Deep in Summer - with audio link

 Audio Link

Where have all the cars gone
Not as many as before
The way seems empty,
The people faded

Ground turns brown

Quiet sifting of the sands
Lonely nightingale searches calling out

Singing, will you join me deep in summer
Longing is deep, deep in summer

So goes each one in a tunnel of
His or her own yellow sun
In a burrow of singular fun
Shooting out the other side
Of a black hole’s door
Where the light is stored
For a rainy day’s thunderstorm
Pouring down, down deep in summer

Rainy days and lightening are deep, deep in summer

Travel on to the commonplace
The business space,
The pent up race
There the heat,
It cannot touch you
Windows cannot see you
Skinny life measured out
Skyscrapers deep in summer

Offices bound in glass, deep, deep in summer

 Puffy comics barely read

In the sky play overhead
But ignore those within
Hearts line up armored inside
Against the bird song’s steady stream
Marching dutifully toward five
When ocean tide of green bursts free
All things come alive sprout and grow deep in summer

Anticipation is reaching out deep, deep in summer

Then sun and moon
Descend like dew
To moisten every eye and renew

Break down the walls

Melting shields and weapons

To pour friendship in each one
Wherein grows love
Within long glances deep in summer
Love grows enraptured and unfolding deep, deep in summer

A baby crying,
A mother calling,
A school yard full of laughter
The Ice cream melting
Slowly down the horizon
The crickets playing
Old timers talking
The light of lives shining deep in summer

Families and neighborhoods deep, deep in summer

Ladybug and ants
Creep along the rose stem
Sigh and wipe away the perspiration
Buttery thick the air

As twilight fades
Restless flies in kitchen never notice
Pleading, clinging June bugs
Breath of sighing flora deep in summer

Damp heat,  and insects thrive deep, deep in summer

CRASH, goes the screen door
Moist aimless hair
Dirty ruddy freckles,
Glowing, curious, eyes
Hanging, questioning mouth
Drinking in breath
Corners turned up in happiness
Animated hunger deep in summer
Smiles of the young are deep, deep in summer

Jays and Starlings
Weaving nest and song
Crow cries out his raspy word
Starry Night comes to birth
Life circles about the streetlight

A dog barks

Then Silence

Rest calls the creature deep in summer

Stunning silence is deep, deep in summer

A tugboat groans somewhere in the dark
Something hisses, the night glows red
Yawning coke ovens across the deep

Burning rivers find relief

The distance whispers back
Breathing, beating, black, pulsing

The steaming heart of a steel press
Sounds in the night deep in summer

And the rivers flow deep, deep in summer

Sleep comes to bed, raccoons play outside

Humid, stormy dreams conjure,
In the yard skunk and possum wander

Under damp linen clouds, like seeds plowed
Traveling faces, friends, and family,

Lips, arms, foes, charms, till the soul is calmed
Then refreshed by cool morning breezes
As clarity of day quietly calls our name
Awakening as night and creature go to sleep deep in summer
A heart beating, beating, beating deep, deep in sssssssummer.

The Lamb - with audio

audio link

Once, while in the day of rest
K'dusha rent this earthly vest
A silent wind flew to another place
Azure surrounding flame of swirling white
No care did follow there
Only the quiet roar of myriad voice
Joined in Spirit, the distant many called out
Filling the waters above the earth
"K'dosh, K'dosh, K'dosh. . . ."
As the sound settled in this life
"Holy, Holy, Holy"
"Adonai zvah-ot, m'loh kol ha-aretz kvodoh "
Dreamlike universe seemed to turn
"Is the L-rd of Hosts"
Till awareness came to something near
"The whole earth is full of His Glory"
Standing alone was the Lamb
"All of creation is full of His Praise"
Gentle, yet strong, with seven eyes
"Baruch K'vod Adonai mimkomo"
Holding all within an unwavering gaze
"Blessed is the Glory of the L-rd in His abode"
A great explosion in a column of blinding light

Broke through the universe and shown down

Enveloping the earth and filling all

Calling out:  "Shema Yisrael …"

"HEAR OH ISRAEL, THE LORD YOUR G-D,

THE LORD IS ONE, Adonai Echad"

A restless wind blew throughout the earth
The Ruach of the Almighty swept over its surface
With a voice quiet and still speaking out
From within the unseen torrent
"Sleepers awake now for the time has come"
Until one by one the people with faces turned upward
Began to open their eyes as the shadow of God
Passed over them like a great eagle with wings outstretched

There in Jerusalem I saw them, Arisen in truth,

Myriads upon myriads bowing low

Before the Great and Mighty King,

Messiah Prince of Peace, Son of David

Then from the silence came a brilliant flash,

"All of creation is full of His glory!"

