Outward Signs

2011-12-22T13:52:00.001-08:00

orange rind and spice she says reading my tea you smell like Christmas

2011-07-11T10:18:00.000-07:00

If I look up

there is wind shaking

the trees fluttering the

flags and whispering

a direction.

If I look up

yes there you are

I still see you

and there always

a direction.

If I look up

there is heaven

here just beyond the

downward glance

a direction.

2011-04-13T08:02:00.000-07:00

this wild unruly wind

would shake me

less if I were

made of song and feathers

or lived among damp

green ferns

but as it is

being made of 

bone and blood

this wind has nearly

broken me 

2011-04-04T20:34:00.001-07:00

each morning

comes creeping a

silent resurrection

and each day we build

our crosses and agonies

until a sigh of darkness

erases both faith and doubt

and we swim in the grace

of being born again
each morning

2011-02-18T11:25:00.000-08:00

a sun-silvered

edge of a branch

waving in a wild

wind today caused

me to think of you.

but what does not

(on this day and

many others as well)

cause me to 

think of you?

it was not always

perfect not always

easy with us was it?

still I am so grateful

and think of you

always with love

2011-01-28T19:36:00.000-08:00

is there a full moon

tonight I wonder

can’t sleep

I keep thinking 

about you

about how

three months ago

90 days ago

you left and 

I wonder if

you were pulled

by moonlight

guided by

hearts and

hands that

remembered

even as I 

am remembering
you tonight 

2011-01-06T09:54:00.000-08:00

light snow

falling

peacefully

occasionally a

much larger snowflake

will fall halfway 

to the ground

but then 

catching

a breath
of courage

moves

upward

then 

deciding

yes, now

settles 

gracefully

I will go out

to walk in this

new snow and

imagine that

I know exactly

where one 

snowflake

decided 

finally 

to rest

2010-12-16T08:27:00.001-08:00

this morning

ice erased in just one spot

sun moves up the road

2010-12-07T02:54:00.000-08:00

wanting a perfect

grief that lies

gently across my

shoulders like 

reassurance

wanting an imperfect

memory that

varnishes away

scratches and

tears

wanting one

more chance to

say goodbye

to talk about

today's snow

2010-12-02T07:28:00.000-08:00

he, always

alright alone

we, now

not so much

push on

until

a sigh

a draft

a flutter of

words and 

wings

and then

breaking

like clay

against the shovel

fall back to earth

2010-11-23T11:47:00.000-08:00

new development
dads wait in the driveways
for the schoolbus

2010-10-04T13:39:00.000-07:00

the poet draws

each line this long 

and no longer

here shorter and

there shorter still

an architecture of

love and despair

hope and running

wild

2010-09-13T08:55:00.001-07:00

what passes for

prayer today

the cloud that

crosses the sun

the wind that

moves the trees

to dance

drinking golden

oolong the

simple joyful

passing of dark

into light

turning wait

into hope

feeling “amen”

on the tip of

my tongue

and making it

be a smile 

instead of 

a word

2010-08-02T06:54:00.000-07:00

inside the house

a dream made

inside the dream

picked up from

a rocky beach

they are heroes

who return and

never exact the

price of their

absence

whose gaze on

the absolute is

softened by

tear-stung eyes

follow them

make a parade

with the feathers

of small birds

who nest close

to heaven

2010-08-02T03:27:00.000-07:00

those stories we

pull from childhood

blankets stay

with us

forever

woolen strands of

hidden laughter

flannel patches

of running 

dreams

that child 

just taller

inhabits arms

and legs like

the soul inside

stone

2010-07-29T13:20:00.000-07:00

the book
fell apart in my
hands

all the words
escaped
in a sigh a
moan a wail

where is the librarian
when you need her
or him

bring a broom
a mop a basket to
catch up
contain
all the empty
pages

words are
free

2010-07-08T05:40:00.001-07:00

yesterday's yesterday

passing so quietly

barely remembered

today and yet

there is an impression

like bronze struck

on an anvil

can be inscribed with

lines hatches and

small dents

2010-07-06T08:16:00.001-07:00

simply observing

coneflower butterfly bee

this morning's prayer

2010-06-14T07:37:00.000-07:00

morning trickles out

a puddle of honey

catching me mid-stream

in thick amber musings

somewhere a clock ticks

on and on and on

like the buzz of a bee

hovering above the rose

time levels all traps

both the fierce and the sweet ones

until we swim dance or simply

slide to another place

2010-06-12T04:31:00.000-07:00

new moon

finds a seed

caught between

ragged cement fragments

names her little sister

sun

when did June turn to

double digits when

did that limb of

the neighbor's

red maple 

die

silence sits

like a tent on a 

silver misted plain

welcoming all

holding 

few

we are all the

middle child sitting

between hope on one side

and... we can't name

the other side can

2010-06-08T11:01:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Robert Schumann

8 June 1910 - 29 July 1856

the white knuckles are mine but

claiming them does not loosen their grip

nor does such ownership contain the

sigh that escapes like a gray cloud

skating across blue sky.

