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
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
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?
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
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
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
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
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
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
Now They Know
Grief is like this:
everything stops
for you,
but not the world
And you can’t believe
every day continues
when even thought
doesn’t work for you
Others are kind, or not,
but life isn’t one long moment
stretched to raw feeling
for them
And sometimes you wonder
if you are alone
because everything continues on,
while you just try to breathe
Now suddenly, everyone knows
what you know,
grief is like this virus
when everything stops
3/13/20