not stop and smell
Prove the better good than
Keep finding there’s a hell

Willing to change myself

Willing to change myself

Replace parts or upgrade 

Look at a piece of art 

Question the intent made

See people’s points of view 

Maybe alter my stance 

Open my heart so wide

To surrender to chance

So much trepidation

So much trepidation
Terrarium lifestyle
An orchid, not an oak
A spring and not The Nile

Bravery in thinking
Actions do not follow
Chewing thirty-two times
Before every swallow

The loss of my siblings

The loss of my siblings
The algae bloom, red tide
The past, our youth and love
All gone by the wayside

Lack of sincerity
Sharing a minimum
Not seeing eye to eye
Their time a premium

Autumn wakes up early

Autumn wakes up early
Sleeps in the afternoon
When summer is playing
Its dissipating tune

Jazz players are leaving
The last snares of the drum
The violins are here
No conductor, just hum

This is about blue sky

This is about blue sky 

About flowers that die

As clouds keep passing by 

The heart so wide it breaks

So little is pristine 

Yet beauty in between 

Creates the perfect seam

Like crests above the wakes

This, our solemn duty

This, our solemn duty
To find humanity
And find ourselves briefly
In this eternity

And in this solemness
The impressionist paint
Realism, abstract
All loud sounds will grow faint

Is this just residue

Is this just residue
Surely not a statue
Is it timeless yet new
Or holding onto straws

There's less sand in the hand
And more to understand
Can smaller things be grand
The Overwhelm, the pause

To go the full distance

To go the full distance
Even if its an inch
Success is the same for
Leaps and bounds or a pinch

The great ability
To change from within
Even if the contrast
Is only paper thin

The riddle has been solved

The riddle has been solved
The equation unknowns
Were not calculated
But turned over like stones

And stones are exactly
Precisely what they are
Can't change and only fall
Can't climb towards a star

Without repetition

Without repetition
Can the future avoid blight
Can mistakes from the past
Again never see light

Is forgiveness still green
It can't root in cement
We must care for its hope
Remember its intent

Individualist

Individualist
Early age announcement
Understood its meaning
Stronger each pronouncement

But not without struggle
Battles against the norm
Surrounded by noise, no
Quiet before the storm

Thinking about today

Thinking about today
Tomorrow, as they say
Arrives without delay
Forever, far too long

Flowers do not compete
They sense their own complete
No kissing of the feet
Just a sense of belong

Long after orchard blooms

Long after orchards bloom
The corn reaching tassel
When summer becomes a
Fall's reluctant vassal

Morning moisture making
The green even greener
And then the sun appears
With its rays now leaner

This is my Hejira

This is my Hejira
The heavens and highways
Chasing horizons and
Exploring the byways

Dotting i's, crossing t's
Stopping the tic tac toes
Seeking self-improvement
A blue sky with black crows

I am not a victim

I am not a victim
And not somewhat naive
Or vulnerable, I'm
Just seeking a reprieve

I'm a dreamer who dreams
Regardless of my state
Schooner or battleship
Perseverence my fate

Overly sensitive

Overly sensitive
Or just merely acute
See the crown of an oak
But consider its root

The problem before us
Did not just manifest
Layers of sediment
Years and years of unrest

Approaching the harvest

Approaching the harvest
Early morning fog rests
Between shrugging hillsides
Trees on a landscape crest

Cool air seizing summer
Whispers of winter chill
Birds migrating south with
Cardinals staying still

It is more than ocean

It is more than ocean
Far greater than a storm
Or earthquake eruption
Or infestation swarm

It is an inhale from
Another direction
It is a step forward
Self-progress invention

As if words don't matter

As if words don't matter
No more the perfect phrase
Stars are stars, skies are skies
Cliches are just cliches

No mastery or art
Just simple thoughts and love
No building blocks, roads or
Desires to speak of

In the middle of day

In the middle of day
Only halfway to There
Beneath storm clouds passing
But not a drop to share

In this current crevice
The abstract found order
Breaking the surface left
It held at the border

Looking for the heartbreak

Looking for the heartbreak
But finding common sense
Seeing how pieces fall
Restructuring past tense

Unable to reason
Learning to shake the mood
All happy lights are green
It's pointless then to brood

Ending wishing it had

Ending wishing it had
No beginning, no start
Present stagnation leaves
A block of time, no heart

To raise my hands up and
Pull the dark clouds apart
In the light blue of grace
Find my own star to chart

Asking myself for Truth

Asking myself for Truth
Actions far from the root
Digging deep in darkness
To become self-astute

Looking to understand
To feel as others do
To open up my World
To all and not the few

Making the coarse smooth

Making the coarse smoother
In this effort to glide
A waxed wing, the white swan
Or the slow waltzing bride

