Love's Embrace - with audio

audio link 

Forget now One
and here bequeath
Many deeds done, 
Behind, beneath
all the words said

Time to brush teeth 
digest the day's bread

Don once more 
the clown like clothing

Give into gravity 
tired bodies groaning

Fidget about lights 
huddled little tiny cares

Whisper Scriptures, 
speak quiet prayers

Cold night 
warm bed

Lay beside 
the one I wed

Gentle breath, 
heart thats giving

Reminds one now 
life's worth living

Kindness there 
in love's embrace

Soft the utterance
of heaven's grace

Then plunder slumber 
in sleep's chamber

There the soul 
to unencumber

Swiftly sort and 
sweep away

Seasoned reason
Tangled day

Shadows, shades, 
memories, ghosts

Dragons, bears, 
tigers, boasts

Fears, tears, 
hoping visions

Family, friends, 
not forgotten

Falling, flying, 
floating skies

Stars upon the 
flowing midnights

Turn and churn 
within the clouds

Misty frosts, 
life's lovings crowd

machinations, planning
Dizzy scheming

The mind 
brings forth 
in crazy dreaming

Confused images 
of silly stages

Tug on covers 
each engages

Falling down 
back into bed

Reaching out 
in darkened stead

Safe harbor from 
wind and storm

Silent wisdom 
enraptured forms

Stay until 
the dawn arise

Fix thereon the
spirit's bright eyes

Eternal One 
restores each soul

Thank the creator 
shuffling on to goal

Fuzzy clarity 
innocent warning

Calling out 
to each 
good morning

breakfast spree
coffee, tea
soap and face

then off 
to race

Now again 
with sleep unfurled

bring this comfort 
into the world

Each on pace 
to busied place

Within cups 
overflowing 
FROM love's 
embrace

The Grand Design - with audio

audio link

The grand design it snow blinds
Great life travels on and unwinds
The powers commanded failing
Exasperations of the future flailing
Nuclear Fires fanning
Quantum leaps spanning
Waves come in with foam
Out roaring again they go
But the staircase seems to get sharper
With each step ever cutting steeper
Ticking tells the fierce lion sleep
His place gives way to timid sheep
Camellias bloom and petals fall
Winged ones fail the ear to call
Appetite like the moon wanes away
Little fears fill the night and day
Morning prayers weakly spoken
Dreams inside the night awaken
Forgotten childhood's loving lost
Longing family feelings past
Mighty steed slows down his pace
Mane grows grey, to pasture race
Garden blooms lie down their bed
Once fecund, now their leaves to shed
Who can tell the wind not to blow
The colder north no frost to show
Sooner stop the world from turning
Better stop the fish from swimming
The breath comes in and turns about
Heart marches on with legs once stout
Climb the way of snowcapped mountain
Flow against the river boatman
Each step is heavier on the path
The knife cuts an ever duller swath
Fuzzy fellows in the trees
Past the point where vision sees
Comes along the misty mind
Shady weeping willow kind
Lazy Political and spiritual reflections
Gone the hard chinese elections
Tired limbs pull on the sleigh
Comforting is the setting day
Little ones now all grown up
Testing lessons, jewels yet rough
Weaker hands fold and pray
More's the cost, Less the pay
Set about in and out
Meaningless to fight and shout
No time to listen less to care
All that's left is love to share.

The Well - with audio

audio link

The hollow self
Came off the shelf      
Hidden away
'Til season and day
Trade their grace
For cold embrace
Unhappy
Is the way
To Good
That has waned
Weak is the arm of
One who is stained
A misshapen heart
Drags down
Thistles and pain
O thirsty soul
'Tis water
That refreshes

Deep down, below
The watercresses
To the beating walls
Of empty caresses
Into the well
To make a splash
Slimy walls make
Sunbeams flash
Can't stay there,
Can't say where,
Damp moss
Is balderdash
Once inside,
The eyes,
They lied,
As the price
Was just too high
To winter in
The unseen water
No matter
What to justify

