SEPTEMBER
Tumbling images.
Old grey cur
hops on 3 legs,
tagged w/ a red bandana.
Summer flowers
prickly to the touch.
Late buzzing bees. These old bones sag weary.
Walking past the schoolyard,
I look for you
in all your childhood
pain and glory.
Filmy vision,
weak eyes obscured by tears,
I see you now.
Wish for those littlest moments
to cling to me,
absolved of fear and obligations.
9/14/21
Twin jugglers set our stage.
Nature and nurture combine,
entwine with trails inside,
thus structuring our fate.
Take up the tale, my star lit dear,
of how we now have wandered here.
Now’s waiting; don’t be late.
Epic journeys cycle into each successive now.
Wandering song, waft and wave.
Rise aloft, fall to softened tone.
Encode the call we each aspire to
hear,
become entranced with
through fear, romance, death,
enhancement to repair, to own
the tune we play.
Sound waves, calls with urgent eloquence,
soothes night fears with lullaby,
comradely cheer.
Warrior song --
carried through
long brave trails, travailed years.
our song, our vow,
harbor of our power.
Sorcery speaks, entangles.
Stars and hearts emerge.
Wooden ships voyage eternal sea --
journey of ages spiraling outward, free.
Easy found trades, winds recycle seeds.
Back to the gardens of pagan lore --
earth, air, sun, and transforming water.
We wander days of potent destiny,
deep mystic incantation spins the tale,
of a possible age in birth.
Love song 'tween man
and Earth.
Phoenix Fire strength fills open hearts.
Incanted flame implores spirit world to succor, exalt
He who hath endured tribulation, but never succumbed,
perpetually cast stronger toward powerful
consciousness.
Elements always in flux,
adaptable, to align with intention.
Pure essence to ignite:
Saddened, enraged, radiant,
tempered to exquisite artistry
to flow with the forces
of nature
delicately balanced
between what could be
and what we will allow.
Let your mind drift and wander.
Take a leisurely stroll through
what feels good, right, beautiful...
engage?
9/14/20
Within the sacred crystal
of the moment
question and answer merge,
synthesize eternity.
a world of inconsistencies to ponder
questioning is the key
finding
questions, keys and doors;
realizing history is only destiny
when explorations cease;
invitations from space and time
come complete
with choices
Travel broadens, expands the skein of us.
Doesn’t surely lead to trust nor lessen tension.
Still, to explore, add to what we all know,
the more we learn to question, to quest
we articulate the important questions,
take them in as guides,
converse with them as colleagues,
play with them as children,
look through them as windows on our future world
the question becomes:
are we strong enough in our authenticity,
integrity, and collective power to act appropriately?
promote questioning in all the public places
Questioning makes us wise. Resist
hypnotized consent: “Yes, oh great glowering
crowd, yes, Sir Mighty Educator. Your words
stink with deceit under sweet perfumes, narcotics
draining of ability to decline.”
question everything
accept or reject with clear awareness
and flexibility
The question: Do we wish to learn where we each
find context, or prefer to live within what we
assume?
What everybody knows
is often just what most of us
are too lazy or uncaring to question
The dangerous questions
are constantly being asked by real life circumstances.
We who hear do feel compulsion to answer disturbingly.
I think the real question is, why
do so many people hate their lives
so much that they prefer to live in dreams
of ultimate destruction?
The big question?
How humans can learn to live
successfully together, doing
what needs doing in our own
best interests.
we must question our metaphors,
our underlying principles,
our shared or unshared perceptions,
in ever more precise attempts
to cover the distance.
But who has the time for that?
long walks that suddenly awaken questioning:
"Where am I going?
Who is this "me"
that has a destiny
or merely flits along prevailing wind?"
Caught in conundrum ‘tween twilight and dawn
Formerly someone, lost without form
Back to that question you asked being born
and the answer that started when?
It’s that question we need to explore,
experiments that intrigue us,
that essential project calling for our attentive exercise,
work to improve our lives that feels real,
that gives us shining dreams, appreciation
for who we can be
We are called to ask ourselves
what it is that we truly value—
what will matter in the end
when we question the meaning of our lives?
Questions can be so comforting.
Anything can be supposed as
simple what ifs.
It is only an idle question,
not threatening nor
demanding.
What it is to be human.
In search of the answer
questions met on the trail.
Art is experiment
Self-constructed frames,
playful perspectives,
layered suggestions,
prayers and questions
subtly arranged
Angst, worry, tension as well as heartache
or heartsong or fleeting vision of perfection,
or what we feel, think, know, question --
these are all food for art.
