Do not steal the air from me
I could not bear such poverty
And fill again the pristine sky
With dirt and soot that stings the eye.
The earth our home we must not foul
I long to hear coyote’s howl
We share it all with birds and beast
The giant whales and microbes least.
The streams and lakes and oceans wide
The care of which we must abide
This is our home from which we came
To spoil it now will be our shame.
I thought that I had lost
a swan.
Viewed through the window
And across the lake
They sailed there mornings
On most fine days
As a threesome of waterfowl
Forming a triptych
Hinged in their beauty,
Into my vision such
Clouds upon the water,
Joy upon the heart.
But then one was gone
So it seemed
And out of kilter was my new
view,
A rowboat plying with but
one oar.
The remaining pair flew
low and muted
Across the ice covered
lake
Whistling for their vanished
friend
Or so it seemed.
And I counted down their
loss and mine
As the way of the world
both harsh and cold
Which sometimes snatches
up
Such beauty and promise
Rendering forever
The goodness from their
lives.
But then I saw on this
grey dark day
Found, not lost the triplet!
Gliding across the distant
way
And still within our
visual bond
Pallid and strong against
the breeze
And so it seems
What was lost is now found
Whose return required nothing
more
Than fidelity
Which is to say:
Have faith and hope,
Let’s wait and see.
I would like to take the president for a long walk in the
woods.
We would climb humble hills and majestic mountains,
We would cross small steams, steaming in the morning
light,
We would ramble across flowering fields and watch the
bees
Bobbing on the blossoms.
We would listen-long, smell deep,
And touch things wet and cool and smooth.
We would spend dark nights perched on a rocky crag
And just look up...
And think back to the beginning of time.
We would walk and breathe and discover our way
Deeper into the universe,
Deeper than we ever have been,
Deep enough to realize that we do not need
To be in control,
And that it is good for us to let that go
On the next sun sent zephyr,
And know that there is most certainly
A better way.
We have been caught out in the cold
In the fading light of this democracy
We have taken for granted
That it would always be there
Solid and monumental.
Silly to think it could not be snatched away
Silly to think that there was such a thing as
Absolute trust.
Absolute good.
This is a miss-read of human nature
This is a painful moment
This is a long, lonely walk home.
I’m somewhere between solitude and loneliness,
Can you help me?
This task will likely be burdensome since
I cannot teach you the steps to this dance,
Nor rule the hobgoblins
As they step forward fast
And then soon sashay and vacate
The dance floor.
Sometimes they are driven by a compelling beat,
Sometimes by an adolescent swoon,
Sometimes with no cause at all they
Come out to play,
Just cause.
So I need you to put on
That pretty dress,
You know the one,
And wait for me to take your hand
As I wait for the next ladies choice.
I think you know,
I think you know better than I.
Evaporation
Lifts water
Secretly rising gracefully
Skyward by the persistent power
Of the magician-god
The great Ra
Our soul
The Sun.
Heat and sweat and wind
Pluck the liquid loose
Stealing it from its earth bound vessels
And momentarily flaunts it
Flinging it wantonly skyward
In the face of gravity
Rising rebelliously
Then suddenly and finally
It is resisted
Yielding molecularly
To the cold black
wall of the sky
As strong force plays its part
And so self-attracted and slowed
And rejoined in
Brief moments of chaos
And Condensation
And transitory concession
Downward it returns.
Visible now
Sticky dewy icy
Hexagonal flakes and shattered shards
Transformed into prismatic droplets
Rushing and plodding these
Tears of joy
Fill my cup and your ocean as
Gravity gets the first and last laugh
Throwing down precipitously
Against these brief mile markers
Of resistance…
Water,
Finding its only true home
In the constant
Cycle of change.
Do not steal the air from me
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