I listen to a story about Robert Schumann

and his depressions which causes

me to to think that maybe it might be

the work emerging from these

white knuckles this gray sigh

that redeems and supports

another day.

2010-06-07T13:52:00.001-07:00

there are those who call me foolish
and even some who think me wise...

the only fear I have
the only danger I perceive
is that I should begin to
believe them and lose
the trust of my own
voice which even
when whispering
tells me the
truth of
me

2010-05-12T03:29:00.000-07:00

the clouds are frozen
needing the sigh of a friend
before they can move

the brush of a hand before
they will let the sun shine through

2010-03-11T07:06:00.001-08:00

half a tail chases
other squirrels off the curb
the kids call him Bob

2010-03-07T05:55:00.001-08:00

the gift

always holds traces

of the giver

2010-02-27T09:44:00.001-08:00

sometimes I 
go away without
a word until
that word and
others pile up
demanding 
to be let go 
or taken 
home

and then
sometimes
I think I
understand
and try to
find my way
back

sometimes

2010-02-24T10:12:00.000-08:00

your words 

cast like bread crumbs

I follow

2010-02-24T05:44:00.003-08:00

frost on the window
delicate bones fading
this birdless dawn

2010-02-17T12:57:00.000-08:00

Christmas we gather
past and presents
in this living room

2010-02-11T08:14:00.000-08:00

up! up!
a tiny face framed by hands
reaching

2010-02-09T12:57:00.000-08:00

Narcissus reflecting
in the pool next to the moon
beneath the moon

2010-02-08T12:09:00.001-08:00

crows drop like leaves
through
snow-feathered branches

2010-02-08T12:05:00.000-08:00

black water pools
in the gray sagging ice
downstream a heron

2010-02-03T06:29:00.000-08:00

morning coffee
one bare foot
under another

2010-02-01T09:52:00.000-08:00

your guitar and mine
squirrels chase
through the treetops

2010-01-28T13:34:00.001-08:00

ice narrowed creek
a frog opens and closes
like a jellyfish

2010-01-25T17:19:00.001-08:00

bad dreams sit around
like large black birds on a fence
mocking passersby

2010-01-16T08:15:00.001-08:00

little cat
you make me smile and then laugh
no you can’t come in

2010-01-02T07:38:00.000-08:00

everything rested
now begins to grow
fire beneath ice

2009-12-31T08:41:00.000-08:00

before asking
tomorrow’s blessing
I must bow my head
naming the blessings
already received

how heaven sits
all around and
patiently waits
discovery
this is chief
among the blessings
received

and how I can hear
your voice over and over
and still be aware of
loving you

how it is loving
not waiting that
causes love to be
born, borne
over and
over

2009-12-22T19:29:00.000-08:00

stars
that do not look like
stars
fallen broken
rising falling
rolling bits of
dark surrounded
by the legends of
stars
we meet them
all along the
way

our struggle
to follow
only one
emboldens
delusion and
habit which
we must learn
to see from
the distance
of stars
that move as
one on the
way

2009-12-17T18:00:00.000-08:00

it means nothing
going out high

tangled in light
and pulled by the dark
arms of a jasmine-
scented cocktail

brushing rust
from golden wings
in the end
all I want
is redemption

a word or
a mark
that takes me
makes me
over

2009-12-15T07:31:00.000-08:00

winter wakeup call
cat stretching on the pillow
his nose in my ear

2009-12-14T17:06:00.000-08:00

saint philomena
that winter
up at the farm
daydreams of saints
angels and archangels
lonely teenage girl
walking in
knee-deep snow

2009-12-06T10:16:00.000-08:00

like a star
this advent amaryllis
leads me on

2009-12-05T14:58:00.001-08:00

nest of lights woven
round and round and round for this
bird that is my heart

2009-12-02T08:11:00.001-08:00

we think we
see the snowy field meet
the gray sky

2009-11-13T08:25:00.002-08:00

late afternoon
trees grow their shadows long
reaching out toward night

2009-11-13T08:25:00.001-08:00

a leopard frog
leaps between birch stumps
into green water

2009-11-12T10:36:00.001-08:00

shadows
the generosity
of bare trees

2009-11-11T19:51:00.000-08:00

new house
on the old cabin footing
morning coffee smells the same

2009-11-10T16:56:00.000-08:00

calls me dear, he does
forgives my fits and tempers
and holds safe my heart

2009-11-09T11:44:00.000-08:00

Perched on the naked spine
rising from a brown cattail flower
that is swaying in the chilly breeze,
a lingering redwing blackbird calls out.
The broken notes of its summer
song go unanswered.
Out across the marsh,
there is no other sound
but the whispering of rushes
moving against each other.