Questions unanswered
burble and spike, like loud arrogant gas
rumbles.
Not to detract from dramatic renditions
of sober reflection – every exception
still begs the question we lack language
to ask.
We digress from distressful suggestibility
onto easier path. Does it matter?
To whom?
I see your reflection.
The answer decodes the question
a higher order includes us all
Send a question to the universe
in due time the reply appears
kinda like scrying
When in doubt, ask questions --
why assume
intuition will come through?
Peace offers a great deal more of benefit than fighting
when in doubt, ask questions
we tend to move through the world
with blinders and coded boundaries,
not seeing what we see,
but what we have told ourselves
or been told so long
questioning is never sought
How rise beyond mistakes, examine, question
beliefs, accept, trust
eternally a now
not sanctioned by our faith?
Free will or fate?
Not the relevant question.
It's not that I have sure answers
or clear questions
or any reasons why.
It's not that I even know
that there are answers.
I merely dare to try.
What can I ask of you?
Hope those who share my cares exist?
If I could devise, discover
words and gestures, embodied
answers to join us all
in happy equilibrium,
I would gladly reach out
so far my arms might break.
I would fly above the fray,
call cleverly to
mesmerize, dismantle stagnant walls
that crassly hold nirvana at bay.
Would you dare to question fate,
exercise escape?
As the waves blow, the winds flow,
the sands sift with sea
And faraway stars shine in soft mystery
Her eyes shine with starlight and stare at the sea
Asking questions as ancient as night
Expecting no sign to appear.
Nourishment will arrive soon.
Knowledge will take longer.
Think on your questions.
Intuition insists
the answers exist.
It is the questions that await asking.
Without question or shame, we murdered as if to keep score.
Without honor or remorse, we laid waste to our host,
to our only home,
then cursed her for not giving more.
Beat down, swallowed in
sweat, too hot for questions
to make sense.
Is there an answer? (or nest of answers)
What is the question?
What is our quest,
if we allow ourselves that story?
A quest full of questions.
A fool's 'oliday.
And, have I mentioned,
no promise of pay.
Just a born again supplicant
reshaping the code,
creating the tale I'll tell
when I'm old.
It's not as if I have the answers.
What I have are open-ended questions
into which theories and possibilities
can be dropped.
truths we can learn or discover
truths we feel, experience
truths we know we do not know
truths that change with
point of view
or time
Why fight
over truth, under stubborn banner?
Truth is neither
question nor answer.
Do you get what we're all missing?
We could be questioning and listening.
Giving credence to each other's dreams
Adapt Persist Question
private harvest
9/14/19
Loosening from light, long hazy days ebb golden.
Private harvest.
Shamanic gifts of remembrance,
Sun grown fields and buzzing industry
spun into fine fabric, textured tapestry.
Soar o’er awakened sky, past to now.
Taste surprised by juicy essence of
perennial harvest revelry.
Real lives yearn, feel need
for some promised warmth of care,
shared extremities that nurture hope
of shared deliverance, hands and minds
together strong;
surge of survival over uncertain destiny,
return to thrive, if we might find that energy.
Private seas pull grand tiding.
Attached to this Earth,
mired (but not beyond mirth, cosmic inspiration),
energies blend, fuse.
See, smell, taste chemical reactions;
hear reverberating air.
Recombinant winds call timeless tunes.
Rhythmic movements re- and un- engage,
ever changing, never wholly new.
In these moments stuck in migrating vibrations,
skies descend, dark mirroring.
Smell the woodsmoke, intoxicating, soft and sweet.
Feel in the electric falling starlight,
spells of renewal, of power to look back
upon our falterings, to find the seed now grown
yet changing still and ever, able,
willing, co-creating in the illuminated shadow,
invoking the peace of dissolving twilight,
of midnight's hopeful resurrection,
of the hinting sky that lightens before the dawn.
Wizardry of synaptic awareness,
unlikelihood of consciousness;
Dreams, Visions, Epiphanies, ineffable insights
too dear to deny.
Realign expectant gaze toward peace,
plenty
-- planetary necessity.
Take peace into each breath, each incantation,
from the strength to align impeccably
with your deepest truth.
There is no limit but that will assigns.
Celebrate
‘round feast laden table, exultant vibration.
It is time to reap ecstatic harvest
of moonbeams dancing to dawn.
9/14/17
Energy dervishes, drunk from fruits of Earth, swirl,
become ecstasy. Sun falls from Western skies.
Emergent space aligns.
Caught up in days’ parade; now take it in.