Caressed by the Torah of His Saving Love
The words rang within, then coming to myself again
I thought of the scriptures and was humbled:
"Be at rest and know that I am He," HaMakom (The Place)
Holding all things together, in the hollow of my hand,
Shepherding Jacob, comforting His people...
..And we like snow pure and still, knowing He is God 

As this time melts away. . . ..

Psalm 121, Isaiah 52:1, Zechariah 14:9

The Sloth - with audio

audio link

Goodly now
The night is come
Wine must needs
Leave the hand
Fly flees not,
Seeing not the bed
On the pillow
Lies sweaty head
Air is still
Wet and thick
Hanging round
Like dragon's breath
Distant cars
Pass like songs
Till silence
Creeps in
To put aside
The lazy thought
Lay here upon
Canvas cot
Flora exhale in
Mind and senses
As Berried Bushes
Bring about
Bear's drool
So Nick Bottom
Doth make a fool
Donkey becomes
An Ass to know
Tis not spring
But summer now
Jasmine delights
This tired swoon
Orange Blossom spiders
Dance in the moon
Whilst Stars and planets
Fall in fast
Dark matter
Wise and vast
Radiate to
Crowd out
All starts
Save the play of
Little quiet
Gentler hearts
Roll away ,
Roll far away
Drowsily,
Overturned
Now
Is sinking
Day.

Writ Out - with audio

 audio link

All shut up,
All writ out
Try to write,
It won't come out
Try again,
Turn about
Stretch the words,
Make them shout
The head is empty,
Nothing's there
No feelings felt,
No despair
Clever quips
All flown away
Muted strikes
The end of day
Blood turns still
Thick as cotton
Stillborn thoughts
Now forgotten
The new idea
Does not sketch
Withdrawn upon
An empty nest
A sling of sighs
With none to cast
Colors withheld
No stained glass
Not to worry,
Nor to pity
Hemingway lives
In a far off city
Shakespeare never stooped
Down this stair
His hand touched not
The mundane fare
So what of it when
Wispy wind sought
Is withheld and demented
Then tied in a knot
The smoke of this
Scrit is but sot
And thus contented
With his lot
The pen refuses
To put the jot
So silly strings
Need not be missed
Of nothing written,
Nothing wrought
When the lines all
Come to naught.

Dreaming Again - with audio

audio link

I was dreaming again, of untroubled time
But the watchers came and killed the dream
Dressed in hollow lab coats white and clean
With no ears to hear my scream
And secret words behind the walls were spoken
My head hurt and inside my words were choking
The labor of my hand was turned against my name
Wide eye stares and rubber faces
Official chicken gibberish words spake out
Till from deep in the earth rose up anger's shout
My mind could no longer see,
But the grabbing of their collars and slapping of their faces
My words had not syllable, could write no sound, no cases
For the hideous creatures shrieking had no gentleness
The skinner box was closed and the righteousness
Of the headless invisible ones crushed all that was good
Breaking heart and will, looking on behind darkened hood
Oh so tired to carry, that which needs be buried 
The boxer had no place to strike at blood and clay
For the shadows on the wall had all run away
Back to their places behind the day
Back to where they'd been before
Little dictators one and all
Gone home caning in Singapore
Do not chase them, let them go
For anger doth kill the mortal soul,
They like spiders run to count vibrations
Caught up in coolie whispered lies
Those black hole bellied spies
Sucking out all life from the hive
Till they fall fast like broken lines
From the weight of shallow hollow spines.

Long Lost Ladd - with audio

audio link

LONG LOST LAD

I'm lookin for a long lost Ladd

I knew him well,

I Knew his dad

I found him on the doorstep

Saw him on the dialpad

But now he's gone away,

I hope not angry,

Perchance not sad

He climbed the bears nest

Divined the sailors' shipwreck

Now on land,

Then again on deck

Where'd he go now,

This son of the Titans

To feed the waif

And fill the wayward

With food and tale,

Folksong and ale

About the meek and strong

Beautiful in every heart drawn,

Till all with sleepy eyes it seems

Are ready for the comfort of dreams

'Tis said a hand on the helm

Gives warmth to the soul,

For those who know the pilot's skill

And so the winds whisper still.....

