Fly Fly

 A great expanse of white,

Tiny speckles, little grey spots

The wind sweeps past invisible,

Everything plain to see, everything hidden away

I know not where I am,

If it were not for a map on screen,

I would not know the name of my exact location,

But even when it tells me, it makes no difference

Floating free, but never unbound,

An attempt at flight,

At stepping off the carousel,

At escape.

Gulmohar Dreams

I dreamed of a Gulmohar tree,

Tall, sprawling, swaying crimson,

Framed perfectly in a giant picture window,

A gentle breeze caressing.

I'm in a house I once lived, a short-lived interlude,

Sitting up in my great-grandfather's ancient bed in my old room

But the window is new, different

Portal-like, an opening into another dimension.

Inside-outside views,

A tiny rip, unraveled seams floating 

Suspended particles adrift,

Distorted time-space.

Gnarled, hard round brown rind,

Contained flames, fanning far,

Drawing me to the window,

Inside-out.

The Wild Places

Sing me a song of the wild untrodden,

Draw me a picture of the quiet night,

Punctured only by thoughts.

Thoughts of the ancient,

Of the old man in his cave, in his den, in his tree, beside the fire

Slow. Slowing. Burning, crackling, hissing. Embers

And all the while, 

The stray thoughts,

The unbidden wisdom of happenstance

Melancholy murmurings

A stirring inside, 

Rip me from this reverie, take me to the wild places

Plant me there

Beside the rocks and grass and mud underfoot,

And rushing water cold. 

Happy Father's Day

I know I chat with you sometimes,
Just random phrases,
A good bye, a thank you,
Take care of things when I'm gone.

I've kept the little pieces,
tidily in drawers, stacked among my books,
I come back to open pages
re-read, re-read

Got to fit those shoes,
Even though my feet are larger,
Thank you for leaving me with such a well-trodden pair,
A pair that journeyed,
A pair that lived.

Happy Father's Day Appa.

The music never dies

The music never dies,
Even when you hear it for that fading last minute,
and it sounds the furthest away its ever been.

Some days it plays without request,
Winter mornings spent staring,
and listening.

Big, big sounds,
And sounds for the little soul,
Warm melancholy.

Ear to the conch,
playlists on repeat,
Endless infinite.

One year and on we go - 6/28/13

A year to the day,
A day for all our years

An over-shoulder look
A moment paused, a moment primed

Now is forever
In my heart and yours

The last wave leaving shore
The first breeze of the morning

Endless song
Alive, aloud, unstoppable, proud.

Stay with me
Every day

Wake with me
To a life I will live only with you

Stay mine as I stay yours.
Forever is now.


Happy Anniversary my baby barn owl, my love, my everything.

Straws

Envelop and swallow me.
Whole and in pieces.

Drink from me,
of my blood
and of my sweat.

Star laden night,
low hung,
sprawled across the grass.