2009-11-09T07:04:00.000-08:00

it's hard to dance
when the head is bowed too low
look up at the moon

2009-11-06T07:51:00.000-08:00

hunting pheasants
we walked the train tracks
out of town

the winter sun pale and low
where they disappear

2009-11-05T14:30:00.000-08:00

For years, no trains––
now late at night they rumble
past these dreams.

2009-11-04T04:07:00.001-08:00

some days
it’s not enough
to know that
kind words were
once spoken

then we need
to hold in our
hands and hearts
a more substantial
token

2009-11-04T03:29:00.000-08:00

how may I help you
these words fall out of my eyes
while my voice stays mute

not silent my reaching hands
not still this heart in anguish

2009-10-29T05:33:00.000-07:00

autumn behind us
a redwing blackbird calls
from the cattails

2009-10-28T09:50:00.000-07:00

love growing wild
like clover like laurel
a soul of branches

2009-10-28T09:48:00.000-07:00

come here, see
they've all fallen
down scarlet
leaves now
at feet of
carbon black

2009-10-28T09:43:00.000-07:00

light caught high in a
silver filament of web
a window to joy

2009-10-27T02:10:00.000-07:00

now it is morning
scratching at the door, howling
with left-over dreams

2009-10-27T02:08:00.000-07:00

behind the silence
sat a song of mountain times
loving and longing

2009-10-22T14:22:00.000-07:00

red maple leaves
falling down the dark boughs
of the old spruce

2009-10-13T05:48:00.000-07:00

wind through the bare branches
a leaf rattles
across the parking lot

2009-10-11T05:43:00.000-07:00

we dance and we sing
out of those too-tight places
where we cannot live

2009-10-11T05:30:00.000-07:00

if
all you knew
was piano and trumpet
imagine
what drums
might sound like
to you
imagine
what they all
might sound like
together

2009-10-09T17:26:00.000-07:00

Communion, 1968

I knelt against the pew,
leaning in again to see
Mary, the black hair
falling straight down
the back of her dress,

the faint freckles
scattered under eyes
that, after Mass,
made blue flowers
appear on the chicory
pushing out at the curbs,
dancing around the
telephone poles,
as cars rushed past me
standing in front
of the church.

As still as a statue, she
knelt beside her beautiful
mother, the Body
of Christ dissolving
in our mouths.

2009-10-07T17:47:00.000-07:00

mornings are lovely
here there is a sound then a
flight of some fancy

2009-10-07T07:21:00.000-07:00

We exist
eyes in heads
bouncing and rolling
like so many beach balls
ping-ponging
in the currents of sight
blowing
through the mind-tunnels
of the night.
Riding trains
of thought,
we try to possess
the unpossessible.
In and out of darkness
sparks of hope glimmer
in the secret chamber
that we think
cannot be found
by so-called strangers
who, likewise hoping,
hide diamonds
in transparent mines.

"We" by Bill Buchman in "Suite For Modern Man"

2009-09-30T09:43:00.001-07:00

Silver fish flopping
in a dark net too big
to pass through

2009-09-30T09:35:00.001-07:00

we will celebrate
in a moment all the steps
of his ninety years

2009-09-30T06:56:00.000-07:00

held firmly wholly
roots that protect and nourish
so tossed yet not torn

we return time after time
holy holy wholly one

2009-09-29T13:56:00.000-07:00

offertory prayer
the back of the pew, bitter
to the child's tongue

2009-09-28T08:21:00.000-07:00

Kids blowing smoke
in the honeysuckle bushes--
behind the school

2009-09-28T01:15:00.001-07:00

against the window
rain hammers wind shouts wake up
day rolls in

2009-09-25T02:59:00.001-07:00

those stories
Mother never told
find me in dreams

2009-09-23T18:16:00.000-07:00

late september
the beds all gone
to seed

2009-09-23T18:12:00.000-07:00

still fish
beneath lily pads
tossed in the rain

2009-09-23T09:09:00.001-07:00

out of sorts
in choking humidity
she dreams of snow

2009-09-22T08:24:00.000-07:00

little can be seen
one tall verbena swaying
a wake in the fog

2009-09-21T18:56:00.000-07:00

crow
on either end
of the broken fence rail

2009-09-21T18:50:00.000-07:00

rose-breasted grosbeak
a moment before
only sparrows

2009-09-21T14:03:00.000-07:00

high humidity
curls every thing with the
waning breath of summer

2009-09-20T17:28:00.000-07:00

it will rain tonight
the mums just planted will spread
roots in their new home