Love

An entire world lost its mother today An entire world got the news Somewhere on a California highway An entire world full of children Women and men Going north, south, east and west Each one with a mother inside each of them Even if their mother is just an empty space Left behind by her absence And yes, there is even a mother in that man Who only speaks of knives and steak Make no...

It was the smile that got me thinking There was no bitterness No resentment No tension between us She kindly spoke With a voice gentle And undemanding “Have a nice day” To which I returned “Thanks, you too” As I took my receipt And walked out of the FedEx office exactly eleven point six pounds lighter than when I’d gone in   “Have a nice day” It wasn’t a commandment to be obeyed Issued from...

The poppies and buckwheat bloom Little fires that have jumped the hearth Right out from the sun itself Scattering our world alight Illuminating our path And the dust we kick up Reminds us where we come from As it settles on our skin A mourning dew Of leftover ash Reminding us of where we’ll go Only in the presence of fire Do we truly see one another

Man, you could build a whole brand around this thing Handle the snakes And orchestrate all kinds of glittery manifestations Jittery hands and holy demonstrations Slippery tongues and wordless intonations Oh you don’t speak em? Just take some words and tweak em That’s right, that’s the ticket Show it to the man at the door And he’ll tell you where to stick it But just between you and me? Forget it It’s not a brand...

I’ve been trying to get here all along   To the END   Walking a new trail is like reading a book Twists, turns, surprising perspectives Memories are summoned Like ghosts in the wind And I read myself into every word Every footstep And I just keep turning pages And walking Eager for the conclusion And yet I somehow hope The End will never come   Today I found it here   “END OF TRAIL”...

On that first day We woke up restless Stillborn, bleak, dry and dark Blood dispersed in the water black Ink without paper Language without form Absence without grief It was all ours And ours alone Hear the scalpel-sharp intake Of a baby’s first troubled breath On a day like this, there are no words Yet our voiceless cry, it must be heard For our wings, they are tired And there is no land in sight...

And I said…   “I want a spirit that is calm I want a spirit that swims In the heavens I want a spirit that makes A sweet, sweet song I want a spirit that preys With exacting precision I want a spirit that crows at dawn I want a spirit that flies by night I want a spirit that will fight And give its life To protect its young I want a spirit that...

It’s the word that was spoken Before I was sent To a world collapsing Under its own colorless night   I looked with my eyes And saw my failures multiplied An abandoned house Ashes and rust Self destruction Egos blazing like guns And rampant consumption Of this body Of earth And water Of flesh And blood   But these are not the words   And this is not the book   This isn’t a stairway...

I was there at the breaking of dawn When the unknowable heavens Were divided from my unknowable heart When the mountains of my spine Emerged within the salty womb And trees took root With a harvest of life And breath And the pumping of my fragile heart Sustained by nothing but light And my waking life Was divided from its dream And my subconscious disturbed the surface Before diving deep on holy gill And my...

I don’t know about you But it takes an act of my will To actually hear To truly listen to anyone I often can’t even hear my own voice in the mirror Nor the voice of those that I say that I love I get lost in my own thoughts And next thing I know Their lips are moving But I don’t know what they’re saying And often I’m only thinking Of what I want...