Peaceful moments safe with friends and kin.
Joys of open grace, sad tinge of loss.
Simple blessings, call of goals beyond.
Under dispersing clouds, upon solid ground.
Wealth of starlight, bed of Earth
Every miracle seeking birth
Clouds arouse the care of air
Music flows through every where
Bestowed honoured place
in ritual chorus.
Celebrate
‘round hallowed table, exultant vibration.
Energies blend, fuse.
Recombinant winds call timeless tunes.
Rhythmic movements re- and un- engage,
ever changing,
never wholly new
I wish you peace.
I wish you love.
I wish you time to
explore your essence.
I wish you safety.
I wish you patience.
I wish you exquisite dreams,
brilliant nights and
dazzling days.
I wish the world
a sweeter disposition.
I wish for peace,
for love,
a more merry age.
I wish we are gifted
the wishes we yearn for.
I thrice charge these wishes
and beam them to you.
to celebrate
enraptured --
to feel your presence as joyful
serene electricity
so in love with this moment.
Glorious, revels to carry through
lean days between.
Each movement a chance
to discover new senses,
new meanings, new methods,
new facets and forms.
To swoop into dance,
heal with celebration,
imbue inspiration,
play out loud in mad storm.
It's not about amassing a fortune,
elevation, acclaim,
becoming a star.
It's not about
living up to some value,
but valuing living because
here you are!
Celebrate, honor gods of good fortune
Eat, drink, share beautiful stories
Very merry blessed Be
9/14/15
Do we? Live like undead slaves?
Do we only move as directed, never dance freely in a whirling wind;
never touch finger to foreign finger for a thrill of acceptance?
Never savor music assimilated within from all the exhausted nights
swirled into revel excitement? Do we not breathe and inhale airs
unexpected, strangely calling to arcane desire?
Such solemn sensuality. Vibration lingering warm and sweet.
Music of heat rouses drowsy ecstasy.
Images that stay. Music that accompanies a day’s montage of duties.
Musicians play. Enchanting sylph narrates stories to sinuous
back beat, tingle of chimes, subtle percussions, intense expressions,
leaps, cunning stumbles, daring falls, crawl into spellbound sound.
Scheherazade myths, archetypal passion escapades,
poignant weeps, salient shouts to power.
Passionate friend, mystic teacher, seeker of meaningful action,
means before ends. Feel each instant’s music move in tune. Reach
into balance within limits of room, laws of motion, draw of elation.
Extemporaneous. Each mood enhances majestic release,
stretch for a piece reflective and deep. Remade in music,
not just while it’s playing. Ordered vibrations cosset, hold like a
heart-bound twin. Will-fueled tonation, music imbues momentum,
interweaves, keeps up incentive to become, overcome.
9'14'14
Be of good cheer.
Engage with this time,
this day.
Our world is but a moment.
Take it – play!
Raise a glass to you,
righteous pioneer.
Forward from here.
Remember, be present
a gift of good cheer.
Devotion
A child with a secret
unaware.
A serious persona
able to pull onward
celestial strings, curious circumstance.
Able to twirl and prance on cue,
to state with a glance,
to unassume.
Jestar, demigod disguised as troubadour
wanders Earth to learn human tricks,
linguistics. Sources music as communication.
Someday soon, when runes align with stars and signs,
grim portents,
mask dissolves. Wisdom sings.
Those who listen, respond in apt devotion,
clear resonance,
decrypt sage clues,
engage in sacred quest, accept reward.
Stories harvested over ages,
night to night reveal exaltation.
Filtered gifts of layered sleep.
Receive what is sound to honor.
Longer tales soar and weave.
Keep close touch to melodies that compel
elegance.
Where do we learn cruelty?
Indignities impressed in our youth,
imposed as we grow.
Where do we learn beauty?
Purity --
full interplay
conscious engagement
directed vocation
Once upon a time in a village of yore,
there had been bequeathed a home
for wayward children
that the streets be clear of filth
when the fine folk made their daily
perambulations.
In the wee hours the wee ones
were expelled to hunt nonhuman
vermin, the occasional mad man.
These became their supper stew
to maintain servile strength.
Children who outgrew set parameters
or acted unruly could too become stew.
Or they could sneak away from the hunt
to wherever their story might be made their own.
9/14/13
Trial by Wonder
And the young monk
on the hillside thrice gave
weight to his staff against
greenhold ground found this day
along his sacred quest.
In answer, the land opened,
revealed a winding descending stairway.
The monk feeling bidden, ventured down.
