Lions Mane

I remember meeting you
then waiting here for forever
Walked your dark horse to the river
felt the sparks n shivers

Days ran into weeks
then months and years
seemed never ending
Grooming trimming
hooves and hair the
dark horse needed tending

Dark horse healed with time and
found his place among the flowers
running towards me tail aloft
brightening my hours

My own learning how to care for
dark horse now my friend
one heart journey living here
until we reach the end

You returned to find one day
a horse within a man
living woven in a dream
with loves abiding hand ~

I’m an old man 

with not much to lose

an anchor at the end of a chain

All of my memories

wrecks and wrong turns
rattle around in my brain

Filling up gas

at the White Oak Station
she was leaned back on her car

Cradling her belly

like holding a baby

we looked at each other afar

Topping my tank

trying hard not to think 

I turned on the highway towards home

Nothing was said

jus’ chatter in my head

blind love for the girl on her own ~

Twenty five years on
twenty five acres
knowing i would
not forsake her

Nothing else that i might hold
could break this old mans
heart of gold

Gaia my eternal home
quiet moments faced alone
Human lovers fancy flight
leave without a sound at night

One day i will lay myself
on some bluff or earthen shelf
body turning stiff and cold
shining spirit wings unfold ~

Reach this way

i will reach back

fingers tendrils

hearts to match

syncopated 

understandings

life requires

our inspirations ~

Once i dreamed a place to live
with kindred souls my own to give
a place of beauty, place of peace
a land far from the maddening race

Neighbors grew their food and traded
food and healing skills were needed
holding close upon the land
a prayer a song a helping hand

At last i found a land most fair
with waters clear and fragrant air
We gathered and then shared the harvest
saved the rest for winters hard frost

Gatherings were full of cheer
our lives were built around whats here
no need to travel far and wide
what we needed lay inside

Those days now seem far and distant
Many gone or just resistant
Everything comes from the store
The internet assures of more

Still the land will take me in
as i lay down to sleep again
to dream and sing the songs i leave
my whispered prayers in living trees ~

The idea someone prays for me
i find hard to fathom
holding me up to a light
i scarcely can imagine

Still and true the thought that counts
will brighten any day
whether i am next to you
or very far away ~

Life is not always too stressful
just a roller coaster

Weather goes from freezing cold
to summer in a roaster

Work it never goes away
the tasks are ever changing

Movies tell the same old tales
with subjects rearranging

Politics will drive you nuts
whichever side you favor

Music is the only hope
to give your life some flavor

Talk about your animals
your loved ones and your dreams

Building castles on the river
rowing down the stream ~

Forming dreams

which then are words

sewn like seeds 

not so absurd

the idea that those 

seeds might grow 

adorning life

some one might know

The garden of 

a life well lived

the storms we fear

bring rains to give

those seeds to nourish

patient grace

one day to love

thine own true face ~

There are thoughts we understand
our hearts may never know
and places of emotion where
our minds can never go

Brains are good at figuring
while hearts can only feel
when the door between us closed
the ending felt unreal

I know why it all went down
but my heart still cries
at the ending we composed
for love that would not die ~

May some great goodness
grow from this pain
rise from the ashes
washed by the rain

Blown by the wind
all wizened and fresh
tatters to weave into
some living mesh

Let something new follow
what now grows old
May it be true as the
new day is bold

May it be beautiful
possibly sacred
soul shining bare from
a body now naked ~

to the trees
quiet and holy

stay in one place
grow fast then slowly

always bend graceful
bow if the wind blows

breath in a prayer
give thanks and let go

send down your roots
hold fast to the soil

in death reunite with
Earth body and soul ~

~

Pardon all the shitty poems
some are better left unsaid
words that form and fall at random
from my troubled heart and head

Magically to manifest
then to vanish in the air
Leaving you to wonder whether
someone real was ever there

Forgive all the sordid details
of a life t’was lived half blind
and for those i may have harmed
but never meant to be unkind

Days are numbered though we slumber
heaven will not hesitate
Should we meet again up yonder
walk with me through Peter’s gate ~

Tick fever has me feeling very mortal these days. Have loved this Arlo Guthrie song for many years.. doesn’t get much play, so i hope you enjoy it ~

When one wish remains
to not die here alone
i reach for your hand
before night calls me home

Until that someday when
this life bids adieu
i watch for the faint
winding path back to you ~

Authors note: This poem was inspired by a story i heard about a family in Gaza. The children of this family were so traumatized by the violence that their primary concern was to stay together so that if the parents were killed, they would all die together. It is tragic that the US arms Israel, and that Israel uses those arms to kill thousands of innocents.

