Reading a Note from a Mysterious Stranger

 

Ice cream scoops from the OED

words yummy as a clear conscience

laughing a bouquet of sunflowers

 

a chorus of golden petals 

sing hallelujahs 

around earth’s warm fruit

 

seeds set in endless labyrinths

feed winged multitudes

 

outside thunder rolls 

morning sky darkens with rain 

that dims not the inner light

nor limits the flight of dreams

                               ~  pcm

                                     2019-09-19

photo:

sunflowers 2020-09-12

Of all the loves mine to cherish

 

I felt love in the thorns that scratched

my hide until I bled running through Indian

Forest barefoot and alone the trees my

home away away away from all the worries

grown ups silently shouted.

I felt love in the musk of ancient walls

left witness to weep into the moss

that watched civilization torn asunder

through dark ages and enlightenment

and two world wars.

I felt love in the sky and the stars so close

they tickled my ears as they whirligigged

over the Rocky Mountains spinning stories

and songs the brook babbled into lullabies

by my sleeping bag.

But of all the loves mine to cherish

none compared to the wild child wonder

I felt with my boys from the womb, to my arms

to my heart torn by thorns as they ran

into the forest of the world.

Urban Worship

trash bins rattle like Buddhist temple bells

calling to morning devotions

coffee water boils in chant

each burst bubble releases a prayer

meditate upon transformation

as beans transubstantiate water

dodge the cat as I go out the door

Durga must be near

huddle with strangers at the bus stop

our darshan a holy lack of eye contact

like the sacred pause riding the elevator

our worship in the communion of silence 

                        ~*~

Only Write Swimmingly

Jump in media res only

two hundred twelve kilometers

the distance between

Athens and Sparta

alienates

description from action

literature from life

poetry from prose.

My dear finless friend

pick up your pen

at Tripoli

continue past Mandra

follow Olympia Odos

to your destination.

These directions

are for planning

porpoises only.

       ~ * ~ 

Public domain photo