from "Sonnet," (work in progress, third line)

memory is creative

filling in between

the shadow and the light

something new between

what is thought

and what is seen

- -

now

exists

on the cusp

of when

- -

such naïve terms:

still I wake

into a new sun

to wrestle my crystalline fears

with love and hope

for they shield

my metaphorical heart

as I naively long

to see

her eyes come

for me

- -

so many unspoken words

(like limits of secret pacts

these borders we cannot cross

without learning  new language)

to speak to one another

- -

To find water at a stop in the alps

I jumped off the train

going from Vienna to Venice.

Lisa called to hurry,

flakes sparkled the night like stars;

I danced with snow for the second time.

- -

then there

you are

already

within

the familiar

- -

the air forms to your body

without effort

I breathe you in

- -

not so much a matter of will,

as it’s a matter of will not.

- -

a rose unfolds despite its beauty;

the weed despite our disdain:

he longs and obsesses

as easily as she coyly

plays with her hair

while laughing at him

- -

intent

(December 2011)

Three Poems

the world exists

in front of you

with luck

a peripheral sight 

expands you

enough to bend 

back upon your vision

to create a new sense 

of self that can see

how great a fool you are

-

Work

sing

shuffle your feet

another day is done

-

another dance

before the night is through

circle slowly

around the room

think again

what might have been

(from "Sonnet," a work in progress: syllables 8, 9 and 10: line 2)

(December 2011)

Me and Lisa, 1979

among the crepe myrtle

and spring flowers

of austin’s japanese garden

we would feast

on canned smoked oysters

cheap wine and each other

from "Sonnet" (work in progress, 2nd line, syllable 7)

(December 2011)

the oyster

the world pulses

whispers about me

a cocoon

my thought layered

in thin sheets

with the detritus

of all the others

who have ever touched me

from "sonnet" ( work in progress, third syllable, second line)

(December 2011)

The Day Before Ezra Was Born

i held my breath

then sank

into lake pleiad

the summer heat

the deer flies

the  long hike

the short swim

to the lake’s center

everything else

vanished

in

ice cold water

from "sonnet" (work in progress, third syllable)

(December 2011)

The Year Mom Died

i sat in silence

as she slept

her breathing so low

I would bend my ear

down to listen

to air

from "Sonnet" (work in progress, sixth syllable)

(December 2011)

Seine

the question on his part

seemed casual, conversational

innocent in the interplay

of the day’s end and drink

the question on her part

was a net, multi-purposed

catching minnows, as well as

an answer from the sea’s swell

(December 2011)

Threshold

the meniscus trembles

at the cup’s rim

a hesitation

before a first kiss

a choice

I’m unable to make

dice fall

from her finger tips

(December 2011)

Always a Rationale

how does one tell the truth

to oneself when the wolves

of doubt slaver at each word

waiting for any sliver of emotional

slither to drop from one’s lips

before leaping forward to feed

how does one tell the truth

to others when each word

one speaks bends back to obscure

the one word unspoken behind

them all which would unlock

the tightly sealed box of one’s life

to speak within a simple honesty

is to sit alone in silent dread

(December 2011)

High School Crush

she comes into his class

and sits near by

it doesn’t matter

how hard he tries

to pretend a cool

nonchalance

what he wants to say

falls away

again into memory

yet even now repeats

as her brown eyes

befuddle his speech

the complexity

of simple words

troubles each step

he takes

not being a dancer

he worries

the least shift

in the rhythm

as if meaning

can be deciphered

from the day

to day inflections

or her intent

without a context

(December 2011)