Wanting the course smoother
Paving less traveled roads
Building a lighthouse for
Face recognition crows

Enough enough enough

Enough enough enough
Always the same old stuff
Becoming rough and tough
Fighting back and grinning

Must dance before the dirge
Press on and find the urge
Before the final purge
And the world keeps spinning

And so the letting go

And so the letting go
Irretrievable past
The child like melting snow
Years that happened too fast

Loved ones who didn't love
And those that did and went
Losing the nothingness
Tall stem but flowers spent

This hesitating Life

This hesitating Life
Is finding a strong push
Self-acceleration
Like a riptide, a whoosh

Momentum to reach flight
A greater perspective
Able to assess course
For the best objective

There's no starting over

There's no starting over
But there is a clean break
The bonsai transplanted
Doesn't have to eat cake

Allowing the branches
To grow out as they may
Thinking out loud without
Editing what to say

Forget bloody battles

Forget bloody battles
Every small surrender
Or minor victories
We need not remember

Only cheer the outcome
Indeed the war was won
Recall only reasons
Of why it had begun

We are still learning with

We are still learning with
Inspect and introspect
Fixing flaws, building walls
Survival and protect

We are children at heart
But the mind must oversee
Horizons are hiding
Great possibilities

So we start the demise

So we start the demise
The decaying of We
A limp, the heart or eyes
The replacement of knee

We are trudging in time
Or tripping on the coil
We are the next in line
To end up in the soil

In the face of Final

In the face of Final
We are the wilder bloom
Embracing happiness
Despite the facts that loom

Celebration climate
Environmental Joy
In open air and light
We're the real McCoy

Racing to the finish

Racing to the finish
Until no tomorrows
These emphemera days
Living on our laurels

Yet sacrifices and
Suffering, roads unpaved
Both luxury and not
Both pampered and enslaved

Broken limbs, bent flowers

Broken limbs, bent flowers

Perennials have roots

Storms, havoc and chaos 

The trivial disputes 

Recovering, healing

The scabs are coming loose

No more the tic-tac-toe

XO or duck duck goose 

Sidelined by circumstance

Sidelined by circumstance
The mere shuffle of cards
The random origin
Without any regards

The rock in the rapids
The deceptive unknown
Seeing the harvest it
Would have never been sown

In these useless events

In these useless events
Ant hills and not mole hills
The successful attempts
And the repetitive spills

Towering sequoia
And the daily grappling
Realization of
We are merely sapling

Your dreams are my dreams and

Your dreams are my dreams and
The opposite is true
When we wade in sorrows
We share a common blue

My weaknesses, your strengths
Sometimes I carry you
A valley, a mountain
Both have a point of view

There are no weather breaks

There are no weather breaks
Time is never broken
Words that are never said
Are thoughts left unspoken

The hearts we cannot reach
The hands we cannot touch
Life has just one stop that
Results in not so much

There are races to start

There are races to start
The getting of a goal
The setting of a pace
The widening of soul

There are finish lines we
Have to let ourselves cross
No perching on fence posts
And no victories to toss

Holding onto last hopes

Holding onto last hopes
With a fingertip grip
With eyes still focused as
The hold begins to slip

Beyond the point of no
Return without regret
Understanding full well
The climb without a net

After the emotions

After the emotions
The snagging of the thread
The ocean floor settles
The open heart has bled

Healing becomes foremost
Righteousness or regret
Learning and acceptance
Forgiveness and forget

Cannibalistic you

Cannibalistic you
Our sources now removed
Are you starving to death
Have your bowels not moved

Victim and attacker
Damaged heart grows colder
Both salt on the wound and
A shake past the shoulder

On an empty ocean

On an empty ocean

Without a crested wave

Words are flailing, failing

Above their water grave

Here in a Rothko space

Between blue colored blocks

Between magnetic poles

No islands, shores or docks

Endangering but wise

Endangering but wise
An answer to the cries
A chosen leader lies
And hypocrites follow

The initial demise
We can't compromise
Truth is where futures lies
We must fight not wallow

There’s a sadness to Spring

There’s a sadness to Spring
Time to leave things behind
Corners turn, doors closing
Out of sight, out of mind

In the act of reaching
There’s the need to let go
In the loud cry of yes
There’s a small whisper no

Empath melancholy

Empath melancholy
It’s as if I’m a ghost
The World is washing up
And eroding my coast

In the forest of trees
Or city skyscrapers
I am retreating to
Yards and yards of paper

Days and dreams as big as

Days and dreams as big as

A cloud, a sea, a sky

Our thoughts as far as stars

Hearts caught in hi's and bye's

Beaming with happiness

Bright as the sun is lit

And Love, greater than life

Which is only a flit

Inside, the ghost of me

Inside, the ghost of me
Melancholy empath
Unable to rejoice
Tired of the long warpath

