Quill

It started as a blank, once a living tree
Felled and cut to pieces,
Limbs and digits bleached in the sun
Now in this tired fingers I search for its life
Turning it into something to be stained
Into something manipulated and pushed
It becomes an extension of this tired hand
It becomes a tactile voice of these tired eyes

September 3, 2012

Thinning Vines

Thinning tomato vines
Beneath a grey late Summer ceiling
Pungent scent on my stained fingers
Fine cilia scratches skin like
A cat wanting attention
Scarlet orbs in dirty palm
See translucent fragile skin
Mouth waters imagining taste of
Sweet savory fruit dipped in sea salt

September 1, 2012

Autumn Moon

The sound of mourning doves
cooing through the open window
woke me ahead of passing cars

Soon the night air will be too cold
to leave the glass open wide

Soon I will have to place a blanket
on the bed instead of soft thin sheets

But I am already imagining
the Autumn moon feigning shyness
behind gossamer clouds
during the cooling midnight

I will watch her and wait
for the silhouettes of migrating birds
against her bright face flying South

August 31, 2012

Endings

Summer is waning and
I can't wait for autumn

Give me the falling leaves
Give me the golds and reds of forests
Readying for respite

Summer will lie down when the fall
Mist greets me in mornings

The smell of dry bark will tickle my nose
The sound of cracking twigs will make me giddy

And I shall watch the orange sun
Each evening reflecting fallen foliage

August 30, 2012

pre dawn

before dawn wakes i toil restlessly
in dreams to push her away
looking for more hours of sweet slumber
looking for more hours of reverie
to soothe my bruised soul
yet beyond these eyelids there is pink
it is not my thin flesh but the magenta of a new day

 august 28, 2012

Chino the Hamster

He was sleeping in my arm and started snoring. We managed to get only one squeak before he woke.

bitter tea

i rose before daylight
waited patiently with hot
cup of jasmine tea in hands
then finally the first golden
gingko leaf tumbled down
onto damp mossy flagstone
my autumn is here as
bitter tea hits my palate

11.11.11

it's not a crusade
save a couple beads
don't think it's new

don't think it's sacred
or with this red cross
i'll come for you too

as i came for myself
finding bloodied fingers

seeds

sleepy eyes and wandering fingers
teddy cat in my face when i wake

but her scent is still on our pillow
smile, inhale a sweet experience

a season may past, maybe a snow
in this clime, spring flowers are seeded

settings

i wake tangled in delicate strands of amber and honey
her sweetness and warmth are still on the linen
her marks are on my clothes like cat signs, "taken"

i only set out one coffee set but just for now
i have to pinch the third growth on tomato vines
she is not there sleepily in the morning sun at seven

in this interstitial i'll have to adjust portions for one
until later moons give tide to new harvests
then i'll have to wash dishes for two settings again

wheels

early in the morning
as i stretch my neck
round and round

lives of last nights' dreams
play in the forebrain
as a thousand tangled wheels

matin

Low sun cool air
Contrasts with memory
of her warm skin
While I stare at singing train tracks

racing

the mind races with coming dawn
soft bands of pale violet and periwinkle
ribbons of what will be washed ochre
chases shadows at tops of still tree tops

after dinner

sun lazily going down
after a satisfying dinner
palm fronds catching
slow breezes from bay
periwinkle sky turning violet

helios and eos

there is a dim grey sky
high above the still sycamores
but i know helios is chasing eos
and hot yellow rays are coming

summer

the tang of sour cream
on ripe black figs
play nicely with oolong's
bitter then sweet visit
on the tongue, in the nose

matin

the warming day
momentarily delayed
by cool air, scent of water

4th of july

on this day
my coffee is too sweet
to counter the idiocy
founding fathers
would resurrect themselves
to fix the ship of fools
in the large
white domed building

scent of water

i got up early
sprayed the patio
still in shade

and waited for the scent
of water to draft inside
sipping hot espresso

july

july's sun has breached the horizon. i feel the heat that is about to come.