such sibilance

melts iced rivers –

          unearths, resists –

revisits us unknown:

          the rills, the ridge,

the feelings stilled –

          truth: time is all

we sow– earth-axis

          tilts anew – steeps hills,

keens vales — old

           seasons reinfuse –

 with crying needs

            and brilliant deeds

  all between us still –

            the still unmoved

  thick-frozen ponds –

            springs deep-set

  within our grounds –

            as greens shoot up

  new leaves unfurl –

  dark mud reforms

  each fallow field –

  from root to rill,

  from stump to sill –

            cold rivulets return,

  leave ledge’s edge

            for rivers’ beds –

  till we too thunk! —

  like rock on stone –

  the lines repaired:

  renewed, divided land.

Few yearn to fly alone across night skies

            like unknown comets, trailing tails

of extraordinary light — evanescent, yet

            unseen by earthly eyes, unknown

by human minds — simply phenomenal

            beauty, unciphered – a streak, an arc –

radiance scintillating amidst deeper, starker

            stretches of unrecognizable space.

These — moments of existential grace.

collect odd, latent bits –

string, strength, duress.

ice melts ponds, puddles.

songbirds rebuild nests.

cold beaks break bark.

sounds pierce solitude.

silent sons take flight.

men plow fields under.

seeds burrow beneath.

women count moments.

children run and return.

all this reflects fullness.

we remember – reassess.

= = = = = = = = =

spb | 21 sept 2009

meandering, we circle

lake’s edge – by day’s end

we feel hardened – soles

impact pebbled earth –

familiar yet unknown;

at times we falter, stall –

fall far from crumbling

skies: our bodies become

stones – broken open –

beneath: why incessant?

some stop — seek softer

paces — or stomp ground –

bend to listen, bare-souled

as dusky-fluted birds find

their nests, as new stars refill

vacant velvet seats.

still, saplings quiver — sway –

hidden midst stout older

growth with barks scarred –

and limbs lost – mysterious

mercies still stand — root-deep

in never-darkened earth.

There, in whatever forms

of spaciousness we take –

we too will return — ready

to renew — and remake.

= = = = = = = = =

spb | 3 sept 2009

after all’s

been said or done

– unsaid, undone –

only love remains

to hold, withhold –

from me – to you,

to yes — to us too.

= = = = = = =

spb | 20 aug 2009

interpenetrate, it

invites warmth –

                       open connection.

internal processes –

breathe in, out –

expand  and contract.

fear-faceted lives

belie simple measures

refuse contemplation

reluctant to accept

renewal or completion

still, hearts rest here.

= = = = = = = = =

spb | 2 aug 2009