Commencing

One hand
tensed but strong
reached out.

Wet with rain
slick, slipping
fingers unfurled

losing hold
falling back
falling through, wet with

remembering a broken chain,

motionless breath

backs turned

fog settled

rolling down, quivering
belly, open mouth
sinking under
...through
sand
held

held
by

dust
dampened by
sweat

Imperfections

Cracks in the ceiling
claw marks on the furniture
writing on the wall
no erasing these,
no removing...
the scars
show the journey

the journey
brings the
gifts

Unburied

Lost in
the soles of these
dust-covered boots
rubber-thick
holding bent toes
worn cotton
weakening ankles

until
unseen faces lifted
echoed
cracked in song
whispered shadowed strength


bolstered by brothers
beneath
a life left behind
and a promise
of sunlit sand

found standing solidly
cracked leather
waiting
to rise
to a surface, known
but new

Dancing on the Beach

Sunlight slips past unnoticed
as she marks her spot
in the sand

lit from behind
a gargantuan wash of
burnt embers
fortell the bonfires



unconcerned she starts
the song...
a beat, stacatto rhythm
electric drums
crooner calls
passion
to passion





a breeze unease
homeless in her wake
hips and pelvis
turn and twist


limbs respond, reverb
and sway taking off
she flies across
hardpacked sand
crashing waves

lost in trance
alive with fire
a moving spirit
pulls her up
and knocks her down


twirls her
across
to the other side
of
her dream


and those left watching
remain unseen

After Breaking

Stabbed to bleeding but not to
detachment
limping with stinging discomfort
to remind the offender of
his crime

Days pass in relative
sameness
Familiar sun, shining on the same
tree branches
same food filling an unhungry
belly and
mixing it all up
flipping it all inside and
out

Slowing beside Rapids

Bluer and bluer again the sky
dwarfed us
we walked, pausing
beside rushing waters
swirling eddies of multidirectional
currents
seeming a rush of unified onslaught
revealed at odds
apart
perpendicular in their
pursuit
of the downstream haven
mesmerized and wishing to
go down
down
down
without losing
self
amidst
unwelcome comrades


saved at last
we found one
hairy arachnid and
one slovenly caterpillar
to join us back on land
free from the pull
of the whirlpool
free to walk in
two straight lines
touching only
where our fingers brushed
one another

Empty Your Vessel

Let in a drop of water
to slide down a parched throat
tasting a thousand years of
rusted swords, lost in the
mud
washed from the battlefield
as swiftly moving currents
stole away struggling limbs
silencing cries for mercy with
thunderous insistence

Outward to join briny waters
where deeply hidden
creatures created before marching soldiers
coming to rest upon
hovels and burrows
calling tentacles to
taste ruined flesh
and porous bones
leaving small evidence
of battles lost
or won
but promising adequacy
as cleansing waters
turn
struggle to dust
leaving only a
small remembrance
a ring of silver plain and glinting

love left upon a quilt
twice touched by slick passion
once folded, shelved
motheaten
(weeping still)

Thirst unmet
sullied with a flavor of
decomposition
too long to cleanse
blood, love, lost
to the untouchable
will of
entrepeneurs

Beside lakes and rivers
safely sought
camps built near
fresh water
beneath a universal moon
shining for
hope to bring
a new start
to
a widowed world.