Then came winding,
The terrible
Sickening
Water snake
Having been denied
Pond or lake
To steal soul and pride
But voices called
Beyond the well
Sighed and cried
In they fell
Like knives,
Hit their mark and
Cut him up alive
That dank sound
Fell silent
In the round
Then quiet
Drew away
And was gone
As something else
Was shown
The water tried
To drink it up,
But filled
With hope
Inside was
The pale
To assail
Dark Jail and
So Catapulted
One assaulted
Sheltered
This floater
With cap
And ken
To the top

The well of that
Which is good
Does not
Run dry
Living water
Lifts high -
To the beloved
Drawing nigh

Coming home
To fire warm
And cheery eyes
Of lives inside
Once again,
Despair,
That wilted orchid
Lies dead
Outside

Shut up the Skies - with audio

 audio link

Where are the mighty men of old
Who shut up the skies so that the rains cannot come
The strong ones who burst the locks and chains
Of gloom in the hidden places
Who will heal the eyes of the feeble
That they may once again look upon fair Helena
What physician can heal the sick at heart
I hide away like Job from the stormy seas
Deep in the belly of the ship
For it comes upon me like the Dark clouds
Without reason or explanation, a howling wind
Slapping at the face of thankfulness
Blotting out the Sun of all that is precious and dear
Where shall one go to get away
What potion is there that will relieve meaningless anguish
Floods and channels without foundation
Whose hollow speeches threaten to carry off our very soul
So I leapt into the jaws of the great sea creature
There I sank ever downward toward my rest
Yet the thing of sadness followed me there
So I wept even while under the shroud of sleep
There did I toil on pillow and shake inside
I came to the surface of the waters many times
Only to drop once again like a struggling stone
The hail fell and the torrent poured
Filling up the earth's mouth till it was sated
Only then did this one rise again well enough
Rehearsing for another day
When Perfect Strength shall set us free
And nary a dark day ever dawn

The Blues and Autumn - with audio

audio link

Autumn came, and with it came the blues
Money trouble arrived with the cold wind
Finances blew away like the turning leaves
My mind and heart became grey with the skies
Mice and traps share my attic space
They conspire with sour stomach and restless shades
To keep me awake at 3 bells
So I take a pepcid and shuffle out of the bedroom
Then down the dark hall to the kitchen
There I have a tea and read the scriptures
These become my blanket and I pray
I pray for life, for family, the sick, government and religious leaders
I pray for people to turn toward G-d and
To remember compassion once again

Sigh, - ...sleep will come again friend
Like magic, the Fall brings back old voices, new fears
The cold doesn't wait for night, it comes by afternoon
It makes me thankful that there is greater reason for hope
Than what my eyes see, my ears hear and my hands can grasp
The feelings puff up my insides and threaten my eyes with tears
Thank God they don't come to fill up my furrowed brow
Like irrigation canals crossing this fallow field
Still that child who longs for the family time and tide of youth
Can find solace in the white and quiet of the biting snow moon
In that place, people and time are slowed -
Down to frozen crystalline stillness

Warmth then can return to inhabit the heart
Like cognac after a winter's embrace or handshake
Perhaps just a smile from a stranger, a kiss from a friend
Or a whiskey poured down the throat whilst fishing on an ice lake
My father's voice comes back to me, now like a flake of falling snow
Always carry a little change in your pocket for the stranger
A little compassion, a little compassion

The past and the present come together in Autumn
Do we cry for the present, are we sentimental about the past?
Or do they come to prepare, to make us mindful of the unseen, pristine,
Glowing diamond ship moving on oceans black?
There to fly the longest journey 'cross silent starlit sky
Sleep will come again my friend, sleep will come
In winter's brightest solitary night
Toward Affection's ultimate day.