My heart on an axis
It's turning with the world
The hope and suffering
The aged and the curled

Agonizing over

Agonizing over
Fractions and particles
The perfect adjectives
Phrases or articles

Like a good carpenter
Always measuring twice
Nothing written by chance
Or the throwing of dice

Significant to you

Significant to you
Your dreams live on treetops
We are common in Hope
The climbing never stops

I will spot you should you
Ever fall to the ground
I will cheer "go higher"
Your success can be found

Significant to me

Significant to me
A memory, a charm
A trinket that's timeless
A perpetual farm

A fixed cloud in the sky
A thought that never leaves
Here as long as I'm here
Until the last breath heaves

Do I feel more than you

Do I feel more than you
What color is your blue
Are both of our truths true
This is the state we're in

I give you back your shoes
The miles of avenues
Always seeing your views
I now feel my own skin

In this twilight moment

In this twilight moment
Thoughts pass through a prism
In the broken beauty
Once held like a prison

There in the "in between"
Like spaces between words
The pause in openness
The release of white birds

My heart is not in it

My heart is not in it
It's escaped to the cold
Warm words and warm wishes
Seem meaningless and old

It's preserving itself
A tulip bulb hiding
Wanting to bloom again
If weather abiding

We will always find us

We will always find us
Two roads intersecting
Braiding like DNA
Building blocks connecting

Tied to the past but our
Future, we are weaving
Our threads intertwining
Each of us receiving

Returning from anger

Returning from anger
Both ashes and charred wood
The heat of emotions
The shoulda, woulda, could

Finding fluidity
Not wanting to relive
Taking in air without
Combustion combative

Trying to heal myself

Trying to heal myself
Analyzing events
The things I could have done
Or tried to circumvent

Wanting to be better
Hope for a higher plane
Walking proud and upright
Without the crooked cane

Wave curling or fern frond

Wave curling or fern frond
Inhaling or exhale
Pressured coal or tree ring
Paper funnel or braille

Outward pass the border
Darkness between two knowns
Forging towards the future
Love not hate, stems not stones

Pushing a shopping cart

Pushing a shopping cart
Across a large sand dune
We would be better to
Pull the front, change our tune

A camel in the eye
Of a needle gets through
But it's better to pull
Smoke up the chimney flue

Dashing from here to there

Dashing from here to there
And then from sun to sun
Wrapping ourselves up in
Each season's turn at fun

Remembering both storms
And wide open blue sky
But a cloud just passing
Is here and then goodbye

Religion is the same

Religion is the same
As prejudice and hate
It preaches love and life
And heaven a pure state

The faithful are making
Diversity a joke
It's easy to see that
All trees are not an oak

Observing in silence

Observing in silence
No participation
Not the falling rain but
The evaporation

Seeing mental landscapes
Tending gardens of thought
Planting vines and seedlings
Learning what can’t be taught

The butterfly or moth

The butterfly or moth
Does not keep the cocoon
They do not hold it close
Gravitational moon

Are we wise to leave youth
Should it be a discard
Do we outgrow ourselves
A swing set in the yard

In your past paradise

In your past paradise
This Garden of Eden
Described as perfection
Nothing else comes even

Abandoned, forgotten
For some higher levels
A heaven penthouse when
Paradise dishevels

I am not a victim

I am not a victim
Removing the arrow
Not allowing further
Cutting of my marrow

Analyzing the fight
Learning my lessons well
Taking the road that leads
Out of this living hell

Exit this episode

Exit this episode
The answers are the same
Every question leads us
To the fixed picture frame

We’ve increased awareness
Added to our toolbox
Outside lies happiness
Fluidity not rocks

Denying tomorrow

Denying tomorrow
From Kate Spade to Bourdain
Not wondering if it
Will be sunshine or rain

Declining the moment
To proceed to the next
In its simplicity
It completes the complex

Not all rainstorms are sad

Not all rainstorms are sad
Their droplets are not tears
Or lightning and thunder
Both provoking great fears

Puddles become bird baths
And landscapes a deep green
Worms wiggle out wading
On sidewalks to get clean

From an older poem

I am living my words
So why the need to write
I am seizing the day
But want to dream at night

This record is of me
A portion for the page
I will grow old and die
But my words will still age

From an older poem

Where will autumn find us
It's not finding us here
Somewhere in two houses
So close but not so near

Will it find us walking
Between the yours and mine
Dissipating distance
And wishing for the bind

From an older poem

Our childhood is older
It's relevance is faint
The future without frame
A canvas without paint

We can still reminisce
But it's left us like sound
The childhood chorus is
An echo on rebound

From an older poem

Let us go here to there
Always, we must arrive
Movement keeps us going
And says we are alive