Below, he became aware he had entered
cavernous chamber lit by broad torches.
An array of ancient armament displayed
upon a large wooden table, its edges
intricately carved.
Exquisite poignant music, angelic pure
voices unsullied by words emerged from
vibrating air.
“Welcome, child. You are expected.
Nourishment will arrive soon.
Knowledge will take longer.
Think on your questions.”
An old wrinkled presence, kind without sign
of emotion, spoke and settled into
luxurious green tapestry now clearly carpeting
the room.
The monk had embarked on his journey without
expectations.
That was one of the rules.
He eagerly followed each of seeming reasonless
instructions, on and on.
Now he had reached a place of contemplation,
a different kind of challenge.
He considered his questions in short mental movies.
Brought to him food exactly suited to invigorate,
water like clarity washing through him.
His mind paints the walls, animate characters flicker
in shadows. These converse with the monk, and each
other. Merry questions cavort as shapes, colors,
directions. When the monk awakes, he is walking
a familiar trail. The teller of his tale has decreed
it leads to a sacred hillside.
He hums to his steps, rehearsing his questions.
Their answers reside in his trusty backpack.
He has collected and carried these shiny pebbles
with intention to fabricate a magnificent rock collage
when the appropriate backdrop appears.
How lucky to be a monk in a time of such
abundance.
9/14/12
Happiness -
Captivatingly fleeting, unexpected thrill.
Coming upon a gorgeous serenity that abruptly halts
all complaint; enraptured --
so in love with this moment.
Vital we know, we must hold awareness,
“It’s possible!” This bliss experience.
Glorious, revels to carry through
lean days between.
More than possible, a commonality, even in response
to simple stimuli, gentle pleasure
despite pervasive pestilence, terror,
boredom, defeat.
I want this for you: to feel your presence a joyful beam;
that I may be
vicariously
happy.
sane chemical sea
serene electricity
synapses smile
best wishes
A wish
to be part of the family Artist
on the invitation list to clan ceremonial feasts
A wish
a trusted confidante,
or three,
who cherish, intrinsically enjoy
my projections into poetics, philosophies
A wish
bouyant laughter
free of responsibility
for all those embarrassing foibles
A wish
endlessly recursive beauty
deep azure reflection
assuring stars
confections dark and
gloriously textured
A wish
sincere tears, encouraging embrace,
a soft enduring face
carrying future’s surprise in wise
ancient eyes – blessings happiness wide
A wish
euphoric rides, cool winds
kicking out a beat demanding dance
with every shadow, street, encounter
I wish you believe
and succeed
in wishing.
The art of being human.
Painted layers.
Long revisions, as the mural wall continues
circling, spins through pigmentation,
clarification to deepening mystery.
Tentative tacking, pasting, cut-out bits,
lived and fiction, for effect.
Ever new embellishments.
Trapeze experiments.
Sequins, glitter, lace.
Colours, brightly clean to muted counterpace.
Scatter-washed in seasons.
2011
in the rhythm
Shell the peanuts.
Scrub and cut potatoes.
Knead the bread dough.
Pluck and chop the herbs.
Music in the fixing, in the mixing,
each practiced movement.
Music of each meeting,
each task a jaunty dance.
Held in cogent vibration,
safe in sound, lightly bound,
guides to sense from sensation,
turns lessons to merry play.
Easy to commune, catch the tune, taught with glee.
Such fun these school days can be!
Back in the forests, the caves,
the glades,
elemental chemistries exchange,
sonic waves call wanderers home;
soothing dark fears with lullaby,
comradely cheer.
Know us by our song –
music to carry through
long brave trails, travailed years.
If the Word is our binding charm,
our song is our vow,
ever renaming power.
Engaging, blending, restorative potion;
energy, purpose, pleasure of motion
enthused by
acoustic muse.
The people united,
hanging together to avoid
being hung
one by one.
Growing their rhythm, get carried along in a
strengthening hum
tuned to common cause.
Ringing poetic, wrapped
together, in a banner of furious sound.
The people, excited, spring in their step,
clear on their ground, can not be kept down.
Entrapped, entranced
Who is to be gained
by loosening the ties?
What you remains
released into surprise?
Feel, beneath your eyes.
Ease into the rhythm.
Blessed familiarity –
heartbeat through pulsing memory.
Breathe, connect with the real –
the gift of air, of skin,
of enchanting chance encounters,
of ringing melodies
strong enough
to call to lucidity
your most precious name.
There’s always a child
dying
to play
loved and protected
through audacious curiosity,
worries over being too big or
clashing to fit in.
