writing4

Instead of leaves and blossoms,
You set down roots and grew thorns and briars
To catch and snag and tear.
While I tumbled down to a river side to be swept away.
Some days floating, mostly rushing headlong
Into some lake or ocean to be sucked out by the sun,
Then flicked against the ground again.
I run to a creek or river eddy,
That never seems to stop its whirling, mad, blind, twisting rages.
Then I hit bottom, and plash against a smooth-worn stone.
I gather strength to start again, ending as a raindrop.
Then I kiss your rooted feet.
Only to sink to the depths and start again,
This time as the mist deep in a mountain valley
On a cool September morning.
I'm waiting for the sun to shine through again.
I play among the grasses, sniff the air by a pond,
Then I am captured by a light shaft, that pierces my soul,
Like some piece of trash, or else some golden treasure.
No matter--I change again and survive.
You get bulldozed and burned.
Too bad.

It's narrow in this box you pushed me in,
The labels you stuck on me hurt my skin.
I've tried to twist and turn, but the twine you used is strong.
The messages on the labels seem to be all wrong.

These blinders you put on to make my vision straight,
Only allow me to see a future that can't wait.
Oh, Love, don't you know?
It is yourself you hurt most of all?

My life will soon break out of this box,
Then expand and grow,
While your life will narrow,
And finally close.
It's narrow in this box you stuffed me in,
But I can easily break out again.
Your labels can be torn and moved.
That poison tattoo on your heart will never come loose.

SHIFTING LIGHT

Standing barefoot in the cold light of the moon,
I watch as the earth tilts: right, now left.
Shifting feet, right, left,
The frozen light cools around the shadows.
Darting shadows: front to back, right, then left again.

Cantina serving Mexican pizza, a blackjack table: first right, then left.
Roasted pig, spicy hot, strange beers flowing.
Mesquite smoke, clouding the light: Red,green lights,
Blisters peeling from moonburns,
Pouring lukewarm beer, pungent and heady, over blistering flesh.
Yeah, oh, yeah, gunwounds festering in the wall--tilt again.
Chattering teeth, clanking shadows, backing against the light.
Top to bottom, letting light patterns fall over the ground,
Invisible light, new players, old shadows.

Romeo and Maria wade into the light.
The turmoil, seething, "Left, now right!"
Calls for Jesus and Juliette to step into the circle of shadows.
Fly in the ointment--slashed across the toilet wall--insults,
New blisters boil.
Mexican pizza steaming with new vengence,
Burning with smoke,
No light escapes.

The chill breaks out in a new sweat,
Long way home.
Feet with no shoes, "A Kodak Moment."
The earth tilts: right, now left.
The moon pours its own brew over the hostile shadows,
Oozing wounds, soothing salves.
Mesquite smoke drifting into the darkness: garlic cloves,
Shifting light, shifting shadow.

A long way home.

TAPESTRY

It was a perfect April night.
We sat so far out on the edge,
Under stars so ancient,
They spoke olde english with
a flat Appalachain twang,
And whispered secrets of life eons old.

There was magic in the night,
A fleeting thing of awe.
We watched as children,
Noses pressed against the candy store window,
Not daring to believe the total beauty of it all.

We became a corner pattern in the tapestry
Of magic woven in the stars.