An acorn fell upon the Earth
a fertile crack a timely birth
a cradle that was once a grave
a sprout, a whip, a living stave

Growing ever towards the sun
the sapling sprints ahead to run
waving in the windy air she
finds the canopy most fair

Branching out with every breath
first the height and then the width
casting cover blue green shade
cools the land her leaves to lay

Filters air with each expire
haze that drifts far from the mire
til the sun can shine like silver
dancing leaves of joy reveal her

Sets a feast of mast in season
birds and chipmunks squirrels will seize them
even humans sometimes able
find a place beneath her table

Lays her body down at last
five hundred years or more are past
since the sprout unfurled her leaves
emerged from velvet satin sheaths

Cradled on the fertile ground
the place of birth where life is bound
subtle matrix web of veins
her memory tomorrow dreams ~

Land o lore

faun n flore

blaze o glory

ring o fire

*

Speak the story

word for word

the whisper heard

above the choir

*

Distant voices

sing together

let the 12th of 

never rise

*

Line the stars

Neptune and Mars

Pleiades 

bejewels the skies ~

How we sing from
scattered ponds
calling from the
cat tail fronds

Over where the
minnows swim
salamanders
turtle kin

Croaks and chirps
we splash and wiggle
disappear beneath a ripple ~

Photo credit K. Jones

Morning walk in dew

drenched grass ~ greener than the sky

is bluer than blue ~

Early in the morning there’s a whippoorwill calling the wind
“hurry up daybreak, wake up the robin and wren”

Step into the morning light,
a redtail hawk is singing in flight,
sky is shining blue and bright,
the music of Gaia is ringing

In the afternoon, there’s a daytime moon
cicadas and crickets are buzzing
Seven year locusts and bullfrogs croaking
hummingbirds are humming

Evening sets in, soft as the skin
on the wing of a dragonfly
Heron flies home, high and alone
frogs in the pond sing bye bye

Singing songs the morning
making tunes at night
humming our way all through the day
make everything alright, alright

Moving around in a world of sound
putting out vibrations
harmonize and visualize
peace among all our relations

Make a new sound, let it abound
with the energy of creation
music and play can show us the way
go without hesitation

Singing songs the morning
making tunes at night
humming our way all through the day
make everything alright, alright ~

“Once upon a time, when women were birds, there was the simple understanding that to sing at dawn, and to sing at dusk, was to heal the world through joy. The birds still remember what we have forgotten, that the world is meant to be celebrated.” ~ Terry Tempest Williams

by Louanne Lewis

A simple candle on a clear dark night
Can light the way home
A bright beacon while encased in fog
Can mislead the mightiest of ships
Slow down
Always be a candle
Let the fog rise up
And seek the sun.

Poem and photo ~ Louanne Lewis ~ 2024

Heavenly gray sky

Surely is about to cry

hope the levee holds ~

I’ve lately been thinking
some deep ruminating
my brain enjoys color and light

Thus it occurs all the
beauty surrounding
feeds neurons with spectral delight

More than just pleasure
there is a good measure
of sustenance found in these rays

Photons and waves
shining into the mind
transforming the usual grays

Now when i walk
i am snacking along
feeding my head with the scenes

Indigo violets with
yellows and oranges
delicious purples and greens ~

Photo by Louanne Lewis

Some collective moment steers

our planet sun and moon

Lined up well to cast a veil

upon the earth at noon

Happens we might feel a shifting

of reality

a cosmic blink

a solar wink

a world with eyes to see ~

A Billy song

we love to play

lest our pride

be in the way

A speed bump or

a short delay

we’ll try again

another day

~

How we long
to be discovered
Standing in
our own true light

Long to be
uncovered here
without the fear
of peering slight

Yearn to be
recovered from
the wreckage of
our long dark night

Pray to be
uplifted with
the grace of heavens
help we might

Rise up from our
hiding place to
find and face
our selves ~ just write ~

Diamond droplet afternoon

rain washed glory

rising moon

Wind is singing

cold spring tunes

Summertime will

be here soon ~

Queen of my dreams

tis late so it seems

we may never cross 

paths in this life

Like stars we have found

there is no one around

to orbit our 

clear burning light

Spinning through space

a glance at the face

our twin flame we 

missed long ago

‘Tis fate to shine on

rise up with the dawn

either side of the 

silver moon shadow ~

Last night the Earth slid
behind the moon’s shadow
as if disappearing might
offer a sign

That something lay hidden
beyond the horizon
celestial bodies
inspire and align

Looking toward heaven
a silent prayer uttered
words drifting lay on the
fertile wet ground

May all beings thrive in
the world thus created
all hearts be nurtured
our planet surround

Precious lives teeter
a cliff edge serrated
carefully stepping
together we’re bound