Thoughts of You - with audio

audio link

Jasmine petals
Thoughts of you

Midnight dew
Days renew
Thoughts of you
Thoughts of you

Midday waves
Crashing down
Leaves of brown
Hot cracked summer ground
Thoughts of you

Lonely rose
Fragrance spend
Bee upon the diadem
Thoughts of you
Thoughts of you

Sounds of traffic
Rolling by
Heart that tracks
Across the sky
Thoughts of you

Sighs and Smiles
Days pretend
To forget
A tender hand
Thoughts of you
Thoughts of you

Nights shine dull
Moon in vain
Sleep undone
Rise again
To thoughts of you

Tasteless food
Careless wind
Seasons end
Then begin
Without you

Stark space
Empty chair
Cool dry
Autumn air

Little wings
Flutter by
Voices sing
Away on high

Soaring through
Blue expanse
Seeking there
Love's advance
Tumbling clouds...
and you perchance

Thoughts of you
Thoughts of you
Only you
Only thoughts
Of you

Where Fowl is Fair and a Hound's to Wonder - with audio

audio link

It’s a woman's world Cluck, cluck, cluck

It’s a woman’s world gobble gobble gobble

It’s a Woman's world chirp chirp chirp

Its for the the birds

How on earth did I wander in

How did I come to begin

I feel a little like Rin Tin Tin

Now it feels just like a sin

Bark bark, bark bark, bark bark bark

Stumbling through a hen house in the dark

It’s a woman's club cluck cluck cluck

It's a woman's club gobble gobble gobble

It’s a woman's club chirp chirp chirp

It's for the birds

Where a man‘s ascribed with voiceless guilt

Hounding the hound, like a longhair shirt

Left begging for scraps in the dirt

Like Mr. Rodgers, he eats milk toast

The members flee shadows and ghosts

Where fowl is fair, the effeminate boasts

It's a woman's klatch cluck cluck cluck

It's a woman's klatch gobble gobble gobble

It's a woman's klatch  chirp chirp chirp

It's for the birds

When chicken hawks fail the call
Shot down from clear blue skies they fall
Friendly canines stall and blunder

All chained up and torn asunder
Anything is possible in this brave new world
Where fowl is fair and a hound's to wonder

It's a woman's gaggle cluck cluck cluck

It's a woman's gaggle gobble gobble gobble

It's a woman's gaggle chirp chirp chirp

It's for the birds

How shall our friend not turn away

To live, bark and enemies slay 
To regard highly the fairer sex

Maintain his place as noble Rex
Take up the sword and save the day

Walk through the door, be on his way?
 

It's a woman's world cluck cluck cluck

It's a woman's world gobble gobble gobble

It's a woman's world chirp chirp chirp

It's for the birds

Cats meow, and horses neigh
Hens chase feed in hubbub heyday
Oh boy, Oh gee, Oh my, Oh me
Birds fly, flap, chirp and flee

Not to wonder, no reason why,
Only to pause, just to sigh
For a dog becomes a pest of a guest
When he makes his den in a bird's nest

Wag this tale - it's a woman's world Cluck cluck cluck
It's a woman's world gobble gobble gobble, 
It's a woman's world chirp chirp chirp
Woof Woof, Ruff Ruff, Bark Bark Bark
Its for the birds

Cooked Goose, Roast Duck, Barbecue Chicken?

HOT DOG!

I Was There - with audio

audio link

I was there,
But could not stay
There,
But my mind
Wandered far away

Away from the
Overtones
And undertones
Buffeted
Along the way
By grave objectives
And vapid directives
The meeting's voices
Now like vast
Distant moans
And deep within
There were groans,
A longing
To be free
Free from
Bleeding away
Bits of a soul,
Free from bitter
Carrot's lure
With each
Lopsided pledge
To taskmasters,
In each
Bloody signature
Away from this
Empty caricature
And towering
Condescension
Gone sleep-like
In a bed
Of the mind's
Wandering
Suspension

Littered
Is the landscape
With houses
Once walked through
Forgotten,
Like candy wrappers
The conversations
I once knew

Faces
Of little ones'
With questioning looks,
Then chirping
Living storybooks
Hi, hello
Fly each on high
While down below,
Friends pass by
With eyes full
Hearts of good will,
And I love you s
Spoken by and by
With sigh and laughing
I to,
Stretch up
And fill
The marshmallowed sky

Trees
In the breeze
So elegant
To behold,
Dancing, whispering
Whistling secrets
That cannot
Be told,
Caressing
And addressing
Their care
For one another,
And the flowers
Call out
A blessing

The wind's wailing
Speaks
Of a way
That waxes above
Beyond the mundane
 Earthly lays
The common train,
Marching dutifully
Till all is drained
Breath of life gone
So everyone can
See what is
Not expressed
From the poverty,
Of mindful sleepiness
Or plaintive painfulness
In a soul's distress

But, turning that
Night into day,
The universe spins
As if to say
Let you not
Be troubled,
employ your hand
To care and bread
Love one another,
Be not afraid
Little ones,
Is this not
What the messengers
That dwell
Above the stars
Have said?

