how a winter sky takes you up

a winter sky takes you up 

beyond your bones & weight 

to ride upon the timeless wings of cranes 

and other feathered things 

as snow slumbers the earth towards 

unchained spring 

I am weightless 

unbounded 

wrapped in a cold that cuts 

and smells of striving & light 

marvel 

      in the quiet of streets 

and quiet forgiveness 

a certain weight can be lifted

 i am this day 

this day breaking blue sky dotted by carnation pink 

snow below 

cold 

wind soon bracing to greet feathered things alighting here 

and there 

searching for a miniature moment of hope 

i am this day 

where shadows have retreated to earth & memory 

do our dreams hold the past or the promise? 

do our days light with grace or sorrow? 

all is here in the first light 

all is there in the delighted chittering of a sparrow 

be this day 

these hollow hours of winter

these days on the other side of december 

the other side of snowfall 

sometimes feel so hollow 

as if 

i'm existing inside some snow globe 

insulated

isolated 

awaiting a change 

a different color to bloom against the cool blue-white of winter days 

suddenly a goldfinch lands upon the fence 

startlingly misplaced 

and I am am golden-filled 

birth

Baby Boom Daughter of a Movie Queen and a Medicine Show

juggling moons and carnival masks
between blue waters & river banks 

tonight

forecast
rain, sleet and snow comes on
heavy & thick as a black walnut's thigh
turning this lament into a great horn's cry

construct the tent

unbox the lore  

the sharp dagger pierce
of a cut to the core
bruises blue hollows wounds abyss 

each intake of breath
every mistake and regret

to abide with the pain

to recall times threat 

yet there...there!

move that picture of dragons & orbs

yes

there!

move it

to reflect even more upon the veil
secrets accomplished 

life's hidden tale
memory stolen by whimseys call 

silver-blue-golden 

enchantment beholden 

time means nothing once snow falls

epitaph

scrape away the black ink
those particles of bits & pixels from the white white white

scrape them into the mason jar kept in your pocket
for
summer's fireflies & lunar moths
tumbled brilliance secreted for the corner-times
these grey days of winter long
scrape
and
hold the lid down tight as you press it to the fire-line
(skin allows such porous knowing)
lean against the trail of snow along the willow bark
lean & fill
with the enormity of the domed misty gray
capture this biting chill--this clutched sting
shake the jar
and
delight
in the ordinary comfort
of
chaos & contrast

cartology

skin
carries the geography of significance, love & nature
to compare, define & ascend
how to you erase the trail of a touch 
the cut of the movement of realization
the tracks of the spark & the knowing
... a path, a mark, a line, a pull--a scar
how is it that the grey, snow & bite of winter make it deeper
still & dry
there is an ache for the melt & a return of warm winds
to round the edges, shift the foundation
draw the map
trace the contours of connection with a sharp pencil of redwood
shade with pearl
color the valleys in myrtle & emerald
consider the water & outline it's phenomenology in blue
leave space
acknowledge the groove

words

give me a page
give me a blank page & words that have been wrung into my fingertips
pressed & coddled & tsunamied into my fingertips
words that will change & move & open
words that cause you to close your eyes with abandon & delight as you hang upon
the scarfed hope of this buttered moment
words that evoke honesty & truth to puddle on the ground like 3 inches of rain
careful
{you will get wet}
words that
STOP
hate anger bullies injustice poverty
give me a page
a blank page
and marshmallow daggers of possibility
in which to etch across the sky the wonders of a world
made of light love & that delicate moment right before you bite into a ripe peach
let me say something about trust
let me write words that lead you home
let me tell you that you are beautiful
words sugarfrosted in the glorious rising of the moon
and out-lined with integrity & compassion
trust in your humanness
love with all you heart
and pay no heed to nay-sayers & fear mongers or
people that say
no

give me a page
and
allow me to sculpt
be kind
and just give me a damn fucking page 

little hours

pots & pans hang upon a pipe of copper
there against
a
window that writes poetry
every day
at quarter to eleven
cardinals, wrens & blue jays
memorize the words to recite
in frosty hushed whispers to the moon
while frost builds in direct proportion to the time it takes
to wake

knit one pearl two
licorice tea & pomegranates

daylight comes on sugar-snap cold
snowing but not snowing
silver fogged--still in this
lace-wing landscape
hour's blueprint remains the same
remains the same
knit one pearl two
from pause to task to pause to task
licorice tea & pomegranates
routine belies the jubilation found in every step
every every breath
each golden fractal outlined in
frost
and winter's tale
held there against a window that writes poetry
every day
at a quarter to eleven

a blue jay flies from my mouth
wings singed by
wonder
and
becoming

treatise on christmas lights

the clear twinkle of white lights in winter 

the solidness the clarity the cleanness 

white lights in winter 

i want to like them 

want to be the person who likes white twinkling lights in winter 

adopt them as my own 

a trademark 

a thing 

to throw them around the house like Oh! so much glitter 

but 

i like blue lights 

blue lights 

always 

look like moonlight 

and 

snow seems blue 

patterns of moonlight on blue snow  

 

doorways

... it seems [to me] there is this threshold gifted with age 

[if we're lucky]  

it requires a pause, a breath, a shift 

a doorway to step across into 

dimensions [i call them portals truthfully]

[time after-all is merely our own construct]

dimensions 

that smell that feel of other times other places other faces

shrinking expanding diamond facets  

       where we are young & stupid-silly 

unconcerned

innocent

unweighted by now 

present not by focus but by being 

aware but unaware 

unknowingly gathering pennies of worry

unknowingly gathering tokens of gold 

traveling traveling thru days 

faces of childhood

steeped in reflections of shadows & light 

this threshold offers with exception to circumstance & bite 

not all are entranced not all desire the shift the pause the breath 

but there it is ... still 

    with age there is this threshold 

a doorway to step across 

worries & golden tokens 

shadows & light 

an invitation 

rest revise 

always there 

always here 

[time after-all is merely our own construct]

the linear placement of January

snap!

falling icicles of expectation hiding amongst the debris of a thousand years
ruby-velvet solitude looks good on you
draped across shoulders made from sparrow bones
ice 

   drawn on frosty windows holding no design--no fractal map
sorrow dwells here
pain lies in the corner pocket behind the abstract canvas
presence tidies the curtain
waiting upon the frayed wool blanket for a sign
--that blue jay berating the cold--that sign!
snap!
enchantment found in the smallest things
absolute
relative
what a wonder stillness is--snap!

256 years

Mad Hatters & cambrics
thistle & sage
replace the mask--turn down the page

we rumble--we thrash
upon life's canvas
searching endlessly

for the pink-clove scent of dianthus

follow that trail of bread crumbs & stout beer
thru forests & hollows
to the shores of our prickly fears

wait there alone in the still of mid-winter
as January's moon thru your bones sends a shiver

collect your token

pay the ferryman
don't gaze in his eyes or you'll never know land again

jump from the craft to an island of stone
dance thru the fog 

          and sing of your home

sing loud & ferocious
all thru the night
sing honest & sure
and hold your soul tight

snowflake whispers & cinnamon tears
cherries

        a paintbox and 256 years

there in the breeze
comes the spice of pink william
ancient secrets of love
star-dust vermillion

breathe it in swift
to the marrow of bone
breathe in the moonlight
       and know you are home

Mad Hatters & cambrics
thistle & sage
lay down your mask

...turn the page