A ship on the ocean
the liminal crossing
a new world awaits as
our hearts come unwound ~

Let ether zing
and tall trees sing
of a love that is
strong as the tide

As planets align
distant stars shine
the moon hides
the sun in our sky

Look to the heavens
our spiritual leavens
the bread of our
bodies to rise

One day to gaze
through fire and haze
the ephemeral light
of your eyes ~

Friends who then marry
may thus fall between
cracks become wider
than some common dream

As such my family
here soon became
two cats, a dog, and
a horse with no name

Still i hold onto
my old rowdy ways
counting the hours
the number of days

Walking alone beneath
blue skies sublime
learning to read
the most obvious signs ~

“Nature loves courage. You make the commitment and nature will respond to that commitment by removing impossible obstacles. Dream the impossible dream and the world will not grind you under, it will lift you up. This is the trick. This is what all these teachers and philosophers who really counted, who really touched the alchemical gold, this is what they understood. This is the shamanic dance in the waterfall. This is how magic is done. By hurling yourself into the abyss and discovering its a feather bed.”

Terence McKenna

A poem from another friend writer (Chico’s Mom) who also blogs on WordPress. Great poem with interesting characters !

Zorro on a walk ~

The moon is getting smaller
farther from us out in space

Time she has her way with Luna,
laughing in her face

“You think that you can fool me Moon?
No one stops the time!”

(even though its movement is
marked only in your mind)

How far can we see ahead,
and how deep down within?

The answer lies within the tides
and drives the howling wind ~

Here is what i’ve seen..

that nothing dies easily

No human, nor insect

no forest, nor river.

We fight to hold on

to stay one more day

drinking the pure light.

This body will die

this planet may too.

If only i knew

how to die like you ~

In memory of my friend Len D.

Bearing witness
try to see
what motivates
inspires

What it takes
to one day wake
and tend the
burning fires

Focused far from
where we are
the spaces
in between

Down the road
a heart i’m told
lies waiting
in the wings

Stain of red
upon the heart
a drop of blood
or wine

Sit a spell
and listen well
gently mark
the time ~

Early in the 

still dark morning

life it calls for 

some small fire

first the candle 

then the stove

our conversation 

well inspires

Agreements and 

decisions burning

tilt the damper 

stem the flow

Cracks and pops 

mirages turn

the spells we murmur 

cast a glow

Words grow heated 

as we forge 

a truce to carry 

on the flame

Light the darkness 

warm the home

as life and light are 

much the same ~

The world is burning

ever turning

circles ’round the sun

tilted wobble

humans hobble

til the day is done

Deep inside a

warrior ‘bides

waiting for the call

to stand and fight

to be the light

aware the night will fall ~

Wild hogs rummage in the darkness

leaf mulch turned and scattered

Disappear with morning light

behind the earth is tattered

Feral packs of hungry pigs

are ravaging the forest

eating everything in sight

grunting out their chorus 

Countless are their numbers here

with no end yet in sight

As we slip and slumber 

hungry creatures roam the night ~

February passes by
lifting dead and dreary
days of winter weather leave us
feeling tired and weary

Into March we slide and tumble
deep freeze left behind
under foggy skies a jumble
peas begin to vine

Cleaning up the detritus of
tattered remnants spread
leaves and limbs in piles to burn
or compost here instead

So the seasons turn and cycle
spirals of becoming
live and die as we revisit
lessons well worth learning ~

One more morning
up at four
looking for the
hidden door
leading to
another realm
where dreams and
life can both be held

One more day to
roam the land
looking for your
outstretched hand
or a voice to
call my name
yet all i hear
echoes refrain

One more night
to cross the dark
listening for a
lonely heart
Beating time like
some old clock
that might need winding
lest it stop ~

River running low and slow

tis almost going dry

Flowing seeping underground

away from human eyes

Up above the land is waking

harbingers of spring

Robins in the meadow hunting

flowers opening

First the daffodils and lilies

forsythia behind 

then wildflowers riotously 

bogle heart and mind ~

Music for me as

a struggling artist

one half is craft but

the rest is catharsis

I might discover more

beauty in sharing

a loving heart fueled

with a penchant for caring

Possibly leave more

excesses behind

Appease and appeal to

my old worried mind

Weaving these songs with

a bright common thread 

sew holy music and

wage peace instead ~

Orion hunter of the sky

poised your bow is drawn

Constellation floating high 

forever hunting dawn

Should you let your arrow fly

to pierce the heart of night

Or fall upon your sword to die

and finally be the light ~

Bright Capella
she goat of light
twin stars of the night
Amalthea
gathered to lodge
in the temple of the gods

