under the palm of night
Colorado stirs

We walk hand in hand
a little
part to catch shooting stars
return aglow
the glisten of nightfall
consumes us
too busy to notice
dark separating from oil
half-hill sun
i pinch the
sag of that great tortoise’s throat
coax the slumber of the world a few minutes more
we’re too busy to notice
love

O careless, careless hands
creased in worry
yet worry bring

in all permutations
have i not saved you
in dark waters
pulled you drowning
to breath
comforted through lessons learned
and trials walked beside your path

once careful, careful hands
crisp with catching
worry not
as you droop down
he remains your true friend

above her glazed eyes
and lips as pink as moon
red clay

fair moon
i gaze on troubled water
even beauty marred if i distract from the wave
the approach

fair moon
celestial eye
ravaged by the waves
greet me through the water
where not even breath can stir such waves

welcome me as pieces
of a puzzle you once played

in the summer’s heat
lost in thought
mmm mmmmm
mantra of the fields
strawberries as far as the eye can see
the air electric
kids passing by
filling their buckets
a Lemonade Stand leans against on old black van
the wind is full of starlings

(with C.C.)

hymn perterritus
healed the break
wounding our friendship
i no longer dance
i no longer sing
i cut snowflakes from the dandruff of day
and call the scattered paperwork
to hunt you down

but then distracted by the hawk on my fence
his regal brow
i forget you altogether
as full as that yellow chest
as purposeful as his eyes upon the field

i no longer sing
i croak and pull myself along
the road greeting skin become my song

i no longer dance
i flail and beat my chest
here retains my unbent spirit