An Ode

Well are you my darling dear
Sweet and bouncing through my life
Warm my hands and warm my heart
Give me love and give me calm.

All my troubles are nothing
All my fears are nothing
All the world is nothing
When you lie beside me.

Little nose that bumps
Little voice that trills
Eyes that glow and search in turn
Toes that click in walking.

Lounge and roll my darling dear
Grab and sniff and wiggle
When you go, I will remember
You are the frame to fill.

dice exercise #7

ice cream cone/speech balloon/alarm clock/fish/ladder/question mark

An ice cream cone always helps out
When you can't think of nothing to shout
And your alarm makes you wish
You'd been born a fish
And the old ladder fills you with doubt


And this is a lone for the extra word ... -ish

another country

Your body waits like a new country
The reaches of its mountains and forests
All there to be explored
But defend your borders wisely
And let nobody intrude
Who does not tread with joy

For you are the keeper of yourself
And the duty of others is to be their own keepers
Not the conquerors or enslavers
Let your stars shine upon those who stand firm in their light
Let your currents flow over those who would be nourished by them
If my vines would choke your trunk
They are not to wind around it
Little leaves flutter in another wind

I would follow my plow over your prairies
My serpents would glide on your ground
Little bees and butterflies would kiss your flowers gently
But only if the gate were open

Your rivers are there to be fished
Your caves to be plumbed
Explorers will come to you
Ask your blessing like of a deity
You may grant and refuse
We little explorers can only request
We can only dream

Guard your borders well
Do not give sanctuary to plunderers
The bounty of yourself IS for joy
And only in joy can it be received
If our rivers could meet
And our grounds mingle
I could offer you my joy and hope to see yours in return
But you are another country
You are far away
And my ship would be lost
If I set sail

The Lament

We were meant to stay together, from the beginning
I was born to have you with me
We should have gone through life always in touch, always in contact
But, maybe I neglected you
I didn't pay attention when I should have
I should have felt your pain
I should have supported you
And now you're gone
I'm left with this gap, this hole
Nothing can fill it like you did
I'm left with a nothingness I can't ignore
Maybe I could fill it in, try to stop up the emptiness
But nothing will be the same now
Nothing will be like it was
All that's left is to say goodbaye

So, goodbye, tooth!
Farewell, molar!
Adios, chomper!
A part of me goes off in pieces
And all that I can say is goodbye
Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye

Some steel nugget may take your place
But nothing will be the same

focus

Once I woke at dawn and traveled unlit roads
Once I lived at the edge of it and all
Under the noise and in the gloom
And the cold and the tears
I made bad impressions
Like toilet paper tails that soak up nothing
Yet they drag and flutter without a sound

Once I lived up high and quiet
With a different kind of cold
Then I was frozen out

Now I live in walls and mumbling
But I wake under the sun
And I sleep even after the moon
The road is clear and slow
Many clumps try to make detours
I circle and vere

One day I will wake in light and silence
I will be papered in
And scratchy
I will be splotched and electric
And all I will need will be words

paranoia

The birds came back to sing
And brought all their throaty joy
And applause of fluttering wings
For my battered spirits low

I sit melancholy by the glass
And gaze out at the honeyed light
While tiny squirrels frolic on the grass
And rabbits in nervous contemplation sit

How I long for days when I would partake
Of freedom, roaming under the sky
How I despise now that one mistake
That follows, cleaves to, and suffocates me

If I had only made a better choice
If I had only known what would ensue
If I had only heard that little voice
That tells when we had best run

Now I hide in shadow and dare nor leave
For fear the monster will be at my back
No visitors more will I receive
Should he be in disguise to test his luck

A shaggy teddy bear at first he seemed
But soon to poisoned spines his hide did turn
Ever since from the darkness his eyes gleam
Like a cat's when hunting mice for fun

Caught in the web
I dare not move
The trolling spider
Will catch me dead

trio

Heart, where is your shield?
You face your dangers daily
Alone and unprotected
When you would be betrayed
Turned away, rejected
With no choice left but to yield
Heart, where is your shield?

Mind, where is your clarity?
Clouds of wonders rise and surge
And pull you from your appointed rounds
Delights and joy on you they urge
That when you seek will not be found
And all around, smug charity
Mind, where is your clarity?

