Threads
Often loose
Once pulled
Can unravel
Tied together
May bind
Woven
A warm blanket, a beautiful tapestry, a story to behold
______
Aflame
I declined to jump the train,
Hell-bent on my own frame,
Interested not in scrolling fame,
Nor to play the must-do game,
But instead take a different aim,
And create my own flame.
Hell-bent on my own frame,
Interested not in scrolling fame,
Nor to play the must-do game,
But instead take a different aim,
And create my own flame.
______
West Desert Haiku
Sky so delicate
Floating high, shadows hang low
Nothing between — us!
_____
The Child
There is a man
Who professes to know
There are many paths
But only one true road
This is the way
Who professes to know
There are many paths
But only one true road
This is the way
There is a book
Ancient and venerable
Fine stories weave through
Bound tight a righteous truth
This is the way
Ancient and venerable
Fine stories weave through
Bound tight a righteous truth
This is the way
There is a song
Soaring angelically high
Martyred saints and demi-gods
Command you must pray true
This is the way
Soaring angelically high
Martyred saints and demi-gods
Command you must pray true
This is the way
There is a color
Pure ray from the sun
Other shades dim and pale
Blindingly true is ours only
This is the way
Pure ray from the sun
Other shades dim and pale
Blindingly true is ours only
This is the way
There is a child
Free of guile, judgement too
Born all as innocent are
Truths yet to discover
There is no one way
Only a universe of the many
Free of guile, judgement too
Born all as innocent are
Truths yet to discover
There is no one way
Only a universe of the many
Into Great Sea
Warm seas cooling breeze
Wash the chatter clean of me
In the moment — Now!
Wash the chatter clean of me
In the moment — Now!
_____
Tightrope
Is there a gift so true as to be real,
When there is much to see but not to feel?
Trust, a dulled sword cutting little and less
Idols become gods while imps bow and caress.
When there is much to see but not to feel?
Trust, a dulled sword cutting little and less
Idols become gods while imps bow and caress.
Meaning nought for now though much for the ‘morrow
Boding well for none and for all sorrow.
The daggers of truth all ‘round but meaningless
And wonder we must: who is deceiving us?
Boding well for none and for all sorrow.
The daggers of truth all ‘round but meaningless
And wonder we must: who is deceiving us?
Who built this leaky ship with gilded gangplank?
Who cast us forth on seas murky and dank?
Who was our voice, half captain half siren?
Who but us made this sinking boat to cry in?
Who cast us forth on seas murky and dank?
Who was our voice, half captain half siren?
Who but us made this sinking boat to cry in?
Though often it seems there is none to take
A choice always is there for us to make.
Dancing ever on frayed tightrope
With us the devil … and us the hope.
A choice always is there for us to make.
Dancing ever on frayed tightrope
With us the devil … and us the hope.
Islands
Islands
Beckon often
With treasures to be found
Rounded by the sea's symphony
Always
Beckon often
With treasures to be found
Rounded by the sea's symphony
Always
The Divide
Us and them forever we hear
Them and us not a one brings near
In our mind we hide
But to truth confide
That one guide —
Banish fear
Them and us not a one brings near
In our mind we hide
But to truth confide
That one guide —
Banish fear
The Shore
A meeting of elements
A fluid boundary; not a solid border.
A transition of states.
Water to land; land to water
Air ‘round all.
Fish and shells, sand and beetles —
Birds soaring above.
A transition of states.
Water to land; land to water
Air ‘round all.
Fish and shells, sand and beetles —
Birds soaring above.
A sky cerulean, brilliant
A sea green, cool; a shore sandy, distant.
A beach called white.
Walk long while one can
Time holds for naught.
Sinking footprints soon disappear —
No trace but memories.
A sea green, cool; a shore sandy, distant.
A beach called white.
Walk long while one can
Time holds for naught.
Sinking footprints soon disappear —
No trace but memories.
A quiet murmuring
A soft splashing; a spray of salt.
A steely sun, warming.
Life made of moments
Such as these.
Feel the day’s passing —
Along the gentle shore.
A soft splashing; a spray of salt.
A steely sun, warming.
Life made of moments
Such as these.
Feel the day’s passing —
Along the gentle shore.
