good bye....

there are frail limbs, skin that seems
stretched thin; palsied grips on nearly
weightless things.  Eyes sometimes far away

voice that seems closer
to that I remember than what is seen;
when i look at the bent form, age--
a portrait of age.

Yet with this one moment
we connect to many more, when she was strong
and needed to hold my head;

and the tears i shed now
are here for the living, waters
that my life and hers  have made

There is love in shadows on the floor
in the stains upon her teacup
fulfillment in soft smiles that come to her lips
reasons - not known nor needed

now, there is only time and breath
i count like a clock of ethers
my time and hers into a blend

sadness in this joy, joy in my touch
knowing so much i cannot speak
feeling more than i will ever say
of these moments-- this overwhelming
poetry ... of love, and goodbye.


for my friend  Mercedes...

in truth...

rising above the noisy day
to fill the sentence an other spoke
a question of the heart, that hung heavy
for a time; bringing the missing pieces
of a mosaic of tree limbs, sun and cloud

Underlined as passive evening fall
to darkness, willing accomplice
to moon and a little romance
when roosted silence merges into
song to welcome a cavalcade of night

bright planets gleam steal the stage
from dimmer  stars, a piecemeal moon
recreates silver in wispy wands
the ache of memories comes once again

to remind me of things to be done
and of paths I'd left--was dragged from--
still reside on the empty streets of my dreams
where there seems no one else in the world
nothing more important than your next word
nothing more meaningful than
air of passions wrapped around us,  binding us
into a moment, a touch, a truth of Love.

meteor...

firefly burns across the sky
so brief your light in a vast still night
where ancient fires glow from age- longs ago
where planets vie to be a glint in the eye
the verging tear, the latent smile
hearts drawn near, the withered miles
that kept them...somehow, passions mend
against odds, against life's headwinds

from where did you fall, shooting star
from a world afar that has lived and died,
from a sun that swelled until it burst, sudden glide
from a fantastic cosmic balloon, un-echoed
muted cannons, arsenal of dimensions far removed
we see straggled light of last flight tonight
journeys that began in lost worlds, distant yesterday
catches breath into "aaahhhh..." joyful, we say
" you are so beautiful..." flame to fade
to fade and fade away...