nature

Shaken Souls

I love you dearly
even with our hearts hung low
and our thoughts so weary

I love you deeply
through weeping eyes that,
try as they might,
cannot see clearly
time
after
time

I love you fearlessly
in the face of doubt who breaks us,
shakes our souls and holds up our woes,
wakes our fears and leers
from just out of reach
but far too near

I love you endlessly
like the waves love the sea
like fish in the river love swimming up stream

Brackish

On an island in the ocean,

reaching through cold fog, were trees

old and wise

We stood, enamored with their size

Taking in the long lines of their strong limbs

wanting to climb up

and in

You stood, eyeing the pines with a grin

We waded across a brackish stream

towards mountains

of barnacles and bare roots

larger than our bodies

covered in dirt and a salty glaze

fully exposed to the raw sea air

Mid-May

Warmth returns

to the land

to my toes, legs and hands

and to the way we speak, in our ups and downs

Warmth returns to the frozen ground


Warm breezes pass between us

reminding us of all the reasons

to even try

to stay alive

and stay up late to stare at the night sky

Reminding us: it will soon be July!

Night lights

Nighttime walking
when the cold bites
and the little lights line the streets
like crooked teeth in the night’s wily smile

We walk a while
We wait for feelings that were once erased
We know they can’t be replaced so we chase them
into snowy streets
onto ice sheets where cars don’t dare to drive

We hope to come alive

We walk a while
and try to find our smiles

Twilight

The trees droop
despite their lack of leaves

Sunbeams reach in between
and find the place where you and me lay
pressed against each other’s cheeks

Birds skip along bronzed branches
making pinecone dancers
Chorus lines that silently swing in time
to the rhythm of the soft twilight

January

Breezes move twisted trees
and dried up leaves teeter on the tips of stripped branches
Their quick dances end when their stems are ripped
and the leaves are whipped into misty air
leaving the branches bare

Birds break pods of plants long gone
interrupting each other with chatter and song

Sea Stories

My heart knows where to find yours
along the lines of these western shores

Beneath arms of a tree
twisting hard toward the sea

On a sandy beach
old water underneath
Fresh waves soak sand down to clams, rocks and weeds

Beside shifting seas, eager to tease
with rippling swells that dance at your feet
In a salty breeze with sandy knees
and woolen arms for holding me

Under cap pulled low against gust and gale
In the heart of a land made of tales of whales
and seafaring men with their dinghies and dories
who made it their duty to bring us sea stories

Crabs scurry, but worry little
as the sun goes down
on this sailors town
The gulls keep watch on the empty streets
and my lips find the lips they’ve been longing to meet

Wet Weather II

On stormy days we braved the rain
to venture through valleys of sunken grades
Through fields of fog on level planes
To places where puddles struggle to drain
and colors fade
Greens into brown and yellows to grey

In flannel we marched like a cheerful parade
Seeking shelter in places that normally shade
Feeling cozy, though frozen, under tree or in cave

In a dank, dark place along our route
we happened upon the valuable truth
that in order to live we must put on our boots
and break from places we’re warm and dry,
but barely alive
and missing a misting so sweet I could cry