Don't walk with us slowly
We're not a candlelight
The rush of air beneath
Gives power to our flight

From an older poem

Be a patient painter
Small details are power
Let the World keep waiting
So much time to devour

In Life there is slow work
Most cannot comprehend
Awed only when lightning
Strikes an old tree to end

From an older poem

The cruel, the gentle
The open hand or fist
Volcanoes are sleeping
And silver clouds can twist

My trust in us broken
A love without a bridge
Plates of Earth shifting we're
Divided by a ridge

From an older poem

Little is surviving
Museums are finite
The printed page can go
Forever without light

So we're left with living
The joys and the sorrow
These couple dozen words
May not see tomorrow

From an older poem

Feeling defeated in
My corner of the World
Even when nothing here
Is wrong, it's flag unfurls

Walking into punches
Accepting less and loss
The tapping at my door
To knock me out and toss

Feeling more courageous

Feeling more courageous
Cumulus clouds of thoughts
Once like small paper whites
Or confetti of naughts

Like blooming on new wood
Each Spring a bright new green
Travelling so far off
The road to find pristine

There is too much hatred

There is too much hatred
Dislike a driving force
Persecution pervades
Language becoming coarse

Liars lying loudly
Believers brought in tow
On a course of discourse
Where kindness cannot grow

The end justifies the

The end justifies the
Mean, cruel-nature heart
Superiority
Falsely sets them apart

Better at deceiving
Lying to get their way
Gerrymandering so
Others can have no say

Here's our revolution

Here's our revolution
It's about evolution
And the dissolution
Of purity in race

We can't pride DNA
No matter what they say
There's greatness on its way
For mankind is our race

Happiness is a youth

Happiness is a youth

At the start of each day

It is old age at night

When wisdom hits the hay

It is Life in between
Understanding others
It's walking together
Should we have the druthers

We never petitioned

We never petitioned
Who we are invited
The robber, the taker
Who can't be indicted

Our open book unread
But surely edited
We're positive of Truth
You'll speak the negative

Interruption of Life

Interruption of Life
In living as designed
A host to the culprit
Winter creeper vined

Loving the liberty
An afternoon lazy
Thoughts grow strong as an oak
Brighter than a daisy

Are you starving to death

Are you starving to death
Searching for the next meal
Just wanting to be fed
By those willing to kneel

A queen of the jungle
In chaotic repose
Cannot be the ruler
Of people who oppose

No justification

No justification
The anger unfounded
We who have empathy
Are truly confounded

We understand feelings
And we look for root cause
But why all the anger
It has given us pause

Here after the escape

Here after the escape
The future opens wide
Red Sea parting or the
Continental divide

Poised with purpose and joy
Blank canvas or clean slate
Even if there is void
It's a happier state

Each other's witness of

Each other's witness of
The passing of events
Twenty-twenty vision
Counter acting invents

We hold the flag of truth
We love ourselves and such
We cannot be broken
By someone out of touch

Up with the great heron

Up with the great heron
The morning round begins
The internal clock ticks
The DNA within

The rising sun awakes
While the clouds still slumber
As the great heron flies
Single in its number

Emotional grace can

Emotional grace can
Make the abstract a line
The description simple
The unadorned define

The complex equation
Derivative, divide
Are absent and useless
And cannot be applied

How did we arrive here

How did we arrive here
Looking back at the road
We bloomed in the desert
And in darkness we glowed

Floating in flood waters
And dancing in the breeze
In the company of
Cold hearts - we didn't freeze

Can we find our freedom

Can we find our freedom
Void of past and regrets
Peaceful waters after
The forgives and forgets

Out from the tragedy
Does hurt ever recede
When you can still feel the
Pain long after the bleed

We are no longer prey

We are no longer prey
Once mere rabbits, now owls
This is not surrender though
We've thrown in the towels

To have not chosen war
The wisest maneuver
To rise above, transcend
Where we can't smell manure

Resurrecting the past

Resurrecting the past

With a critical eye

Deserving of answers 

That could never comply

Knowing the truth and not

The perpetual lie

We wrangled its future

And its don of disguise

It was always that way

It was always that way
How I missed the markers
Clearly on the road with
The Barrows and Barkers

All the intersections
Left waiting for the light
With patience and silence
Not putting up a fight

Looking far past myself

Looking far past myself
To lose the sense of me
A tree in the forest
Above the canopy

In the ether of dreams
Mankind wanting kindness
In order to arrive
Justice must have blindness

Sometimes it is soft words

Sometimes it is soft words
That strike the hardest blow
They are not tidal waves
But a strong undertow

To find myself fighting
An invisible force
The pulling of center
A top spinning off course

Life for some shallow words

Life for some shallow words
What’s up? Nothing much here.
Got nothing—then something
Is obviously clear