Laddy, where have you gone to son?

A Moment With the Torah - with audio

audio link

I grabbed hold of the Torah and hugged it close,
My head going into it's cover
Pressing against the softness of it's velvet
With eyes closed and in a moment
Before we began to sing
I felt my soul travel off to be with Him
Enraptured and enfolded
By His Almighty presence
For an instant
All cares and worries faded
I thought to myself
This must be what it is like
To pass from this world to the next
No thought of responsibility, toil,
Nor the weight of this life and others
Just a short time of peace in the warmth,
Comfort and shadow of His outstretched arm
Knowing the Sabbath rest,
But more than this
To be all enveloped
In stillness without desire
No intent did take me there,
Nor did it bring me back
It was the sound of our voices
Canting the words of the Torah processional
Down from Sinai Moses descends with
G-d's holy word in his hands
It was an auspicious time
A time when G-d's voice
Could be discerned in dreams
Not a voice of anger toward Pharaoh 
But one of love and correction
So that we might know for ourselves
Beyond mere trust,
But rather by experience
King Davids words of Psalm 23.

Winter Night - with audio

audio link

I love the winter night
The cold dark so stark and bright
No one out, none in site
Walk on for miles in silent moonlight

So peaceful is the fair
Midnight cleansing air
That washes over me
As my dog and I pass there

Stunning the resplendence
Of its pristine clarity
Like a mountain stream falling
Making soft the mind's horizon

Gently flowing
Carrying us along
While others sleep well
We continue on

All of us wrapped up together
In the watchful starry blanket
A sea of souls, the Painter's brush strokes
Canvasing the texture of innocence

Like one who takes my hand and
Calms that which tries to comprehend
The unending unseen extending out
Beyond the steps I set about

On to the unspoken blowing whispers
Over the white snow and black Terran lake
So refreshing to this ethereal kite
Pure and beautiful, the winter night

Some Kind of Purgatory - with audio

audio link

When the travelers' sleep began to thaw
The shadows had not yet gone to rest
A moment in the wall of cold, then harnesses buckled
Once again the iron gate called out its ancient sound
Beyond the colonnade and gardens two sprites shown
A lone sentry watched as we entered his regard
Marking our departure from the place of dreams
A coyote, that crooked shade, paused, then flew across the way
Opening an unseen lock to let our vessel pass
His bushy pale grey tail flagged us onward
Out and into the main channel's current,
Between the mouth of the railroad's black underbrush
And the opposing forest of cobalt house shrubbery
We passed by in our heated soap bubble
Black shadows danced about on the corner
As if driven by an oven's pungent breath
Like black flames in some kind of purgatory
There in the tender wisps of white morning mists
Dangling like bait on unseen strings
Until the great metal Leviathan
Came down hard and fast with a wail and a snort
To swallow everyone, his soul and future
Carrying them off like Jonahs to Nineveh
Where had they gone, to whom would they prophesy
My head turned round,
There my little one was left behind
To bathe at sun up in a cheery water polo soup
While I drifted on into the hazy blinding sky at high speeds
Then coughed out and delivered on the doorstep
Picking up where I'd left off and
Stepping into the clock of the dream breaker
I Slowly awakened to glare of florescent lights
With the warm smell of strong coffee
Pouring through my mind

Sleep

For now to sleep
The bygone way
To leave behind
The things of day
To travel on
A darkened stay
Into the light

Of thoughts and sprites
Forgone and last
To wrongs and rights

Beneath the mast
What cannot be
He must work past
In hungry rings
Of future's Milky Way
All the things
That we conceive
Flights of spirit,
Souls, you and me

G-d rocks the cradle ever gently
Into the not yet and spectral jello
Beyond the reach of fractured sun-ray

Blanket and pillow
On silken bedding bare
In the quiet stream
Of cool night air
Befuddled, troubled,
Peaceful, clear
Looking for one
Who passed by here
Through hallways long

In garden passages
Delighted to be swimming
Up in the breezes

While yet resting
With princes and sages
Unseen family testing
Help turn the pages
Enter one swept onward
Brave blind coward
Doors and currents please
With lilting birdsong
Unknowable day to seize

Clouds recline and kiss the dawn
Misting joy on sunlit buttercups
Bid the morning haze begone

Spreading out far and wide
Lifting spirit and every eye
Telling of the news
Herein lives another day.