Little one, listen:
Condensed to soft-voiced
Song,
loving companion
on treacherous icy walks
in winter rain
embraces from within.
Intone and be heard, protected,
assured of unsuspected glory.
Song imagines your story.
Surging through heart,
lungs, air
our ineffable beauty
sings.
9/14/10
vibrate trails
Red balloon Sun sets below gray roofs lush green leaves
Relax, evening's ready to flee on the breeze,
run off to join brilliant carnival dizzying noise,
comedies, party parades, grand applause,
costume resplendent rebellious glittery glee
Play the big stage on the midway; wind of weary road recedes
Play for the cause, for the team, riding their stories
Pay toll to chance crossings uncertain roads;
emotion fused memory flows, shaman's intimate reverie, midnight liquid cabaret;
fingers, face, desire, dance a montage music inspires
Sunswept mirage bright highways; magic never comes easy on desolation trail
Charisma of injun joe, old bonnie, ageless desperation
lost to unpitied gaps, boarded home
Listen sagelike to secret smiles, touchstone melody,
long-tone remedy for living hard, dying slow alone
Crash flea-ridden roadside traps after the show goes eternally on and on;
wrenched gut throbs, eyes blurred to the howl
Twilight crowd a'clamor for loud resilient community;
tranced instant glamour distant from day's insanity entrains yearn for humanity
Learn flexible grace staggering crowded stadia; fade lines between day and night as you play
Pay toll to chance crossings uncertain roads;
emotion fused memory flows, shaman's intimate reverie, midnight liquid cabaret;
fingers, face, desire, dance a montage music inspires
New York City smells coarse, blood, urine, spit;
Boston's vomit, dead fish, pre-hangover-dawn
Callous palaces imbued in dank beer, rowdy song
Limpid eyes scour cerulean sky, watch clouds transform, mirror dreams
Out on spiral fire escape grates, escaping inside heat,
sway to jungle beat, mesmerized memory carried on breeze
Catch that whiff of inspiration; spin out an anchor of sound vibration
Notes transmit emotion -- magic of music
Pay toll to chance crossings uncertain roads;
emotion fused memory flows, shaman's intimate reverie, midnight liquid cabaret;
fingers, face, desire, dance a montage music inspires
9/14/08
Of the Day
In the beginning,
before threads unfurled
for reassignment,
basic forces vied
in the throes of creation.
Telescoping backward,
watch the magic
explode.
Faery storms,
vivid electric bursts,
eternity sings in language
unfathomable.
Over vast aeons,
threads weave into fabric.
Recognizable forms
play out destinies.
In this great game of life
infinity recombines.
Take pleasure in moments
tied in gaily colored threads
for remembrance.
Minstrel Song
9/14/07
Come gather round kids and I'll strum you a tale
Of a Queen of the Nile and her King Ishmael
Of great daring deeds and a pure holy grail
And how your dreams can come true
O' now listen to know what to do.
Deep in the desert, dark in the night,
the Queen was awakened in terrible fright
to see her king levitate, surrounded by light.
Now, what does she do?
O' seeing her dreaming come true?
Oh, babe, I dream of you again
Your vision haunting me
since I don't know when
Asleep in your arms, your voice all around me
These dreams always hound me
'til I want to give in
do as you bid
even if it's a sin.
The Queen called her champions to come to her aid
Her manner denying that she was afraid
She commanded that their attention be paid
to finding out what was true
O' she told them what they must do.
"You must venture forth 'neath the light of the Moon
to find in the desert this specified dune
under which is hidden a great sacred ruin
where you'll find the grail that's true.
O' Now go, you know what to do."
They did as she bid them and found the ruin site
Yet the King was before them, encircled in light
Loyal to his station, the Number One knight
grasped the grail so true
O' despite what the King might do.
The King, from his perch, floating in air,
surveying the knights his Queen had sent there,
commanded compliance with his majestic stare,
saying: "I am the Lord of what's true.
So, this is what you will do."
Oh, babe, I dream of you again
You've been haunting me
since I don't know when
Asleep in your arms, your voice all around me
These dreams always hound me
'til I want to give in
do as you bid
even if it's a sin.
The knights became sailors, and far did they sail.
The Queen ruled the kingdom without King or grail.
With his increasing powers, the King Ishmael
brings to dreamers a message so true,
when awakened they know what to do.
Oh, babe, I dream of you again,
secretly haunting me
since I don't know when.
Asleep in your arms, your voice all around me.
Beguilement hounds me
'til I want to give in;
do as you bid,
even if it's a sin.