Life for some nothing words
Your life or some other
Disconnect or reject
Think child, father, mother

Perhaps this is nothing

Perhaps this is nothing
Stars thrown about like dust
Our hearts weighted by the
Inevitable must

Hitchhiking ideas
Or is it rule of thumb
Feeling none the wiser
Yet standing here more plumb

Wiser now warrior

Wiser now warrior
Learned, ready to battle
Fight for rights and conquer
Drop the baby rattle

These rampant opinions
Rooted in fear, disgust
When it affects them not
So declare war, a must

Woman in a head scarf

Woman in a head scarf
Driving close to the wheel
Too slow and too cautious
But think how she may feel

Strange land and strange highway
A first day on the job
We never know and can’t
Know the whole shish kebab

This water is truly

This water is truly
Deep and not full of mud
Its meaning, crystal clear
Lake Tahoe, void of crud

Not a sunflower shell
Hard to crack, little gain
It is an oasis
Across a bleak terrain

As we venture out on

As we venture out on
The seas of contentment
Selfish with our feelings
Expelling resentment

Not keeping safe harbor
For pirates of Being
Recognizing ourselves
And love what we’re seeing

In all the chaos we

In all the chaos we
On wild life lines connect
To have, to hold, to love
And to cherish, protect

No more permitting wind
Or our whims to decide
We shared in our course and
Lives after the collide

We are verbs, you and I

We are verbs, you and I
Fluid in the present
Both tide and waves, gentle
And crashing incessant

Crowning each other’s hearts
Uplifting the peasant
And finding common ground
Full moon or the crescent

The lit match has been spent

The lit match has been spent
Creating a new fire
Tossing the useless bent
Raising a taller spire

Finding a greater love
In self and in others
Open the heart wide to
Include without druthers

Being more me than me

Being more me than me
Abandoning a curve
Having turned a corner
So hard it's not a swerve

Leaving a former self
Allowing greater me
New ways of expressing
Fresh vocabulary

We are. Simple enough.

We are.  Simple enough.
Cause for celebration
Too much of our lives in
Sibling arbitration

Parental piranhas
A picnicking coven
Like Hansel and Gretal
Shoved into an oven

Kept safe in a cocoon

Kept safe in a cocoon
Falsely lit like the moon
Singing to the same tune
Where in the song is Me

Making many mistakes
Minor or hit the breaks
Still trying for Christ sake
Always striving for We

Wanting invitation

Wanting invitation
To join the human race
Yet satisfied in this
Uninterrupted grace

But imagine arms locked
Celebrating the day
My heart in their hearts and
Our hearts together sway

Right now, was your thirst quenched

Right now, was your thirst quenched 

For this small second, yes

And the plastic bottle

Lasts centuries, at best

A down payment on time

And for this brief relief 

Our oceans becoming

A plastic coral reef 

Aiming for infinite

Aiming for infinite
But so much needs to change
Constants are stalemates with
No want to rearrange

Today full of fractions
With no sense of the Whole
Emergencies rise like
An endless whack-a-mole

Everyone’s graffiti

Everyone’s graffiti
This Tower of Babel
Constant commentary
Too much dribble drabble

Reacting not changing
Internal compass north
Holding to your opine
Relentless back and forth

Never too old to change

Never too old to change
A new revelation
Sign up for, commit to
A late revolution

To remain deep rooted
Tap the internal Spring
Extend branches, bear fruit
Give every thought a wing

We are taming the past

We are taming the past
To obey the present
No circular path or
Overreaching extent

Experience, a guide
But accept what is new
One hammer for all nails
But what about the screw

Embrace the Overwhelm

Embrace the Overwhelm
The empathetic thread
From sparrow and starling
To the prime thoroughbred

In chaos and quagmire
Or the slow moving light
From bountiful harvest
To a suffering blight

In a canoe of Life

In a canoe of Life
Keeping to a lagoon
Knowing the World is wide
With each measured teaspoon

The unknown butterfly
On a beautiful ridge
In the essence of being
And not sensing the smidge

The two of us know Truth

The two of us know Truth
We dropped our stones and left
Carefully protecting
Against a further theft

Witnesses and jury
We lowered the gavel
The sentence is silence
Let it all unravel

Poetry pariah

Poetry pariah
Meals served without digest
Words are like swarms of bees
Verses a mass infest

Straight lines like sharp arrows
Piercing the center heart
But the meaning gets lost
Just moments from the start

Days blur with nights racing

Days blur with nights racing
In the moment, past sleeps
Future wakes filled with hopes
We give ourselves for keeps

After the rush of youth
We start the steady climb
The World at our feet then
We fall one at a time

