The New Tide

It was the day when the tide
Both came in and
Went out simultaneously.
The sea kissed with its greedy tongue
And teased the shore with gifts from
Foreign lands and deep down places
While it also drew with grasping gulps
Of magnetic water translucent
Drawing off those that had stood for such certain time
On the high shores
And above the roar
Now raptured to a watery destiny
Perhaps tossed again far off
Perhaps swept relentlessly into the womb of return.
How could this be
-Such thirst and avarice
Such greatness and generosity-
Parallels that have strayed
From realities unfaltering course,
How could this be…?
It will take time, incalculable
To know this or forget
To bear up or abandon,
No simple shrug
No easy weave and comfort fit,
It will take some time
Harsh yet generous,
Ruthless and truthful in its way.

Lost Shoe

"No need for alarm..."
(Which surely sends a chill
in a world fraught with peril)
So,
No need for alarm,
But,
I have lost a shoe,
One that I wear frequently,
And although it is a big wide wonderful world
I can rule out most of it
And limit my search to somewhere near
The shoe that I still have.
It is the right one,
So possibly it has run away
No longer able to tolerate its proximity
With the Left?

I do live with a ferret.
He eats cat kibble
But when he is loose
He porpoises around
Randomly attacking small objects
And dragging them away to his secret lair
Which is usually under the bathroom sink
Or behind the toilet.
(I've tried baiting him with the remaining shoe
to see where he takes it.)
No luck.
And it will likely take some time
Before he is done with the first one.

So it makes me wonder,
What am I missing in my search,
A clue to this puzzle?
A need to think outside the shoebox?
This is a curious riddle
And either I solve it
Or
Admit to the possibility
That I am losing my mind,
One shoe at a time,
But,
No need for alarm.

Just No Way

I had 10 squirrels at the feeder today,

Dapper in their gray and brown business suits;

Busily eating sunflower seeds.

They seem like 4 year old boys

Cute and intent

on what they want.

Selfish and charming

sitting on their haunches

tails tightly coiled

dark black eyes glinting

Energetic and yet

so vulnerable.

I buried one yesterday

who died likely crossing my street

for the same irresistible seeds.

There is no way to teach them

or even explain

or offer to hold their hands.

Paul A

And You Wish

When you love there is
Never a letting go,
No free and clear, oh no.
Circle round
And round again
Like a dark tattoo
It will fade
But not dissipate.
And the promise of pain
That connected you to love
On that first day
Will be there to the last.
It is what you get with the strong
It is what you get with the light.
It will buckle your knees
And suck out your breath,
And you’ll wish you had never…
Never had to let go.

I Sleep

I sleep most every night,

And you?

How odd and yet familiar:
A trip to a spa nocturnal
Heavenly or quite Infernal  
To meet up with that secret you
And randomly adventure too
Nonsensical
Yet essential
Somewhat frightening
Or so enlightening
It’s somatic and dramatic
REM inducing and seducing  
Sexing and perplexing.
So are we doing a review or some
Overture preview?
Of a parallel existence
Or of death oh so persistent
And brother,
Which side of the bubble are we on?
Which side of the bubble are we on?

Manifested in Moments

She only knew me as a poet
No back story
No sidebar
No in way of explanation
Just the words of my mouth
And the meditations of my heart
And we both found that acceptable

I only knew her as a skier
And the strong hand that I held
And the knees with the scars
And the wind still in her hair
And a mountain out there
Where she had been so
Alive, and now so early deprived

We sat in the dull roar
With the ocean below
And watched a movie together
Without earphones
Adding the dialog
Making our own story
Offering our own interpretation

And then we let go
At the beginning of the end
A phone call or two
Did not satisfy
We both realized
It had only manifested in moments fleeting, flying
A half-life of an encounter
Very real
But now evaporated somewhere
High over the Pacific.