a silent wood
calls out to her.
eagerly,
she responds
in kind.
Mariah
When Did It Happen?
~ written, with much admiration, after Mary Oliver
When did it happen?
“Long before I knew something like this could ever transpire.”
*
Where did it happen?
“In a forgotten place where soft-shell clams gather at dawn.”
*
No, tell. Where did it happen?
“Where the sound of the sea rushes in to the wild chambers of the heart.”
*
What is your heart doing now?
“Oh, child. It longs so for you.”
bucket list
if I’d had the legs,
I would run to you
and never once falter
in my stride.
*
had I wings to span the heavens,
I would fly across oceans
and over every mountain
just to hover above
the very hairs on your head.
*
every breath, every good thought —
were I to mechanize
the ferocity of my heart —
I’d pour it out, every last bit of it
over the sundry sands of an eternity,
so I might love you again
just one more time.
the withholding
light has been granted,
my green lovelies, and I hope
you drank up your fill
but Mama’s got to cover
the windows, shutter every blind
it’s just too warm,
the day, already, is stiflingly hot
crazy Christmas cactus
~ for Shelly
its shoots, hot-summer starshine
green tendrils, fleshy spokes
a friendship token, gifted with love
broken record
we have no choice
eat the heat
succumb to the sultry
and try to remain patient
as we wait for autumn’s bliss
before the annihilation of heat
steeped in the deep shade
of our honey locust & Chanticleer pear,
I set the hose nozzle to SHOWER
and give the hostas a good long drink
mindless tasks, so perfect
for one’s brain to ruminate —
or rest, as the spirit moves you
this morning, mine does a little
bit of both which suits me just fine
mid-season
binoculared-vision
of evening silhouettes
*
as Canada geese
congregate
*
on the fairway,
the handsome backdrop
*
of terraced fields
in the distance
*
summer days
already contracting
*
as the slow race
to autumn begins
in the dark, wee hours of the night
thoughts molding intent —
jagged mind-shapes,
hazards pursued
by uncompromising notions,
weary hearts & souls
seeking resolutions,
somehow content both while at rest
and at war
slow it down
mental acumen
no longer quite as crisp
*
the world is a cage
filled with angry beasts
snarling, clawing, grasping
through thick iron bars
*
walk on by, Julie
walk on by
A Sawyer's Daughter 
Chit Chat