Happier than before

Happier than before

With happiness ahead 

Self-propelling, an oar

On a sea of instead

Individualists 

All share a common goal

To stand up, be ourselves

Completely one, a whole

The two of us tangent

The two of us tangent

Then a trajectory 

Once we shared a sentence

But wrote our own story

We pivot on the past

A trunk, a source, a stem

Our lives as far apart

As the words us and them

A dry riverbed has

A dry riverbed has
Made us travel afoot
Our migratory path
Now altered or off put

The destination new
In a future frontier
Powered by our presence
And will to persevere

Easy as one, two, three

Easy as one, two, three

Happiness is progress

Accidental or an

Implemented process

There is joy in small steps
As much as leaps and bounds
Notes loud as trumpets or
Silence between the sounds

Painting never painted

Painting never painted
Like words we wish to hear
Hopes becoming hunger
And not a morsel near

Empty vessels parade
March or flail in the day
Repetition remorse
Of the verses we pray

Peace from irritation

Peace from irritation
Daily sandpaper rub
Misrepresentation
Of the Joy of Life club

In this minute of grace
Through my buttonhole realm
The threads of the World threads
Me to the Overwhelm

This want of infinite

This want of infinite
Pure imagination
To describe the finite
Great interpretation

Can the abstract define
Are we simply amused
Are there answers in light
When darkness is refused

Finding forgiveness fails

Finding forgiveness fails
Anger still exploding
All the years swallowing
In silence imploding

The option to forget
Recollecting no more
Can simply be achieved
Just by painting the door

It’s not about gun rights

It’s not about gun rights
It’s about Life and Death
The gun in the wrong hands
Has us all out of breath

Our rights to Life and Peace
Should never be denied
Laws are to protect us
From all Bonnie’s and Clyde

Thinking of Gedney Park

Thinking of Gedney Park
A blinding sunny day
Minutes with my mother
Before the life decay

Swinging plastic golf clubs
Trying to hit balls hard
The only time she played
With me and James Gerard

My heart stepped on like an

My heart stepped on like an
Unharvested turnip
My spirit battered like
Mud thrown at a tulip

Surviving primary
No more present danger
Now that the narcissist
Has been made a stranger

Still learning to accept

Still learning to accept
Defeat, matters of loss
Changing my perspective
Coming down from my cross

Buffer the breaking waves
Knowing out there's a swell
Stop wallowing in self
Bodies drowning in hell

Content without substance

Content without substance
Fortunes not currency
Essence without presence
No words but fluency

Love, the greatest unknown
Recognized from the start
An abstract by design
The highest form of art

Cast intellect aside

Cast intellect aside
And my heart still chose wise
In all forms of weather
Further up are blue skies

Treating myself kindly
Not allowing excuse
Gentle is the daisy
Not deserving abuse

Today as a backdrop

Today as a backdrop
Outside a steady view
Off of the podium
To dance The Blue Danube

Perpetual motion
Ecstasy essential
Together joyousness
Fulfilling potential

What of posterity

What of posterity
Behind a wave, a wave
Beside the fledgling tree
One ready for its grave

All ashes to ashes
Arms holding time too tight
A cup of memories
Dreading to forfeit light

The evidence is clear

The evidence is clear
How we are being judged
In the court of your heart
There is only begrudged

In narcissistic spheres
There's never a square deal
Life outside your court is
As good as a repeal

Scribbles and graffiti

Scribbles and graffiti
Fists on piano keys
Hopeless situations
No matter the decrees

Clouds, blank wrinkled paper
Withholding heavy rains
Peacefully palming the
World and its scattered brains

These are not dissections

These are not dissections
They are not cross-sections
Or deep introspections
They rise to the surface

Not striking the chords hard
Or cutting veins with shards
Revisiting the scarred
Freeing is the purpose

Anxious speculation

Anxious speculation
Believe futures are made
We are either planting
Or digging with the spade

No matter the weather
Or bounty of the crop
Hopeful expectations
Are better than the stop

Answers never changing

Answers never changing
So there's no need to ask
Work for resolution
With each menial task

Continue the current
Create the river stone
And slowly the answer
Will find itself rehoned

The danger of safety

The danger of safety
Regret of calm choices
Being ice waterfalls
And silence in voices

In the fossils of days
Endless time consumption
Stones and sand or mountains
Avalanche! Eruption!