Soul, where is your peace?
How often do you dream of rest
And progress on your path, free from trouble?
How were you made to think it best
That all existence be an endless struggle
Where fears and sorrows cannot but increase?
Soul, where is your peace?

realidad

Tú no existes
Al menos el tú en que yo creía
El tú que veo ahora
El que tengo delante
Es otro
Es uno con sueños que no contabas
Con ideas que no pensabas
Con palabras que nunca me decías
Cuando eras mi tú
Tú te vas
Y me dejas con el espejismo
Que eras en mis ojos
Tú te escapas
Y tu imagen permanece impresa
Como una foto de un actor
En su vestido del papel
O su disfraz
No eres mi tú
El tú que me despide con un abrazo
Y me dice adiós

Young Math - he has a dream

Oh the bouncy dream sheep with rubber legs
Oh the pinkish skies and bluish grass
Water flows like wine and full of pigs
The glowing stream crossed over by zebraffes
Oh there's the wolf with toothy flashing grin
His mouth is full of fire and laughing scorn
See how the little horses flee from him
Hear how the great deer clash their great red horns
Waving trees in twilight sing and sigh
The heaving ground bounces baby birds
They chirp and cheap but never do they fly
Their tiny wings cover tiny heads
The hot wind pushes clouds over the hills
And yet the purple long-grass stands unmoved
The sky shark floating by roars and swells
When Baseball Bear hits it with a glove
The wolf is prancing now with tiny foxes
He bounds and leaps on rubber pebbled path
They dodge a flock of quacking, quarreling ducks
While the waterpigs look on with masks of wrath
And now the wolf sends out hairs of death
The foxes and the ducks explode or scatter
He laughs and laughs until he's out of breath
And walks away like nothing even matters

split

My dragons and my wind
Up and over the treetops and away from me
What would you ask the moon?
Dark wood oak doors stand closed
Locked shuttered rusted hinges
Dusty curtains on the corn tops
Withdraw upon grinning
Done, done, all is done
All is done to dusk
               ~*~
I follow my smile from corner to corner
Skating on a razor edge
With little points twinkling
I don't believe my laugh lines
They are here to lead me astray
And down the path of complacency
My expressive shield and sword
Prevent all approaches
But the most unaware
The fools and jesters who would fall headlong into volcanoes
I cannot lower my defenses

muffled

If at one time I thought my heart would break
Without your presence to give it shape
I have been proved wrong
My heart is slow and dull and painless
But it is not in pieces
It seeks nothing and noone
Except perhaps some solitude and quiet
It does not extend itself to warmth or care
It remains in its cave, dark and empty
Cushioned in numbness, it withdraws from any spike of feeling
It will hibernate, insulated, wrapped in the felt of danger
And never be bare again

epic "haiku"

Over the red hills
Came riders we did not know
Their steeds made thunder
And clouds behind them.
They were bold under the light
Of a summer sun.
The riders were unkind.
They came not to visit or
For trade.  Their foul aim
Was dripping with blood.
Their shining swords were seen first
With little sun glints
While they were still far
And riding furiously
Down the hills, to town.
Their other decor-
-ations, spoils of other wars,
Began to be plain.
Dried hands and fingers
Waved hello and shooed off those
Who found themselves front
And center with this
Pack of bloodthirsty killers.
Scalps, long braids attached,
Swung violently too.
All too silent, these deathly
Trophies of winners.
Then we saw their teeth.
Cut sharp and filed pointy like
Fangs of snake or shark.
Little white sentries
To grind up invading meat
And let pass rivers.
That seemed like a good
Comparison after that,
When all had happened.
The riders came through
The town like a hurricane,
Tearing down every
Single thing that stood,
In a rush of violence
That none could foresee.
It surprised us all
With its ruthlessness and gore
And its fleeting
Presence through the town.
Almost as soon as we knew
It was there, it passed.
Some died.  Not only
At that moment, struck down by
Heartless, steely blows,
But also later
When their woulds turned black and stank
And their eyes went out.
The rest of us owe
Our lives and livelihood to
The hero who came
When we feared all was
Lost, a champion from the gods,
Blowing in like rain.
He came from the way
We go to the river with
His great sword, leading
Men as rough as trolls,
Who rode hairy ponies, with
Grim faces and sharp knives.
The riders had turned
To come through the town again
When they saw the force.
They attacked without
Hesitation and the great
Hero and his men
Fought them mightily.
Half were struck down and half fled.
The hero took naught
But the horses of 
The fallen; no gold or grain
From us whom he saved.