Cold winter timeless rites
Cailleach veiled from sight
come sunrise promise of life
warm the Earth with light

Imbolc fires the dawn
Brigid lights the flame
Inspiration, breath of spring
Turn the wheel again

Strips of hide, whips aside
chasing down the prize
stag or doe, friend or foe
starlight for eyes

Beltane wet and fertile
Solstice turns the tide
Lammas marks the harvest
Samhain, summer dies

Bright Capella
she goat of light
twin stars of the night
Amalthea
gathered to lodge
in the temple of the gods

~~~

I wrote this song in 2011.
It refers to Seasons, Solstices, and
cross quarter days.
Capella / Amalthea is a binary star
that was once the North Star.

Sweet grass braid

an alter laid

a memory in kind

Faces fade

love parades

exits from the mind

Set alight the 

holy smoke

rises and dissolves

Flames are quashed

spirit washed

my restless soul

revolves ~

A flock of robins
grazes in
the meadow
most intently

Hunting bugs they
listen close to
find what they
cannot see ~

First quarter moon
she’s a sliver of light,
a sickle of stardust,
a scythe in the night
a crescent so fertile
she sings to the Earth
let your seeds all awaken
your dreams give birth

For the moon changes
while we’re all sleepin’
so quietly nobody knows
in the dark of the night
when you can’t see her light
she’s turning through all our shadows

Around second quarter,
seeds rise from the ground
bees in the blossoms where
the honey is bound
there’s a hen sittin’ pretty
a rooster just crowed
daffodils poppin’ from
the bulbs that we sowed

For the moon changes
while we’re all sleepin’
so quietly nobody knows
in the dark of the night
when you can’t see her light
she’s turning through all our shadows

She’s coming on full as
the coyotes call
she rises up over the mountain
deep in the night
her quicksilver light
pours oe’r the land like a fountain

Fruit on the vine and
a bottle of wine
a song for the earth and her kin
then somewhere near dawn
with a sigh and a yawn
we lay as the night sky spins.

Third and fourth quarter
fall quiet in line
she’s rising now well after midnight
Roots reachin’ down
where the water is found
swellin’ the melons til they’re just right

After 28 days
the cycle is full
the moon spirals back to begin
the darkness gives way
to the light of the day
the nighttime recalls her old friend ~

Original song lyrics

What of dreams
that might come true
waiting for a
song from you

Notes align
we reach again
grasping for a
whisper wind

Love’s a fish
the river cold
tis hard to hook
much less to hold

And well to notice
from the start
what e’re we catch
will one day part ~

It wasn’t very long ago
in February certain
never rain but blowing snow
would fall and drop the curtain

In a recent change of late,
what comes down is sleet
spilling from a cloud of slate
in waves of pelting sheets

Everything is changing very
quickly now it seems
Winter sleet and rain,
then comes summer..
where went spring?

Lay my body
down to sleep
Wrap your words
around me keep

Fingers touch my
pulse runs deep
You’re so far
away I weep

Come and turn
my world around
Make a smile
from every frown

Hold me by my
feet and shake me
Maybe you can
yet awake me ~

Dip a bucket
in the well it
clangs and hits
the bottom

All the water
has run dry as
words escape
forgotten

Wishing for a
drink of wisdom
maybe one
more poem

Dig a little
deeper just be
careful not to
fall in ~

Sometimes you
wash over me
a thought
a feeling
then the sea

Waves from nothing
but your words
someone might think
thats absurd

We know better
you and i
love is boundless
as the sky

Energetic
ties that bind
quantum leaps
this heart of mine

Atoms spin
within loves flame
a steady warmth
around your name

Through my body
up and down
you fill me up
I drink you down ~

Dropping a bucket
down into the well
This hole deep inside
between heaven and hell

A cistern of longing
is this human being
The bucket resembles
a golden bell ringing

It clangs in the morning
and sometimes at night
keeps me awake until
first morning light

Sometimes the water is
cloudy and brown
That gets poured out
on the merciful ground

When it runs clear it
can quench any thirst
a few blessed swallows
to wash away hurt

Then water the garden
pour some out for birds
A splash on my face from
this deep well of words

~~~

Today might be your coup de gras’

the chill of you so brutal

not since last years cold assault

did living feel so futile


Not to stall nor disappoint
I look to find some grace
break the frozen water trough

as snowflakes pelt my face

A waking awareness of
how fragile life can be
and how indifferent nature
when she finally comes for me ~

Fantasy is like a rope
it seldom bears your weight
If you take a hold and swing
to fall is surely fate

Dreams are somewhat similar
but maybe more like ladders
One rung at a time we climb
to see what truly matters