Anonymous pilgrim

Anonymous pilgrim
Undiscovered comet
Transversing a frontier
Passing through a grommet

Threading the knowledge
Experience retained
Learning and unlearning
Plus and minuses gained

Not longing to journey

Not longing to journey
Reservoir not river
Wanting stillness in Life
Presence not deliver

Without distance and line
Or radius and spoke
A constant, a theorem
A simple truth, an oak

One day, I will let go

One day, I will let go
Years of us and childhood
Buttercups, pets and homes
Kind thoughts misunderstood

Darkness where city lights
Shone beneath a full moon
Joy, sorrow and tension
The infinite maroon

Verses without pronouns

Verses without pronouns
No I or he and she
Night skies void of stars and
The lights of you and me

Over exposed pictures
Or endless bowls of broth
Not velvet or cashmere
Unadorned burlap cloth

All of this - self portrait

All of this - self portrait
Extension of being
Content of envelopes
Unsealed and revealing

Sent in a universe
To addresses unknown
With few corresponding
You are not here alone

The road least traveled

The road least traveled
A life without witness
No certain destiny
Or true test of litmus

New skin often tender
Cautious of the callous
Avoiding subjection
To ill tempered malice

Trying to change chorus

Trying to change chorus
A better C major
Regretting the notes sung
The high stakes we wagered

Navigating pylons
Merely bonsai and buds
Clipping vines while keeping
Us in darkness like spuds

Brave to face the battle

Brave to face the battle
Wiser to know the cause
Cheers for protectors and
Their empathy, applause

And for the narcissist
The dust never settles
Declaring victory
With self-proclaimed medals

I'm all tied up in knots

I'm all tied up in knots
Undoing my doing
No sense of scribbled thoughts
Volcanic ash spewing

Endless barbwire battles
As if tangled in stars
No sense of place in space
And no life behind bars

In the North Atlantic

In the North Atlantic
Our icebergs were afloat
Kept in chilly waters
Ice diamonds for the throat

No thaw or warm degrees
Our feet were off the floor
Snow white with blue bodies
Left frozen to the core

Take the imperfection

Take the imperfection
From underneath the rug
From under the couch like
A misdirected bug

Take merit in trying
Maturity in fact
Bringing fault to light with
Understanding and tact

Enter the labyrinth

Enter the labyrinth
The words of abstraction
Modernistic in tone
But classic redaction

An arrow passing through
A densely wooded plot
Not striking a tree and
Hitting the target spot

Letting the day go by

Letting the day go by
No sense of time movement
Without an agenda
Or need for improvement

Or an accomplishment
It meanders and strolls
Without current or push
It just rolls as it rolls

Hoping for jealousy

Hoping for jealousy
Or some form of envy
Anything not pretty
But it's not what I feel

Just look me in the eye
To see there is no why
Only good feelings lie
And turn on my heart wheel

Wanting the world to see

Wanting the World to see
This moment of beauty
A fleeting purity
Of Life amongst objects

A silence to be shared
And in stillness declared
Let those of us who cared
Simply pay our respects

Grievances and grudges

Grievances and grudges
Cold shoulder to the weed
Permission for seasons
Clear land and then reseed

Both the jury and judge
Let sentences expire
There’s no right in holding
A superior spire

Pent-up, if it’s released

Pent-up, if it’s released
I’ll blow myself off course
A self-inflicted wound
A rash runaway horse

Allowing injury
To control direction
Should not be the reason
For a wrong projection

We were Trees of Heaven

We were Trees of Heaven
In narcissistic soil
Elegant, beautiful
Against persistent roil

From cracks, rocky cliff sides
Our inner peacocks fanned
Life and limb and branches
In all conditions spanned

Back from the moon feeling

Back from the moon feeling
More distant than before
Future dances alone
Behind a bolted door

Dreaming about a noun
Casting lines without bait
Wondering why nothing
Bites after all the wait

The words are leaving me

The words are leaving me
There's not much left to say
A sun, the clouds, a mood
Another rainy day

Generations before
Generations after
The voices never heard
Shouting to the rafter

Abstract but singular

Abstract but singular
Complexity as one
Fragments in formation
Two thousand pounds a ton

Periodic person
These elements of us
Forming and shaping our
Individual truss

Discard the absolutes

Discard the absolutes
And never say never
All or nothing statements
Just go on forever

Finite and infinite
Little less, little more
Equations with pi or
Two plus two equals four

Unable to express

Unable to express
In words, this restless search
For tranquility, grace
Not religious or church

The moon, light and shadow
The beauty of breath
Not longing or dreaming
And living without death

Creating a distance

Creating a distance
Far from the mirror lake
Down where the air is thick
Reality awake

Where love you's and kind thoughts
Are genuine with proof
Where understanding and
Empathy - not aloof

Remove ruderal thoughts

Remove ruderal thoughts
Architect a tilling
A transitioning heart
Hope is a dream willing

Encourage the resin
To achieve amber light
Carbon into diamond
And not an anthracite

No Pollock emotions

No Pollock emotions

Ebbing like a Rothko

The pulling of the moon

And the slow letting go

Tender in dissections 

Discovering the new

And kindness to others 

On their own avenue

We are all grains of sand

We are all grains of sand
Beached by infinity
Consoling our wash-up
With false divinity

