6/13/25

 



to fill the void with light there is eye

            to fill the earth with peace there is heart

                        to fill the soul with god there is pain




 



just enough darkness to forest the world :: then light dawns in one leaf




6/12/25

 



last drops of rain in hands of a breeze    stirring what others need




 



in the throb beneath a drop of blood :: i feel my wounds at war




6/11/25

 



against life's full strength i feel the threat of rebirth throbbing through the night




6/10/25

 



in the oar i've abandoned i long for the sea




 



when its suffering's washed away :: what remains of clay




6/7/25

 



if there's a gate it will be left open

if there's a border the dead may guide you over

but follow no road where it goes




 



let's awake in the garden others can't see

            naked as the moon turning dust to dream




6/6/25

 



a crystal drop tips each twig

            chickadee calls drift away

i enter a willow at dusk in the rain




6/4/25

 



does water remember the child in its arms bleeding his beautiful pearls of breath




 



i set out candles at daybreak to keep some darkness near




 



there is sky in my arrow :: there is no path to my sky




6/3/25

 



can you remember the touch of your hand as it gave you the power to heal




 



is memory the only place the dead are given light to see




5/30/25

 



comes a lover who wears the body of the moon

has a heart that refuses to burn

days are finished, life is barely begun




 



shooting star with the strangest ending :: eyes of the living




5/29/25

 



hands unravel

wheelbarrow topples

soul rejoices in flame




5/28/25

 



shapes created by the gods of pine—

             ships on a cliff

             a cross without arms




5/24/25

 



i dream of hundreds of broken windows

and of she who reveals

the stone in my heart






5/22/25

 



will there be a brief moment, infinite,

            to take this in—

i have gone the great distance bound in one skin




5/21/25

 



singing to be alone and not alone        sweep sweep my aging path




5/20/25

 



how the cave where we could see really see there are openings

became the star

i hold inside




5/18/25

 



how strange that nowhere should be nearby :: like the wound in my sip of wine




 



my sun is not substance but naked :: to the infinite shadows of light




5/14/25

 



dead wood beautiful failures

forgotten rains

this is the light that leads my way




 



in the valley that opens when no one is looking :: the seeds of your eyes have been sown




5/13/25

 



there are days windows sleep

            there are days when death hides in yesterday's breeze


why is silence peaceful in a forest of wounded trees




 



a hand reaches down

a friend stays the night

a fly sits in prayer since winter




5/12/25

 



dream looked around inside the child

            found room    burned

                        a Ferris wheel down




5/7/25

 



rain alone there has never been :: rain on morning skin




5/5/25

 



will all that is stone return to flesh


isn't deep where old snows fall


whose hand understands the genius of its palm




5/2/25

 



a circle of stones

where the circle doesn't close

death comes and goes




4/29/25

 



bound together

            grains of sand begin to breathe

we shall hear the oceans drowning




4/27/25

 



strange to be immortal

            stars tasting my mouth

i shall grow a yellow house




4/25/25

 



the art of birth :: that there will be one who shall not remember




4/24/25

 



first day of life

the moon counting

its delicate birds




4/23/25

 



streets walking with their heads held low :: i climb a distant radio




4/22/25

 



what did blue see from its window before it became an eye




 



a voice for things which don't exist :: i am egyptian in silence




4/18/25

 



are the passages missing from my shadow

written

on a fallen leaf




4/17/25

 



found asleep beside the weariness of spring

your mother when she was young

yet changed




4/16/25

 



a man breaks down

who was it you ask, what

was the weight of the stone




4/15/25

 



keeper of the solitary soul

permit me space

among the flocks of this earth




 



on a day without sound

adrift on a lake

my grave is unhurried




 



my hands cry out all night in their sleep

dawn rises

a hole in its palm




4/14/25

 



inside the dying of my apple tree

the sky is cold

the earth is green




 



grasses

grow over my roof

a message drifts through the sky




4/12/25

 



