night swim

the water is warmer

than the soft night air,

stars are dipping big and little

across the velvet sky

orange trees 

look like dark green 

corrugated cardboard,

moonlit cutouts

all the world 

is night different,

shades and textures

undayed

we tread water,

kicking our legs

to keep afloat

under the infinite 

stars smile

at our tiny grand plans,

which fade to shadows

in the peaceful water

7/2/22

For Ukraine

There’s a bear

in the field

of sunflowers

tearing through

those golden glories

simply because

it doesn’t want them

to shine

Sometimes

destruction

has no purpose

but destruction,

forcing beauty 

into ruin,

and profaning 

the sacred

The sacred is a gift

that small minds

and cold hearts

cannot find

in themselves,

and set out 

to extinguish 

in others

But no matter how many 

flowers perish

in any season,

their seeds fall upon 

the nourishing earth

and grow

and grow

and grow

(2/26/22)

Maybe

If we sit together
on this rock by the river,
and let the sun
warm the hard places
where we do not meet

Maybe words will fall
into the water,
the hard words,
the disagreements,
the name calling

And the color of our skin
will be like flower petals,
each soft in beauty,
beloved
in difference

And our bodies,
their genders, places of birth,
languages, experiences,
will tell us both
about love and pain

And your beliefs
and mine will open
enough to include
a meeting place,
like this rock by the river

And the spark in your eyes
will greet mine,
maybe not in friendship,
or even understanding,
but in simple humanity

Whales

Blue navy waves

with white caps

and whales

greeting the clouds

with a blow and a spout

then a gray dive deep

Do you hear them, singing

songs of migration,

already ancient when the world

was fresh and the water

clear and salty

and certain

A whole concert

of hellos, welcoming

the newly born,

and a resonant keening

to mourn all those

who’ve sunk to the sand

With echoing calls of sorrow

and wonderment

at the surface songs

of humanity,

whose vain glory

blares loudly how great they art

Rough waves, and whales

dying to find cool waters

and always singing

for love of the sea,

their vast hearts full

of silence and sound

Rocks and Ruins

What endures

may not be

what you thought

or even what you felt

Your life will fade 

into earth again,

as even stone houses

eventually crumble

But the rocks, 

whose offspring

are dust,

still remember the stars

And what you build

upon, even the dearest

foundation that falters,

leaves an imprint

That echoing place

of heart, of home,

lingers long past

any forgetting

1/03/21

Moving

The house is emptying

itself of us,

our furniture and belongings

The walls stand politely

in their new coats

of paint

The windows wonder

how clearly the next dwellers

will see though them

Outside, the yard hunkers down

under its mulch and leaves

curious who will rake it next

The trees will welcome

whoever comes here,

as trees always do

The birds and squirrels

will chirp and chatter

in greeting

And we will be across the world 

in gratitude for everything

this house shared

Fall

Fall into autumn,

let each leaf 

gently down

Or lift the tiny

leaves aloft

and fly them forth

However you let

things go,

open your arms

Surrender the dead

with your heart

tender and wide

Winter won’t be

quite as cold

then, with love

Answers

Maybe life

is just a big bunch

of answers

to random questions

like the romance

of the dusky sky

with the gentleness

of the evening

or the sun sinking

into the embrace

of the horizon

with one last burst of light

or every smiling

shadow

that follows us

under the sun

or the shining awe

of your face

whenever you laughed

soul deep

Maybe life

is just one answer

to the question

Love?

Working the River

Nature-made, the river

jumps the banks to curl

the earth in and under 

and down,

just as the sea 

reclaims its land

from that very first rising

out of its depths

Here, our house stands

bravely facing 

that watery uprising, 

and so

we work, bringing thick stumps

that once held 

towering trees aloft,

to edge the sinking earth

And then come boulders,

rough and heavy, to hold

the banks back, and hug

those former trees,

now stalwart soldiers

standing river guard,

while in between, 

the water seeps

Water always finds 

an opening,

and we invite it

to flow 

beyond our permitted

work, and the house,

man-made, sighs in relief

at its reprieve

At its best, work

does not destroy

but shores up, respects

nature’s pathways,

employs the labor

of man and tree and rock,

and preserves the life

of water, and of land

8/15/20

Lion Stars

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