Paradise promises
Extra eternity
Grandiose glory for
Garbage atrocity

Acorns on maple trees

Acorns on maple trees
Tulips blooming on vines
Fascination for strange
Curvatures on straight lines

Exclamation points and
The bolder question mark
Oddities of nature
Simply become trademark

These words are not my voice

These words are not my voice
Which defies description
Forty-eight syllables
Are not my inscription

Life must be lived between
Each poignant graffiti
Many verbs and verbal
Unpoetically

Don’t toss my Renascence

Don’t toss my Renascence
Or mislay my Millay
My words are not Saintly
But Vincent every way

I’m not hearing echoes
Hand me down poetry
Indexed or referenced
Touted as scholarly

February 14th

February 14th
In a New York tower
With snow blowing upward
Like a Queen Anne flower

City that never sleeps
Merely taking a nap
While draped on its shoulders
A snowy cashmere wrap

No love for our garden

No love for our garden
Even daisies are flawed
No path to the future
The river never thawed

A symbol of pure joy
A juicy summer peach
Denied as if it were
A bloody sucking leech

Winter has no vengeance

Winter has no vengeance
It's nothing personal
It's not a response with
An icy arsenal

Cold weather by nature
Can put us in our place
But it takes permission
To surrender your grace

Finishing the puzzle

Finishing the puzzle
An incredible twist
Given there are pieces
Concealed within your fist

A simple equation
Two plus two equals four
But you had us thinking
A little less or more

This is not quantity

This is not quantity
Just a thought for the day
A daily record of
My internal brain wave

Or the pause of the heart
As it reaches conclusions
New and often diverse
A granular profusion

The past is just absence

The past is just absence
Vacancies without time
Empty conch shell echoes
Umbra shadows in mime

Letting go of others
Into the vast abyss
Continuing to bloom
Until the last dehisce

In the middle of blank

In the middle of blank
Without derivative
Void of influence or
Object initiative

Vocabulary lust
The conception of new
In spaces created
By thoughts becoming skew

Here, a busy corner

Here, a busy corner
That leads to streets and streets
Until we leave the town
And the next one repeats

And then to an ocean
A continent, an Earth
And a moon and some stars
And still it is a dearth

Days braiding as braids are

Days braiding as braids are
Unraveling undone
Sunrises becoming
Rays of a setting sun

Strong anticipation
Then slowly the descent
Once at the beginning
Looking back at what’s spent

This toothpick poetry

This toothpick poetry
Emotions caught in teeth
Remnants left behind by
Life currents underneath

Or fragments of fighting
And flapping sail cloth shreds
Of dreams billowed, broken
Some did's and some instead's

I thought of you today

I thought of you today
With great love and meaning
Validating actions
While we are careening

Our fates are forfeiting
The fortunes of future
Solid separation
Without stitch or suture

This injury is not

This injury is not
Mine, yet I feel the hurt
Full knowing that it is
Not me who lost their shirt

Emotions grow taller
At the end of a race
So many laps to go
Re-calibrate my pace

There's no more to be said

There's no more to be said
We are here, the past dead
The narcissist unfed
Our spoons empty and still

To turn our back and break
New directions to take
Happiness, piece of cake
On birthdays or at will

Putting myself in check

Putting myself in check
Self-imposed comeuppance
Stop polishing the coins
Worth only a tuppence

Getting back in line and
Finding an inner grace
The World keeps on spinning
As I stand in one place

This fighter takes punches

This fighter takes punches
Tidal wave, tornado
No calmness in the sea
Not a couch potato

Fighting battle fatigue
No want of surrender
Principles cannot be
Reduced to cold embers

Euphoric happiness

Euphoric happiness
Like breathing in thin air
Seeing mirages and
An oasis not there

Down off the mountain peak
A broken legged goat
Back in the village in
The reality moat

Bruising my own ego

Bruising my own ego
Leaking dirigible
Accepting errors my
Anger is terrible

Eating my words sandwiched
Between slices of irk
Trying to right a wrong
But just being a jerk

Effortless happiness

Effortless happiness
Growing wildly in fields
Spreading strawberries with
Over abundant yields

With grasshoppers hopping
And butterflies flying
Happiness is sprouting
Without even trying

I dream of these moments

I dream of these moments
As far apart as stars
Wishing they were notes played
In three quarter time bars

Feeling the ebb of grace
That departs in a bolt
A car honk, a question
A new thought, a leg jolt

In the smallest of small

In the smallest of small
Where echoes end their call
Where generations fall
There is a mark in time

All of us together
No matter the whether
With or without tether
In the height of our prime

The future always waits

The future always waits
Beginnings have to start
To finish the purpose
Complete or al la carte

The inevitable
A New Years’ rotation
A question to answer
A sure invitation