Spring...on my street

Crimson branches heavy with cool drizzle
bend and touch wet grass tips, black cherries
of summer that will feed  berries and eager seeds
to golden wings and Cardinal newborns
bend in the breeze next to dogwood whites
and apple pinks. Golden forsythia finds
its early stage already beginning to fade
in the cacophony of color and birdsong

All along this island between two asphalt rivers, flowing
neighbor's cars and trucks; the remnants
of an ancient meadow still stand. Once the land
of noble tribes that lived far more in peace
with sun wind and rain, never sought to gain
control over things they could never own

Tulip poplars and Lilac stands, near Lavender
and Tulips, such comely additions, done by men;
show we have the wherewithal to blend lives
with the life of the ground.

Then, I watch a man sprinkle white poison to kill
the yellow-top Dandelions, that could be on his plate
or over his palate in a spicy wine, and he smiles
such a pleasant smile in front of his man-choking cars, SUV's
and noisy mower; a smile of satisfaction
as he kills my mood, the honey bees,
 and so much that nature gives

to bless us...

near the valley of bones (part 3)

flushed into light,
as if falling-up;  into air
from warm amber into burning bright:
wind chill skin, then slow burn.

The keepers at the gates
see he is a male- already plans exist
return to the wild- they give him a name,
"Rooibos" even as his reddish skin darkens.

Mother  and daughter stand in sands between
stumbled trots and comic falls- zoo drama;
cameras take in all, children squeal
delight(--) and she is back in the forest,
near the valley, mate's great flanks,
the gentle tusking and touches, listening
to soft rattles of sun dried bones(--)
and she remembers something
that her young one too will someday know

the soft smells of long lost love
resting within the white logs
in the valley; and the
sweet scent of frightened lions



Part 1


part 2

near the valley of bones... (part 2)

when Elephants touch old ivory
stepped so gently between wind carved walls
and low moans rise like sacred dust-
fills a sudden emptiness- for it seems
the ambient hum of forest and grassland
subsides, sharp breaths raise clouds close to ground
as eyes look deeply…
far past white piles and sandy ground.

When Elephants touch memories, inhale
a distant essence, as if brought near
dry heat accepts unfallen tears, as heartbeats
surge and rest, the valley from which
there is an accepted end, begins a new life

brings days of furious mounting, the earth drag
weight of new life in womb, water
after a long, long thirst, mud on baby skin,

life circled and gathered

sunsets to sunsets, to sunset…

when Elephants touch Love.

near the valley of bones...(part 1)

great gray haunches shuddered
rolled to one side and bent a green tree
leg joints locked then loosed sudden
as brush and dust of seasons past
rose with flies and rush of air

dim eyes turned to stone, and light
of day became a thing unseen
into  disjointed thuds
leathered flesh to ground resounded
through Savannah and trees, lifted birds to wing
animal ears  to perk and alert
as it went-- unheard by great flapless lobes
now covered in dirt and woody debris--

all things that live will die, but
this seemed larger than life
and deeper than surrender to fate

It was as if a mountain
had perished...