Plans are visions of a future
that we hope to view
God may laugh, the futile task
that shapes the work do

Brave to be a simple soul
and leave small works behind
A man once said, “dreams are for beds..
live simply and be kind” ~

Early morning darkness lays
an egg that sits unbroken
the life inside the bird that hides
with songs as yet unspoken

Watch with me upon this fragile
shell of life protecting
hope of love this precious dove
is born of deep connection

Nurture well the dream that swells
and struggles to awaken
colored plumage soft and strong
as morning light comes breaking ~

Oh Babe
ain’t no lie
We’ll see heaven
‘fore we die
Streaming in the
twilight skies
gleaming in
your loving eyes

Hiding in the
songs we played
afternoon hot
summer days
Heaven sent comes
without warning
birdsongs in the
early morning

And at night
around the fire
farther up the
river, higher
Crossing pastures
green and golden
aura’s shine lo
and behold them

Holy mother
bless my soul
sing that good
old rock n roll
Hallelujah
kiss the dirt
i saw heaven
here on Earth ~

One of these days,
i’m gonna be an old oak tree

gonna stand in one place
let the wind whistle through my leaves

Send my roots down deep
draw the water up through my knees

Make some shade and
a home for the birds and bees


One of these days
I’m gonna be a drop of falling rain

Floatin in the clouds
rolling thunder over the plains

Headed for the mountains where
her majesty touches the sky

Shine like a diamond
fall like a tear from your eye


One of these days
I’m gonna be an ancient rock of age

Buried in the ground sittin
still like a wise old sage

Gonna carry real weight
be as solid as a thing can be

Waitin for the rain
underneath an old oak tree


One of these days
I’m gonna be everything that I am

With the grace of heaven
gonna to rise to my feet like a man

Love my brothers and my sisters
just as much as I can

One of these days
I’m gonna be everything that I am


One of these days
I’m gonna be an old oak tree ~

(Original song lyrics i wrote around the time of my Fathers passing)

Or maybe an old cedar!

As a young child i was
taught about Jesus
Part God and part man
deceased but still sees us

I also recall how he
rose from the dead
ascended to heaven
and lives there instead

The whole thing confused me
beginning to end
The father, the son, and
a ghost in the wind

~~~

My Dad was so busy
for most of my life
chasing his second and
then his third wife

I grew up looking
for love in a bed
music and mantras
a buzz in my head

Heaven on Earth was
my own holy grail
wandering flesh with
some wine in a pail

~~~

Religions divide us
as our nation crumbles
crowning orange Jesus
America fumbles

Good Lord have mercy
on sinners and clowns
as men without morals
would burn the world down ~

You are the center
my orbit delights
circling you in the
darkness of night

A blue and green planet
a hot molten ball
an asteroid burning
and ready to fall

The gravity now
overwhelming my spin
my mineral blood pulled
towards your magnetic skin

There i am certain
to undergo fusion
a flashing of light
exploding in union

A crashing arrival
tsunamis in waves
our flesh becomes one as
your Earth is my grave ~

Over some horizon lives
a woman fine and fair
sugar sweet upon her lips
wild flowers her hair

Smell of forest follows her
and ocean tides that pull
draws me closer to her edge
my thoughts of her so full

Mysteries lay hidden under
neath her cloak and dress
calling me in whispers ere
my love i must confess

Be my muse and let me use
your beauty in my quest
for love that lives forever
must exist outside of flesh ~

Keep your wick trimmed and burnin
keep your powder dry and yearnin’
Let your life be for the learning
rolling thunder in a dream

Just before the dawn comes creeping
darkest hours are for keeping
whether ecstasy or weeping
walk the path that lies between ~

An ode to those

on their devices

cultivating avarices

not that we might

need more vices

tis a slope as

slick as ice is

Here am i this

bag of bones

flesh and blood

and random stones

My restless spirit

longs to saddle

up the horse and

we’ll skedaddle

Farther from

the techno world

where brains and dreaming

stirs and swirls

Driven by old

fossil fuels

a rip tide pulls

a ship of fools ~

Reading your stories
a window of sorts
riding along on
my dark purple horse

Esther tells Oscar
her deepest of thrills
Perhaps we both know what
they deeply must feel

And how they each have
their own walls in the way
hearts desires beating
their lives through the day

A thousand miles more
to imagine such glory
the hope of love living
inside touching stories ~

(Thank you J.R. aka Chico’s Mom)

I wake in the heart of
a cold winter night
pick up my paper and
pencil to write

Words on a page fall like
leaves from a tree
in uncertain order
reveals whoa is me

Genus and species
an artist unfolds
poems and songs each
one longs to be told

The days and evenings
I pass here at home
a horse and three cats so
i feel less alone

Rather a part of
my animal clan
they love and forgive me
for being a man ~

I wonder what she’s thinking 
with words she sends like winking

and what to read between the lines
where stars ejaculations shine?

