Uncover the Sun

Lion Stars

Somewhere,
a constellation
of lion stars roar
in pride light
across the night sky,
“We are family!”

Here, constellations
bear the weight
of major and minor
as if stars sing in scales
instead of waves
we’ve forgotten

We’ve forgotten
our stardust souls
once twinkled together
in infinite space
connected completely
by the sound of light

We are separated
by nothing more
than an idea
of gaping emptiness
that we endlessly
long to bridge

And we pluck
from each other
the remainder
of light we have left
like dying stars grasping
for illumination

Look up!
Somewhere, lion stars
roar in pride
against the night
and remind us
we are family

Uncover the Sun

Sky

The sky hears
the musical movement
of every v-shaped stanza
of migration

The sky knows
every bird that floats the currents,
every plane that touches a cloud,
every rocket that blasts past

The sky sings
in a thunderous chorus
and in the soft tones
of raindrops

The sky mourns
every species
that never walks or crawls or flies
on earth again

The sky loves
every first breath
and every last
it has ever shared

Uncover the Sun

Breathe

Don’t hold it in too long,
that breath
that fear

Every worried thought
that sits inside
unexhaled

becomes a weight
heavier
than any virus

Breathe
deep belly
to diaphragm

Round it out
like a baby
laughing

and finding
her feet
for the first time

Don’t hold anything
past one full
in and exhale

and breathe
right through loss
and love again

Uncover the Sun

Baby Blanket

 

My colorful quilt

of many-toned skin,

is different from yours

and covers me

covers me well,

can you tell?

 

It keeps me warm

as the earth

when the sun shines down

in olive tones,

a Mediterranean-

Middle-East-kind-of-blanket

I got when I was born

 

What kind did you get?

 

Uncover the Sun

Every Flower

 

Lavender roses last longest,

deep red have a scent of perfume,

the peach hold their colors the longest,

the white ones are largest in bloom

 

Yellow roses gather the sunlight,

multicolored ones mimic the dawn,

black roses glisten like midnight

with their leaves shining green as a lawn

 

To Nature, all people are flowers,

her palette of colors in skin,

the gift of this beauty is ours-

to love every flower as kin

Uncover the Sun

Worth It

 

Rocks yearn

for the watery kiss

of ocean waves,

although that press

may eventually wear them down

 

Ask any bit of sand

if love was worth

shattering for

and that tiny smooth rubble

will smile under your feet

 

while it holds

families and picnics

and vacations

and dogs running like lovers

into the waves

 

The gritty sand

that was once rock

clings to feet, legs, hands,

hair, and thus travels

the world

 

to be brushed off by towels

and washed away

by hoses and showers

to go wherever

it may, still smiling

 

at how far love

has taken it,

moved

and embraced it,

shattered and all

Uncover the Sun

Long Evening

 

In this time of the light,

end of day but before night,

when sun begins its evening sprawl,

our shadows barely show at all,

outlines grow ever duller

while blossoms, serene in brilliant color,

scent of violet, rose, and musk

perfume the air all cloaked in dusk

 

Under nature’s beauty spell,

we stroll about like all is well

though we wear masks and watch our spacing

knowing the risk that we are taking

may be low, but nonetheless,

a danger that we must address

as day comes to its nightly close,

a colorful palette in repose

 

We head home from our long walk

passing tree, leaf, blossom, stalk,

houses rimmed by bushy hedges

that may be rounded, or have edges,

other walkers keep their distance

in mutual respect for existence-

if only this had always been

for friends and strangers, lovers, kin

 

Appreciation for all that nature is,

not sacrificed to human biz,

oceans, mountains, valleys, lakes

clear air and water, for all our sakes,

creatures that swim, fly, crawl, and run,

everything beloved under the sun

from trees and plants, to bees that buzz

let’s keep it all as is, not was

Uncover the Sun

What Grows

 

What do you grow in your garden there,

from seeds you tended with water and care?

Did they surprise you, when up they sprung,

delicious enough to delight the tongue?

 

Turnips and radishes, rounded in girth

rooted happily in the rich earth

Snap peas and melons, both with their vines

one travels up, while the other reclines

 

Potatoes snooze deep in the ground

spreading all over in a manner profound

All kinds of berries, of sweet tart flavors

to satisfy any dessert cravers

 

Cherries, apricots, plums, are all growing,

figs, Asian pears, their bloomers are showing

Lettuce in pots, and there’s Meyer lemon,

(a rhyme for that word leaves me hawing and hemmin’)

 

Broccoli, luckily, likes colder weather,

while others reject the chill altogether

Flowers, they flourish already this year,

perhaps knowing humans need color and cheer

 

All the euphorbia seems quite euphoric,

and the rhodies are practically phantasmagoric

Here in the garden, beyond human woes

snapdragons snap and dance on their toes

 

Whatever you’ve planted or whatever you’ve not,

the seeds of them both, well, that’s what you’ve got 

Uncover the Sun

No Fear

 

The rain has left puddleprints

along the sidewalks 

and in the streets,

gurgling through the drains

like a song to the sky

 

No one is out walking 

but you and I,

delightfully sprinkled

but not sodden

in our sneakers and coats

 

The rain fears nothing,

not even the sunniest days

when it becomes only a dream

waiting for new clouds

to bring it forth again

 

The newbud scent

of mulch and flowers

dances through the air,

reminding us, it’s a fine thing

to breathe deeply 

 

No matter how much human fear

clings to houses and cars,

the rain shrugs wetly

and keeps making puddles

of sheer joy

Uncover the Sun

Sunset Walk

 

Look, over there,

a pink orange surprise

above the dark outline

of trunk and branch hugging

the horizon

 

Sunsets, like every leaf ever made,

never look the same,

and the sky never gets bored in its

end-of-the-day palette

of Easter hues

 

Lately, colors have been heightened,

the crisp green of leaves, bold

contrast to the blushing rose

and white jasmine, whose fragrances

linger long after we pass by

 

The streets are poignantly empty,

even of car sounds,

and the ground shimmers

in the pale light, as if not quite

substantial any more

 

It is possible to breathe quietly

under such a sunset,

and let fear and worry dissolve

under the sky

like watercolors