_____
Ursa Major
Music echoing through all
Sometimes losing time in space
Cast the line and float adrift
Let it go but hold on tight
This voyage undertaken
Sometimes losing time in space
Cast the line and float adrift
Let it go but hold on tight
This voyage undertaken
Great and silent is the hall
Vast, deep an expansive place
Flow across the stellar rift
Stars, galaxies our sole light
Trust the way not be shaken
Vast, deep an expansive place
Flow across the stellar rift
Stars, galaxies our sole light
Trust the way not be shaken
Ever circling in thrall
Oh Great Bear trodding apace
Gracing always with your gift
Northward guided by your might
Dreaming thus … then awaken!
Oh Great Bear trodding apace
Gracing always with your gift
Northward guided by your might
Dreaming thus … then awaken!
_____
Time Enough
With the life of stars
Every grain — one by one —
Can be considered
Every grain — one by one —
Can be considered
_____
The Wheel
Once only the gift is given
Malleable by will and whim
Carefully artfully craft your vessel
Shape well — before the pore
Malleable by will and whim
Carefully artfully craft your vessel
Shape well — before the pore
_____
Airglow
With a light so strange,
soundless ions burn coldly —
An alien heat
soundless ions burn coldly —
An alien heat
_____
The Erg
Frozen waves roll silently
Stormy sea, shadows and light
Stiff breeze a windy sculptor
Distant sands, no shore in sight
Stormy sea, shadows and light
Stiff breeze a windy sculptor
Distant sands, no shore in sight
_____
Tonight
Wheeling ever high
As day into night
Laying on cool sands
Breathing starry sight
As day into night
Laying on cool sands
Breathing starry sight
Shutting eyes awake
As black follows white
Sleeping on cold dunes
Sharing desert light
_____
Sentinel
Under skies bright
I stand upright
Sparse it may rain
Still I remain
Sun hurts me not
Perched crows my lot
Come back next year
I will be here
Unbendable
I Sentinel
I stand upright
Sparse it may rain
Still I remain
Sun hurts me not
Perched crows my lot
Come back next year
I will be here
Unbendable
I Sentinel
_____
The Promise
A blaze! Quick: the light, the dawn
Demons and dreams banished, gone
Reprieves granted anon
Calligraphy of clouds drawn
Pastel canvas and chiffon
Palette of promises yawn
Walk in the brightening dew
Each day, a new Avalon
Demons and dreams banished, gone
Reprieves granted anon
Calligraphy of clouds drawn
Pastel canvas and chiffon
Palette of promises yawn
Walk in the brightening dew
Each day, a new Avalon
_____
Night Light
There is no night but
One — filled with colour and light,
A thousand gems — bright!
___
The Day is Not Done
The day is not done until we play
Run fierce, no concern or dismay
The now is ours, with chalk and blank slate
Write boldly, quickly, no time to wait
The light fades until tomorrow true
Then we paint our canvas yet anew
_____
Twilight
That time --
between day and night,
between blue sky with one searingly bright sun
and the deep darkening with thousands of glittering gems
-- that time known as twilight.
The known of the just-past day
gives gently way
to the mysteries of the to-come night.
______
Drifting
Tumble and drift through the languid flow
Cast shadows and shade dim the sun’s glow
Airy ships on a sea of light go
From whither to where we want to know
What phantoms you see in this tapestry
A fantasy of play our dreams own show
_____
Scent of Remembrance
Burning a joss stick, memories flow.
Was it just yesterday? I think no.
Years passed and past time of youthful glow.
Try and grasp life’s threads of long ago.
My comfort and remembrance seeks a space.
To dwell to embrace, what only I know.
_____
Climbing
Mysteries are arduous mountains to climb.
Tracks may shift, lead astray, disappear.
Firm ground give way to soft sands.
Blue skies change to weathery torments.
A summit gained, reveal yet more to attain.
But climb we must.
For if not, what are we?
_____
Quicksilver and Limestone
The sea was as mercury: by turns quicksilver and languid, viscous and molten.
The sky on wispy fire, later cooling to silvery-blue, a slow radiance giving way to the slumber of a cool night.
And the limestone stacks: ageless as ever, silent sentinels waiting patiently for our noisy passing.
_____
A Question
Often, it seems, he had nowhere to go but to a place of his own choosing.
It is freedom, of a sort, he tells himself.
With no obligations, he can do as he wishes.
But: what if obligations are what he wishes for?
_____