Aiming flaming flowers blooming
like two birds aloft and swooning

falling stars in ecstasy
i wonder if she feels so free?

She might fall in love with me
while thinking “this could never be”

and too, i wonder what she’s feeling
while her past is slowly healing

from the trauma of unkindness
brought on by another’s blindness?

Does her heart remember touching
laying still and open wide

will she ever brave the moment
letting someone else inside?

Come winter Queen

this cold dark night

with her crystal

blade of ice

Cutting through 

these earthly veils

life reminding

death prevails ~

Cleaning out my fathers house
an old scarf left in there
Plaid and blue of Cashmere wool
one he loved to wear

Hanging in a wardrobe at the
house where he once lived
Stumbled on while packing up
his rites the last to give

As the winter deepens i now
wrap it ’round my face
Breathing in the scent he left
outside his resting place

Walking out into this winter’s
frigid snow and wind
Wearing his old scarf i feel
I’m not so far from Jim ~

Oh creative force of life

which cast this rock in space

hear my prayer my urgent plea

for intervening grace

Let these human figures know

our lives are intertwined

Planetary wellness is the

key to be aligned

With thy holy thought and word

the Earth is but a gift

offered for our sacred work

to desecrate is grift ~

Did i hear your

voice today

walking by the river?

Turned to face you 

looked away 

slowly disappearing 

Calling out you 

briefly paused and 

then resumed 

your walking

Further from the 

path we shared

your silhouette 

was shrinking

Still i see you 

now and then

poised on

some horizon

Facing towards 

the setting sun

singing a 

goodbye song ~

Here i find you 

in the ether

lovely reader 

friend be mine

Let us walk

 imaginations

pathways leading 

true and kind

Casting petals 

strewn we wander

down the starry 

mountain way

Now and then 

become our bodies

flesh and bone

to live some day

Soon the path 

will disappear

beyond horizons 

lost from sight

Walk as if this 

life were morning

death will follow 

sure as night ~

I send her flowers
she sends me dirt

I send her poems
my petaling flirts

She tells me no, that
she’s not that type girl

I propose gently we
give love a whirl

She says i’m flighty
unable to land

I tell her maybe
if she’d hold my hand

We might could tether
the sky to the Earth

Forever love sings of
tomorrows rebirth ~

New moon spinning
dark and low

Frigid winds cold
rain and snow

In the end
you never know

This is the
beginning

~~~

Snow falls heavy
deep and still

Covering the
land it will

Soften colder
nights as well

Winter now
is bringing

Poems are my streaks of light
Meteors across the night

Illuminated yearnings play
Words that burn to have their say

What lies hidden in plain sight
Look up! Fireballs in the sky 

Flaming arrows love excites
To let another fly i write ~

In between waking dreams comes reality
there’s a place horses grace the landscape that i see
like a living bridge they cross the world of fantasy
underneath a starry sky, horses carry me.

All the pretty horse running with the wind
over plains and mountain ranges flying again
All the pretty horses following the sun
over the horizon they gallop one by one.

Over there, golden mare, rainbows end
tell me stories, never tell the end
sweet companion sing a song so true
dreaming horses I’m riding next to you

All the pretty horse running with the wind
silk manes, feather flames rise and fall again
All the pretty horses following the sun
over the horizon they gallop one by one.

Oh to live among the horses, fair as horses come
make a home above a meadow where the horses run
all the pretty horses, real as dreams can be
even as i wake i wonder, will they carry me?

All the pretty horses ~

Original song lyrics 

She lives on a mountain

a few miles away

follows the cosmos

the planets plie’

At night we abandon 

our bodies and fly

Together we cross

o’er the starry night sky

In thoughts and in dreams

we dance and make play 

Under auroras

bare naked we lay

Bodiless love

travels light and with speed

Feelings and thoughts 

with no flesh to impede

We’ll wake and then wonder

how come we’re alone?

From the mountain to the valley

our love is our home ~

Pondering the latter days
my past is there reminding
should i look away from you
is worse than any blinding

Whether you are dearly loved
or possibly unknown
the man out in the freezing cold
the dog without a home

Let me just remember when
i want to turn away
to hold the gaze and let my breaking
heart show me the way

To see the common spark of life
that every being tends
to cup my hands around the flame
and shield you from the wind ~

To live on a threshold
is no minor task
there’s work to be done here
like cutting the grass

The leaves may need raking
to keep the path clear
in case you might someday
be wandering near

The passage may need some
fresh paint or repairs
All the while watching..
hello? who’s there?

Strangely enough the
gateway is too wide
for one persons body
just two, side by side

