• an olive branch

    a greater distance to the sun from earth
    paint underneath my fingernails the work to file
    deny my mother and her first born child
    deep chill my heartbeat still on trial
    older than a tree root rots
    misgivings tied to have me nots
    assert the failures of composure angry hot
    middle of day the right to have their say
    no matter what
    a break in the weather a mix of sun and rain
    our tears forbidden words bring angst a cruelest pain
    a flux corrode like rust repeat the same refrain
    you cannot trust the ones you love so much
    with loneliness to claim no loyalty no gain
    as a moon will wane I think we go insane
    for what is love but someone else to blame
    let light shine in eyes that look deep blue
    as wide as an ocean she will rescue you
    she is my mother bearing flowers
    she is the ear that listens for hours
    she cries the tears when she feels powerless
    she is my dear she is my love an angel the sign of the dove
    offering an olive branch
    on the other end of the phone telling me she loves me
    while eating olives.

  • Monolithic Aberdeen

    the mind a monolithic Aberdeen
    in the middle of a fantasy
    where all goes well between you and me
    you are my spring where June may avail
    bird on the wing of a dove in love spinning her tale
    I will fail no doubt to lend
    the end of such sweet harmony
    to bend like spoons weighted down by too much sugar
    stirred to awaken a sense of milk and honey
    left of tomorrow’s yesterday’s
    birds sip sweetest sap from the maple milked to tap
    buoyant buzzard bargains for bones in the shoulders
    of boulders-
    camping out bugs bite bats borrow ubiquitous unity
    bears outfox fish for lunch beavers bristle
    civilization dine on vacation steak gristle
    I am so lost not knowing the cost too much so little
    incurable thirst the juice of an orange wets the whistle
    where is my prayer book what have I done
    with my leather bound missile?
    my silence is saved it goes to the grave-our little miracle
    an answer so sweet to rub your feet to gain your trust
    to know that you love me as best as you can
    is genuinely just
    God bless you woman.

  • with the swallow

    masked moon cloud aloud with heavy rain
    cling to bough droop currants vine
    the train cumbersome-
    trunks of bending birch quench their thirst in puddled dirt decay
    sweet root, bearded bark shade shadow glade in shallow dark
    to hear a lark
    giddy in his yelp
    a cry for help
    mellow memory of the swelter
    give me shelter
    oh how he weeps
    to see the dove mourning
    an irreconcilable peace
    the cost of knowing
    tomorrow
    an hour
    in the life of an owl
    lucky to find field mice,
    sleep in a barn
    with the swallow.

  • a peaceful dove

    impressed by your candor
    reduce the grand glamor
    dirt road hold your own manor
    that open door step forward toward
    the harsh hard life before past sworn
    an ernest yearn to earn your grin
    the favor won to win
    all the ones there to share
    the time the wine the care
    why are we so stoic?
    I know not what I was to let you go
    to save you from myself I guess
    you know
    there hollow in the wallow
    of sorrows known
    to follow a borrowed tomorrow
    as if it were alone
    burn the wick that wrote the writ
    that swam with you in the harbor
    wake come of age in an arbor
    shake off the rage of a martyr
    turn the next page of your partner
    sigh as a night sky cries
    to carry the innocent dark
    to save the moon
    too soon to part like a peaceful dove
    who flew away with my heart.