maybe a force of nature

Diamonds in the Deep Dark Sea
Covered in scales that sparkle
With shining claws
And eyes that glow like lamps in the mines
A glimpse of her and all flee
Into caverns and caves so dark
Escaping her jaws
That gnash and foam and bristle with toothy spines
Her home is in a watery cave
With stillness all around it in the murk
And mud that lies far down beneath the light
Covered in slime
No hand on ship or boat is brave
Enough to challenge her right to lurk
Below the waves, hiding from the sun so bright
Passing time
Until some unlucky soul jumps or falls
Into the emerald green of waters deep
And dark and cold
And then she feeds
Quick and rough, ignoring hapless, pleading calls
For help and aid.  Then off to sleep
And dream of seasons past and bold
When all her needs
Were simpler and joyfully met
On altars placed beside the shore
By fearful but respectful folk
Who begged her favor
From a goddess or a demon who would set
Currents, fish, good weather and more
All bounty to those who kindly spoke
And tossed out sacrifices full of flavor

maybe a villain

Old Iron Heart
Struck fear into the hearts of children
With her shoes of skulls
And her gloves of sick man's skin
And her skirt of woven corpse's hair
She was gray, gray, gray
Like the clouds before they drop their rain
Like a mirror under a hundred years of dust
Like a pile of ashes after the fire burns out
But her eyes were two red cinders
Burning behind the smoky curtain of her hair
The Witch of the Wilds
Where the bears bellow
And the stags rut
And the little squirrels scatter the tree babies 
Over the open-armed bed of the earth
Her house was built of bones
And eyes lined every window
As a witch she needed no door
Her house was always moving
To where a weary traveller
Or wandering child
Could least expect
There was no sound in her realm
Not a crow cawed, not a fly buzzed
Everything was still, still as a deaf corpse in the grave
The unhappy traveller who finds her
Will never speak again

maybe a hero

Bloodyknife the hero
Protected his home and his folk
His heart beat stronger with outrage
When the enemies came
Thinking they could easily take what they wanted
Bloodyknife the brave
Fought off the invader
And led his kin to victory
That filled them all with pride and happiness
And the knowledge of their rights
They were not a rich, golden folk
They worked hard and were rewarded
The earth gave them bounty
Fleeting but replenished regularly
With their iron and steel
The pulled the fruits from the ground and the trees
And they loosed the spirits of their fellows in fur and feathers
To the life beyond
Always with need
And always with respect
To please the Watcher Overhead
They never thought they were unhappy
Or wanted anything more than what they were given
But when Bloodyknife was born
His mother had already given her spirit to the beyond
The baby pushed at the cold womb
And the midwife saw
She cut him out
With his father's deer knife
And he was given his name in sorrow
But also in hope, for he was strong and could survive motherless
He grew quick and smart
He grew loving and with a will to guard
The hound could not sense a fox
Without Bloodyknife springing from his place to chase it away
He did not kill them for sport or trophy
But only to end a threat
They were marked
On the tail; on the toe; on the ear; on the nose
When the marks ran out, the spirit was loosed
It was the only way for the Merciful but Stern
Bloodyknife the Warden if his family's life and land
He took a fascination
With fire
He burned his fingers many times
Trying to grasp it
He watched it change wood and grass and bone
To dancing light
Soon he began to help the smith in his tasks
Because he had the biggest, hottest fires
And there were sparks and rivers of metal to observe
Then Bloodyknife made his own sharp points
Not red with life sap
Red with the hot breath of the light
He made them sharp to pierce the hide and heart
Of great stags and bears and rams
Nobody thought like-lookers would be their targets
Or that points from far-off lands would spill the life sap
And loose the spirits in the village
Before the ice time ended

The Man

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I fluttered, weak and weary,
Over the many moldy mounds on the monotonous misty moor,
On I fluttered, nearly died, then suddenly I happ'ed to spy
A huge and hulking hoary house menacing the misty moor.
"'Tis a shelter!" I rejoiced, "beckoning me to its door!"
This I hoped, and nothing more.

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December
When each darkly feathered member left its life upon the moor.
Eagerly I came a-calling, but the scene there was appalling
When I peeped into a window of a room, from ceiling to floor,
Filled with volumes old and dusty never browsed since long before
My flight from off the muddy moor.

And the wobbly, weird, unwieldy way the gentleman did sway
While I watched him fume and fantasize about I know not what
Made me feel a bit uneasy and in fact I was quite queasy
But my daemon made it clear to me, and I could not ignore
Its urging to find an open door
To enter the house, and then what more?

Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer
Swiftly did I flap my wings and enter through a broken door.
In the darkened halls I glided heedlessly through darkness like a
Velvet cloud of ink without a sign of wall or floor
Until I turned a corner and 'twas there I met a door
I flew into it, nothing more.

Deep inside the room I heard the man a-mutt'ring as he stirred
Shuffling, groaning, growling did he then approach the dismal door.
In my terror did I fly, returning to the breast of night
But my curiosity did stop me fleeing o'er the the fragrant moor
And I came with trepidation to a window and sensations
Horrible did me assail as I gazed upon the floor.