Pieces of reality
Ebb away,
Though others may
Choose to stay
Shaking off
Garments of day,
Sparks released
Like mighty waves
Altogether, the
Old ones say,
We like leaves
Fly away
Off to join
Dust and dew,
Where all creation
Is made new

In the heat
Of Starlit fire,
Casting off all desire
In great light
There to sing,
There to shout,
There to praise,
In delight
Embedded in
A cloud
Of voices,
With countless
Countenances
In the heavens
To enjoy,
Announcing love,
Growing bright

I was there,
But could not stay,
What it is,
I can not say
Till the smallness
Of things and
Ambiguities gray,
Announce
Rainbow stained
Horizons,
In radiant
Display.

The Skunk - with audio

audio link

The skunk

Came by 
At 4:am

To putrefy

And stupefy
To cause my

Sleeping sky

To fall down

Utterly on me
I couldn't breath,

Because this

Country beast

Had been brought

To my city
And brother,

Oh my L-rd,

Does he smell

Even now,

So very #$%&*^
Being considerate

Of animals and

Feeling so hot
This one wishes

He could prepare

The little Pepe
A breakfast of

Black barreled 
Buckshot
 
Switching sides

Of the house

To re-route our
Sensitive snouts
Did not help
We'd been attacked 
Bushwhacked

And Bombed

By this little whelp
Though unseen and

Black as night,

He makes 
His presence

Felt alright
Oh dear G-d

Take this one 
Away!

Along with

His Offensive

Olfactory 
Quandary    
Drop him 
Along side

The fishes Beneath

The unknowing

Waves of sea
That sleep

Might once again

Wash over me
With
Morning's 
Florid

Fragrant 
Pungency

And help
Us all
Forget this

Buggers spray.

Poetry - with audio

audio link

Poetry is the innocence that lives in each of us.
It is that what makes us unique.
When we try to conform to something
Other than what we are, the poetry dies.
It is the stuff of kin and kindred,
The stories of our past and places.
The verse that springs up from inside of us
That is at once relevant, not relevant,
Romantic, silly and perhaps nonsensical or crazy.

Youth will not be conquered,
But overcomes with laughter and tears,
Joy and adventure; its tests the testy testers,
It mocks all the rules of love and life.
The jasmine blooms and so it is with the little ones.
Playing at this and that, daring to love and to win.
The clouds yield to blue skies and
The wind is content to stroke many
Ruddy cheeks and fluff flowing hair
With the purity of a brooklet traveling through
A bedroom window in the the waking of the day,
And in the waving of wildflowers afield.

Age is the platform that we arrive at
While striving for success.
It welcomes us on the bus
That may be going nowhere and
Turns many into window shoppers
Observing the ever changing scenery.
Alas, the bus always crashes in the end,
with great drama, and usually some tears.
But all at once we are free to exit the bus
And play in the spring sunshine once again.
No longer do we tire, watch TV,
Read magazines, pay taxes or need.

Love is that thing which gives life and breath
To all that lives in this pasture.
Love imbues the spirit with being and hope.
It is the glue that holds the cosmos in place
And allows for creatures to be made
From the remnants of cosmic plasma
Cataclysmic explosions light-years past

Love can be seen in the face of a child,
The jump of the sea creature,
Sought out in satin glowing sunset
Heard in the song of the gentle birds
Or in the storm that replenishes the deep
All mountains, fields, creatures and man.

Love is a warrior set about to heal, reveal,
To make new until all is well
Until the hunger of time is stilled
Before the caressing voice of eternity.