Poem for Today

Color

In the world of no color,

Scarred white with the stain of the sun,

The coloured man ambles.

Rolling his feet through the sand-

Looking for belonging,

And finding only the sharp, spiked 

Granules of love.

Poem for Today

The Lives of the Animals

A sharp breeze,
From the grey morning.
It curls the kitten tighter into its mother.
The wind swirling its fur back against its body.

The black swallows struggle,
Carving the air,
Flat  as discs.

And the people suffer, 
With ailments, and grief, and death,
A million curses and aches,
Bound up with strings of human life.

But the animals live on,
Our travails are not for them.
Their story is written in the streets,
And forests, and salt water, and sand,
In the empires of mud and cold.

I look down at my hand.
And the ants are climbing upon it again.

Poem for Today

Light

Finally the first glimpse of light,

Hours into this night time drive,

The dusty mirror reflects patches of pink soaked cloud,

Like the marks on my dogs nose,

The day brings relief.

Poem for Today

Travel

Pointed cone of engine in flight,

Twirling and buzzing, 

Angry or benign,

I sit gazing at the darker arc of your blades,

The edges, promising travel and destruction.

Poem for Today

Animals in the Cold

Shivering makes me a puppet,
Dancing to the crystal strings of a deep,
and enrobing cold.

Suddenly, the shaking is in one limb, even just one muscle,
Then its another.
Movement and pause in untimed waves.

Yet, the twitching and its effects,
Become a type of relief.

Ahead, a sleek and low slung coyote crosses the chilled morning road.
Aware, controlled, purposeful.

Turning its angular head,
It gazes at me for a moment,
Then it moves on.
It knows it has nothing to fear from the trembling man.

Poem for Today

Walking in Fields

Talking to the sunflowers in the evening,

Their heads are down, 

Arched very low,

In a terrible despair,

As if they see nothing left.

I tell them not to be afraid,

That their love will be back tomorrow,

I know it will be better for them.

I speak to them,

Because it make me less alone,

And like them, I am also looking at the ground, 

But at least I can keep moving.

August 2014

Poem for Today

Galaxy

Topography of morning,

As the sun skittles over the canvas of your body.

The wandering galaxy of my life,

It is written,
In the twinkling freckles and dark stars,

Flowing over your naked back.

Gleaming like a negative night,

Obverse of the sky.

My lips touch the inclined hill of your shoulder,

And your eyes finally open.

June 2014

Poem for Today

Letters from the Far West

Speaking no one else's languages,

I float,

Listening to the padded tap of waves.

The shore is quiet,

Drying foam at the junction of the beach.

Sending cards and letters from the edge of the earth,

It seems like I am tossing pebbles,

Spiraling them them into this vast and blank, liquid face of nature,

and hoping the ripples will get to you.

And then, that you will find meaning in the bumps on the water.

But now the wind picks up,

and so the waves are being pushed back onto the sand.

April 2013

Poem for Today

On Writing

In Crowds,
Not like them,
But supposed to be of them.

I want to be connected,
Yet, I want them to go.
Leave me.

So that I do not look strange to others,
I try to keep myself busy,
Falsely doing something,
Like writing this.



August, 2013

Poem for Today

In Strange Lands

Perhaps the small animals I see,

They mean more to me,

Because in strange lands,

I have no courage to speak to other people.

Only the silly fat bees,

And the mysterious cats,

They stop and come close.

I cannot tell if they are smiling.

August 2013

Poem for Today

Understanding


Girl with little feet,
Tiny dangle of clustered toes,
Tasty. Glistening bold as bright cherries.

When I see the sun early -
Cracking the clouds from the Western sea,
It means everything good,
As warm as seeing you sleep next to me.

Our dog lifts its tumbled and dozy head,
Blinking back at me, 
Then she curls tighter,
Spinning into the fold of your knees.
Completely understanding why I am smiling at you.


August, 2013

Poem for Today

Drift

The low slung cats drift over this night's yellow streets,

Slowly bobbing like tufts of sullen and grey cloud,

Skimming the blacktop with no effort.

With no food to give them,

I feel futile, and purposeless,

I wish they would not be afraid of me.

I long to touch them and make them come close.

Poem for Today

More of Drinking

I was not seeking shelter in the dullness of drink,
When I came in here,
But it just turned out that way.

Fuzzy - white, with blue green edges is how I see things now,
The color of the soft mold on the oranges.
I can feel my mind gently bouncing off the inside of my skull.
So, it all makes me love you more,
and also takes away the care.

The girls look good in this place,
But they mean less.

I can't think of clever things to say to them,
So it is safer to keep drinking.

May 2013 

Poem for Today

Eyes

I can't even remember your eyes,

Color drifted away,

Like the wet chill of night was expelled,

When the morning's heat came up.

Now the birds spin stupid, lazy ovals,

And the heat dulls me.

I can already feel the sun's crackling burn,

As it tears my skin.

It comes on slowly,

Like the ache for you.

       may 2013

Poem for Today

Flying in Planes

Drifting. Spinning over these continents,
I see you, so far below.
A little hand moving above your head,
On a wondrous stem of an arm.

But I am better now,
So; I don't know if you are calling me back to you,
Or waving goodbye,


But, the way I am,
At this time,
Free from grief,
Perhaps I don't care..

Jan/Feb 2013

Poem for Today

Frontier

February. Outdoors.
Moving slowly forward,
Borderline freezing in the air.
Wind - like cold, grey custard,
Cast upon my skin.

Sun, dozy, tired,
Nothing more than an aged pale yolk,
Leaving no shadow at midday.

This is the footpath I amble on,
Balancing between love,
And fear of you.

Feb 2013    

Poem for Today

Desperate

I have grieved for so long,
Felt so futile,
I don't even have the energy to cry.
Just tired and playing at life.

I look at our small dog,
Resting, brown and golden fur rising slowly up,
Then  falling,
Breathing normally.

I am desperate to keep my love alive after this.

Jan 2013

Poem for Today

Quick

Red Drink,
Wet and swirling,
Dancing around each tooth.
Running up in tiny waves,
To smash against white stones.

Walking in circles of wine,
To miss you a little less.

Sept. 2012

Poem for Today

Breeze

When the wind swirled over you,

You dropped off your branch,

Letting love envelope you, and push you out.

So you went,

drifting and spinning,

Cast high over pools of water,

And the roots of your own tree.

But when the blowing stops,

I see you float down,

Coming close to the ground again.

No matter what happens now,

I don’t think the earth will trap you again.

Aug 2012.

Poem for Today

Water

The nakedness of water,
Its tender, pulsing flow,
It weaves around my lover's body,
Holding her close as she swims.

Touching every morsel of her,
Spiraling in her fingers,
Caressing the webs of her toes,
It surrounds her, and holds her up,
Not missing any part of her.
Even the ocean makes me jealous.

July 2012