No pulling or pushing
no “go it alone”
The threshold of dreams is
the door to a home

I sweep and then ponder
the steps in-between so
I might catch a glimpse
through this liminal seam

A figure quite distant
walks down the lee shore
as i remain here
by this well hidden door ~

Teach me how to better love you
let me get it right
show me how to be with you
across the darkest night

Teach me how to celebrate
the pearl that grows from pain
Gratitude my attitude
and joy for my refrain

Teach me how to hold you close
and how to let you go
Show me where to place my hand
to feel what we both know

Teach me how to speak your language
lest i fail to hear
Your thoughts in cadenced lyric
whispered softly in my ear

Teach me how to see the beauty
eyes alone might miss
The colors in your kindnesses
the brilliance of your kiss

Teach me how to love you,
how to cross the space between
Let me in i’m knocking on
the doorway of a dream

When the sunshine greets the morning
light falls on dew covered fields
leaves of brown blanket the ground
‘neath trees like memories still

hollows hide behind wooded curtains
boulders stand guard at the edge
roots hug the earth, and deep springs emerge
as the sun walks over the ridge

Time passes slow here
the rocks have their stories
years upon light years away
carved in beauty with generous glory
in the glens and fair meadows of Murray

Travelers lost have found homes here
claimed by the land to Staymore
as in a dream each wanderer seems
to have no recollection before

finding a way to this valley
coming from some other world
now we live here with the owl and the deer
and the river calls out to Staymore

Time passes slow here
the rocks have their stories
years upon light years away
carved in beauty with generous glory
in the glens and fair meadows of Murray ~

These are the lyrics to a song i wrote ~ SP

Her golden harp

a blessed loom

she only plays 

a holy tune

i feel her body

touch her strings

hear the sacred

song she sings

Sensing raptures

ecstasy

her golden harp

still beckons me ~

First the spark

and then the flame

The slow burn of

her lovely name

The smell behind 

her hidden ear

The soft skin under

‘neath her hair

One day met

another misses

One day she

returns my kisses

Stars in spiral 

motions dance as

love desires

another chance ~

All the years

behind me with

some moments 

still ahead

Pallets on 

the charnel ground

where every

journey led

One took over 

eighty years

another took 

just four

Either way the 

path it vanished

going through

the door

The passage between

night and day

like that of 

death and life

Has me waking

early, sitting

watching for

the light ~

You seem yourself

to be a spring,

a font of living water

Your flow and form 

your gentle bearing

Mother natures daughter

I kneel and cup my 

hands to catch your

effervescent  dance

Bring you to my 

lips and swallow

life and light entranced

Tomorrow i’ll awaken,

after dreaming land so fair

Sing about a mountain 

and a spring emerging there.

Remember winters when we took our
walks along the frozen stream?
Marbled ice upon the surface
crystal waters in between

And we, so slow and careful crossing
even though the ice would creak
Both of us like snakes we slithered
crawling on our hands and feet

Most days I still walk alone
some silent spirit by my side
The air is just as cold, but now
the frozen river has run dry ~

You woke me from my sleep with
your caress of liquid light..
Beckoned that i come into
your temple of the night

I turned to find you floating high
a sailing silent orb
Watching as you drifted by
my lair beside the river

Far above the land and water
crossing East to West
Rising with the morning star
Venus shining best

Did you dream of me, or was it
I who dreamed of you?
Shadows fall illumined by
your light, my mistress moon ~

I overheard you speak in tongues
with words that rang so true
I wondered how you learned the language
one i also knew

Syllables of deep connection
caring for the land
underneath the dialect
your gentle heart and hand

The music in your voice well carried
in your thoughts displayed
connections in between the lines
that natural humans made

Now i’m waiting for your voice
a thousand miles to cross
with nothing but words on a page
to keep from getting lost ~

In the dark morning

nearer to night

she comes to me going

arrives in mid flight

stopping while moving

hidden in sight

letting go holding

i fall toward her light

Mid winter moon was 
so brilliant last night
Sailing her way ‘cross 
the clear n’ cold night
Casting her glow over 
mountains and fields
Calling me out with 
her silent appeal
Rise up and wander! 
Sing to me now!
The morning will come and 
you may forget how!
I’ve entered your darkness 
and cast wide the door
Let your heart open
your wild spirit soar.

~ Winter Solstice 2018

Sunset skies 

azalea highs,

chartreuse clouds of

purple flames..

Forest leaves of 

metal flaking,

colors psyche

delic rain.. 

Fires to warm

until the spring

although their brilliance 

slowly fades..

The forest floor 

at last receiving 

all the beauty 