There inside the chamber scattered on the floor, around a ladder
Tomes and tomes and moldered pages lying on the filthy floor
Greeted my inquiring vision and I made a quick decision:
I must enter in that room and help this mindless omnivore
To rearrange his dwelling and forget this person called Lenore
Named by him, that ceaseless bore

So I tapped upon the pane of glass, which, slickened by the rain
Made me slide and shudder on the ledge brought up from depths of yore,
Placed against the moody mansion in some ill thought out expansion
Of its innards so to make it like a labyrinth 'round its core,
Then so suddenly that ass did open wide those sheets of glass
Almost did I fall upon the puddles of the muddy moor.
Muddy, moldy, misted moor.

But I did not fall. I stood, and elegantly as I could
I strode into the room to teach and tend to him as was my chore.
With a flutter of my wing and no other thought but sing
The praises of the world and wonders of the days of yore
So as to take from him his sorrow, give him hope of new tomorrows,
Free him of this hounded horrifying hold of woman named Lenore,
And I shouted, "Nevermore!"

Up I hopped and up soared, up to a bust of paste and board
That sat in silent, prim repose upon the wall, above the door.
Down below the man just stared in stupor, then he glared
And angrily he shouted at me like a stupid, vacuous boor.
Furious he was at that fact that I had come and sat
Upon his bust of dust and mustiness and fancy
Dropping bits of battered dreams and fantasies upon the floor
Was the bust then his Lenore?

Raging on he did me utter dreadful words from all the gutters
Of those slimy, dirty filthy holes of dust and smoke from o'er the moors
On and on he went, repeating phrases, labels, titles fleeting
Making out a vague mirage of what he must have thought my chore
Fists a-shaking, voice a-quaking, furiously squealed and howled he
Stomping petulantly on the floor
Fuming in his fluster did he fling out insults without pity
Stinging quick my helpful heart as I perched above his door
And I sputtered, "Nevermore!"

So I promised to the spirits without sorrow, without cheer, it
Would be my burden and my partic'lar chore
To see this man here eased of grief and pain; this, yes this is chief
Of all my cares at this dark moment while he rolls upon his floor
Hands to head and knees to trunk, he sobs and makes himself quite drunk
With useless memory and tears. I am quite sure of my business here:
It is to wipe away this demon succubus Lenore
And here I stay, never flitting, I'll be sitting, ever sitting
And till I have my satisfaction of seeing peace below this door
I shall flutter nevermore!

moon

My Moon
You come and go in my sky
You hide your face in fun or fury
And then you reveal yourself again
My Moon
My eyes can't resist your light
You are closer to me than all the stars
That would like to take my fancy
My Moon
I can't hide from you
When you slide out of the cloak of night
And hover over me wherever I am
My Moon
You are cold and you are cruel
You beckon and reject
You swoop away and back to me, but not quite
My Moon
I had an illusion
That you were at my side
That fades and revives with your turns
My Moon
I can't escape
There is no other heavenly body
To draw me from your orbit
My Moon
We circle like comets in space
And always find each other again
Out of habit, but not will

glass

Broken glass upon the floor
It glitters brightly
In tiny shards
Shards of glass, glass like stars
Winking and twinkling
In the black pudding of the sunless sky
Shards as clear as the tears
That trickled down her face
Before I broke the bottle
On her head

unbearable

Speak to me not of thy grandiose dreams,
Of thy troll-slaughter, of thy zombie death toll.
Fill not mine ears with words a-drip with fantasy.

Tell me not of futures beyond a decade and a world,
When thou art unrecognizable and bold,
And rejoicing in existences here known but vaguely.

Why dost thou envision such a lofty mirage?
Why can I not fall back and go?
Why do I cling to a hallucination of thee?

Tell me now, what thou saw'st on the street this morning,
How the scuttling clouds chilled thy soul.
Fill my head with words stuffed with normality.

Speak to me of a woman in the train
And her hair that swayed to and fro
With Medusa locks she pushed away to see

And weave a tale of nothingness to sooth and calm
My nervous mind, make it catch and slow.
Describe the tiny bird that hopped off free.

Thou dost not see the present, nor I future.
Our eyes do not meet as we well know.
I reach thru fog and darkness to clasp a hand to me
And find my emptiness and numbness only grow
When thou look'st off to whatever thou and thou alone would see.

stealing from mr. burns

My love is like a red, red rose
That's newly sprung in June:
My love has thorns and spines that stab
And leave the lover hewn.

As fair thou art, o love of mine,
So deep in love am I;
But never will you know, my dear,
Tho all the seas go dry

Tho all the seas go dry, my love,
I cannot make thee see
That what I'd like to be to thee
Is what thou still art to me.

So fare thee well, my own, my pet
Fare thee well a while.
I may find another yet
If I walk a thousand mile.