One hour of sky

Today I come in thanks for one drop of grace

Amidst pain and farewell

And pavement and rotting leaves

I drank in one full hour

Of my urgent September sky

So many things have come 

To battle me, to knock me down

Yet I stand strong, smiling against odds

Then the gentle breeze of dusk

Sends me sobbing to my knees

You are here, you will be here

This is all yours, these cries,

This reverie, this context, this trouble

All this and more, so much more,

So much precious

If it is only a pebble to you, I implore you,

Hold it as a ruby; but even if you kick it

With your gold-sandaled feet,

Scattering it into anonymity,

It cannot be destroyed

In the same scope of eternity,

September is forever yours--

All but my one hour

Of urgent, scathing, melting,

soothing sapphire autumn sky.

Waking up

I have nothing in my hands to hand over to you.
These dreams you have - they are already yours.
The songs you know - they are those you have sung.
I would give you a gift, for I love you already
But I have nothing to give you.

I am ashamed at my lack of preparation
For this moment; I knew it was coming
And soon it will be complete, but I was not
I could not, I could never be ready.
Please excuse my faux pas.

Wise words I could share,
Hearkening back to my adolescence
And the day you were born.
But they would be in vain, as you know more than I
And I would say everything wrong if I tried.

I can imagine what you would ask for,
If asking was what one did in times like these:
Endless sunsets, azure skies
And love, more infinite and sparkling
These are the things you deserve.

Like the drummer-boy of old, all I have
Are my songs. And yet even they are inadequate,
I would trip over notes, misinterpret,
Unconsciously choose the one that makes you cry.
Even songs are not enough.

Perhaps the only gift I can give
Is material turning to mist
The life of dreams-coming-true as one awakens
I give a shimmer, a shadow,
Then nothingness.

Christy's house

If this world were made of patterns
If music and love were equal
They would be the branches
And I would live inside the tree
Hollowed out and shining
Every room is spacious
Polished floor and ceiling
Enveloped in mahogany
And yet so free

Light streams into the spaces
Laughter echoes from within
A life lived out in fullness
In melody and peace
Nothing artificial
Everything is sacred
Effortless is love here
A bliss that does not cease
Nor shall decrease

If music forms the branches
Then that is where I'll live
I'll settle in the leaves
And make a blanket for my rest
I'll sing of the new morning
And echo through the chambers
Then wrap my web around me
Content there in my nest
An honoured guest

I have set it all right

Silence falls at midnight
The curtain goes up
The current moves on
The air is still
Hanging in August urgency
The river calls them onstage
See, it says, I have set it all right
The scene is set perfectly
I have brought the full moon for madness
And the heat in the air for summer
Dew on the branch for winter
Nostalgia has been achieved
See? It is just as designed
The wind is still so words can be heard and remembered
Only the river flows but it's quiet and calm
It's the only thing changing; everything else is waiting
I have created the perfect scene
But the clock is moving, still moving, still moving
And you have not yet come
The river flows on as if this time before times wasn't happening
As if the perfect moment wasn't existing
Then midnight passes and dawn breaks on the horizon
No one came to the celebration of memory
No one has come

The scene occurs in the air
In a time out of time
A place out of place
With traffic and wind and food on their shirts
They will forget to brush their hair
And wear the same clothes as yesterday
The scenery struck long ago
All that's there is a blank space
Improvisation required
But between the spaces the scene will continue
They'll trip over the lines
They'll fumble awkwardly toward the final act
On the black stage in between worlds
And the audience--
The audience will rise to their feet
In thunderous applause

And the river remains lonely
Closes the curtain
And waits for another perfect time
And another perfect day

An indescribable color

Gleam of striking shining silver
Took a hold
In my world of gold
It came unwanted, now I'm haunted
Now that it's faded
I've searched unceasingly
For one glimpse of the brilliance
That has ceased to be
Just one moment for that light to hit my eyes
Just one glance
Descent from opulence
Hypervigilance
The mountaintops shine silver; I follow
The clear blue sky endless; there I go
Knowing endless is madness; it doesn't exist
And it all calms down to a greyish brown
How can I now remember
Once it's all over
The last rays of light have fallen on this autumn world
I am picked up, hurled over thousands of miles
Through the blue, over snow, to the hills and the fields
But only in my mind. My body remains still
Barely shuddering, embracing the last of the fading light
Though I know after night more will refresh my sight
Maybe of a different kind
So face toward the sky
I await through the darkness
The glimmer of morning.

Is the evening enough

Is the evening enough?
The dimming light, the last fragrance
Of the day's blooms
The golden hour, the lingering warmth
Will this suffice
When it is time for wonder
Time for wit and frisson
When it is time for letting the music in
And revelry runs in every vein

I have cultivated my mind
What grows there is only what I have planted
But this night-blooming flower --
I don't remember which seed it sprung from
It just grows
Is the evening enough?
If left to the whims of the evening
Will the fragrance remain the same?

On the threshold of summer
Wildflowers abound
No hand to care, only rain, sun
And evening respite

On the threshold the most fragrant and poisonous petals
Stretch toward the sun's last rays
Grandmother's words ring true;
Enjoy the fragrance, but let the taste alone

Is the evening enough?
Or does beauty spill over
Outside the bounds of time
Turning night into endless evening
From which we can never return?

Are you sleeping

Are you sleeping
Please be sleeping
Night is halfway through
I can do what need be done
I have enough tears for two

Can you hear me
Can you feel me
On second thought, never mind
I don't want to wake you up
I'll wait for another time

I don't even know why I'm awake
What my eyes are crying for
I had just forgotten what day it was
And couldn't take it anymore
So don't worry about me, don't wake up
Keep dreaming, keep dreaming

If you're sleeping
What do you see
Is it a dream you remember
Or one you want to remember
Or who you want to be

Is it regret for a girl who has left
Or the memory of one who has stayed
Is it the threads of the web that we weave
The decisions that we all have made
Do you dream of the world, how from nothing it came
And the wonder that it has become
Of the songs that we sang out of love and of pain
And the one that will never be sung

Are you sleeping
Please be sleeping
Night is halfway through
I can write while you take your needed rest
I have enough words for two

(Oct. 31, 2011)