that she gave..

Littered thick 

upon the Earth 

trees leave flowers 

on her grave..

Tho’ the colors 

fade and fall

in nature’s beauty 

she is saved ~ 

Never one to separate 

nor carelessly divide..

Creator took a part of me

a bone from deep inside..

Planted it down in the ground

then gave it room to grow..

Woman rose up from the Earth

and beckoned that we go..

Down the winding path we ambled

out into the sun..

Reuniting bone and body

man and woman

one ~

* I’m unsure the exact origin of this story beyond its placement in Genesis, but appreciate the story for its poetic inspiration and thought provoking imagery.

I cannot see the

sky to the East.. 

a curtain of trees 

blocks my view..

Only the westward 

horizon unfolds..

a mountain

a valley

the stars

and you ~

Any good poem is

only the bones

what is essential

to drive the nail home

Peel away all of the

flesh and the skin

nothing to keep honest

words from their kin

Any good poem will

speak of the essences

strip away everything

leave only presences

Any good poem is

only the bones

chew off the meat

drink up and 

go home ~

Four in the morning

i rise from my bed

unable to sleep, so

i write you instead

to tell you of something

my lips cannot say

excepting this poem

that might wind its way

into your mind and

then to your heart

these words on a page 

a fire i might start

to burn off the chaff

in the brown fields of winter

to leave the ground ready

the word farmer enters

each sentence a seed 

gently planted and covered 

to one day find growing 

you here my dear lover 

sew deep in the clover ~

An extra introverted day

the quiet path

the garden way

i think of you

and feel your sway

against me

leaning in 

We fall to earth

like seeds we land

the furrow wet

the gentle hand

the fecund dirt

the shining sand

we die to live again ~

To write to you

six times each night

and six more times

each day

to find a path

into your life

as if i knew the way

to walk across

the words like

stepping stones

into your heart

these sentences

like dreams are strung

each paragraph

a *

that you might look

into the sky

some dark and

 cloudless night

to gaze across 

the milky way

and see my

distant light ~

Cold and clear, still winter night

Ozark mountain moon

wood stove creaks, the fire burns bright

coyotes howl in tune

Yard dogs perk their ears and rise

joining in the song

howling to their kin of old

the tribe from which they come

Listening, i wonder if

the people of this land

who fished and hunted, lived and died

would better understand

And what if we, the people now

could hear them sing and drum?

Would we stop and join the song

then watch for them to come?

By daylight would we wander looking

for our kin of old,

sniffing trails and checking scat

so fresh as not yet cold?

And if our friend or cousin

chose to wander off for good,

would we hear their voices

on a full moon in the wood?

La Lune she shines upon our nights

laughing crone in silver light

crying tome and totem sight

weaving wise tomorrows

The sun will rise the morning swell

break the silence like a bell 

crack the day just like a shell

and celebrate our sorrows.

The glow of dawn

turned cold and grey

rough and hard

and still she lay

when dusk was near

an owl appeared

the dark sky broke

and Gaia spoke

Opened her lips

upon her pink tongue

a silver pearl

the moon was hung

On holy ground

our kindred thrived

built and planted

lived and died

So sang the Dead

we will get by

our dancing bones

a world with eyes

Photo credit – Kristin J

Fog and Clouds

ride up the valley

roaming dragons

gossamer skeins

breathing out 

the forest sighs 

falls the blessed

summer rains.

Dim morning light reveals 
two snow white heads
dark bodies perched
in the tree still and staid

Waiting for sunrise
and thermals to ride
Searching for whatever
kills they may find

Below a small pond
reflects dim morning skies
Two otters fishing
a man passes by

Breaking the ice for
the horse to have water
He turns toward the house
and so the day started ~

What do you make of 

the sky today?

Veins and pains 

from far away

Geese are flying 

in good order

bracing high 

above it all

pushed along 

by seasons changing

rearranging 

spring and fall

Sleepless nights 

above the Earth

with piercing songs 

they honk and call

aiming south

ahead of winter

flying trumpets

rise and fall ~

When facing wild lions

don’t look in their eyes

appear to be busy

distracted and shy

leave a small offering

someplace nearby

then back away slowly

don’t run

or you’ll die.

From the moment i saw you

i set to my fences

to keep you some distance

and locate my senses

i saw there’s no roof

no ceiling or floor

no glass in the windows

no lock on the door

a stream in the ether

the color of truth

and birds flying home

to some high mountain roost

The language is strange,

the words and the songs

Is there more to the story?

For what do you long?

Tell me that tale,

and sing the whole score

but please, do it soon

there’s a lion at the door.