hands and truths shall be broken

we know

when a rainbow




 



lord, why do i grow cold trying to keep you alive







am i a petal waiting

for the sun’s eye to open

 

or the sky who’s chased

a small bird into breath

 

when did i learn that blue

is the planet of our death




4/9/25

 



can i say i love you

when there's no shore in sight

when mystery only mystery

may be all that survives




4/8/25

 



they feed the dead a cold sun :: we in the black beret




4/7/25

 



when you grow up i will have been so many years risen from the dead




 



why has the statue missing one hand :: chosen this morning to speak




4/6/25

 



when the moon is ripe :: why doesn't it fall from its tree




 



all night long knowing and not knowing the figure asleep on the shore




4/5/25

 



i showed her where i fell home :: she showed me the scar she left on the sky




4/2/25

 



every first sunrise preserves my belief :: in a deeper, older fire




4/1/25

 



white coffin


now the waters are freed of ice

            and the four directions repair the wind

and the fields rise up to heaven....




3/30/25

3/29/25

 



if i am not certain

of the love of the earth

is it safe to take my life from your hands




3/28/25

 



the compass turns to a lone, dry wasp

in the silence of the alarms

all voices burn




 



what is thirst will find its way

when no one is looking

modest beatings




 



beneath a sky that may or may not answer

i bring out my heart

i begin to read




3/27/25

 



beneath my hands the axe splits open

on which side of death

is rest




 



because there was this inside them

the tea cup cracked

the face ceased




3/26/25

 



when they are the last

and left behind

will the living waters speak




 



winter

            in a stranger's tongue

no doubt the house

has honest blood




3/25/25

 



thus i was made

            vein laid upon vein

no trace of yes in water

            or blood

no name and no

            odor of wound




 



life leaves its artist’s mark

small, red—

then weeps that i live, bled




3/19/25

 



wind is not the death of light :: darkness does not quicken withered leaves







upon the death of the mortal vine :: shall my veins grow new wine

(reposted/revised from January 2021)


 

3/17/25

 



umbrella, old, unclaimed :: endured the attic of my rain




3/16/25

 



in the perfect darkness of what is to become :: who cradles the mother of dawn




 



escape is the timeless lie :: my path never strays from its crow




3/14/25

 



With a piece of chalk, I drew on the blackboard the moon's golden eyebrow.

                                                                                                                    Yannis Ritsos




3/12/25

 



playing in the clouds :: my soul smells of earth




3/11/25

 



the shipwrecked surely shall learn to sing those songs that built the sea




 



With a bird for a pillow, I lie awake every night.    

                                                                                                Yannis Ritsos




3/10/25

 



wind, carry us into my house :: the moon won't open for hours




3/8/25

 



fisherman gather me in :: fall back to your place in the sea




3/7/25

 



winter sharpened

            mortal sky

blood-tipped locust

            thorn, at

the point of joy




3/6/25

 



i hear sighs and silence

            dormant forest

 

dark in the east, my city

                                    laid to rest




 



stone saint

            an engine

     idles

            the sky

        longs to be known



(or)



stone saint, an engine idles :: sky longs to be known




 



there’s never enough earth

            to drink our tears

                                                                        love

 

it takes years




 



white bone

            on the beach

                        where i wanted to walk alone




3/5/25

 



life death

put flame

in an iron box


who feeds

that flame

can never stop




 



music of the lake when it is ice

            rapturous crackings

before and after

 

            the first and last of life




 



some forget to breathe and dream :: ways of seeing fall like leaves




3/3/25

 



journey begins :: 


                               bell to wind




 



storm clouds but no storm

three journeys

in last night's dreams




3/2/25

 



rain brings back

the mist, the bridge

the desire to remain in my body




2/28/25

 



the wound is littler

the moon is warmer

since you share salt with me




2/26/25

 



heart

 

white blossom

in continuous rain

eternal dying flame




 



when sparrow knelt inside your heart :: how many were the shadows