Mid-Summer's Night

Glowing night,

clouds excite

the summer sky -

swaying limbs

in dusky shade

sing praise,

for All’s afire!

Stars tremble,

and planets gyre

but this lovers’ moon,

consumes

the shadowed earth

with passion’s

pure desire.

(7/13/2011)

Above Berkeley (For Connie)

Past stone houses Along the dangerous road We raced, top down Past the homes of the rich Laughing We flew into the night To the top And when we stopped The March wind still filled my hair And lifted my breath High above the bright city (its streets were constellations  Carelessly glittering Diamonds Cast into black waters) But walking past dark bulldozers Beyond the battered, red, warning sign Our laughter suddenly fell Startled by the silver presence Above the trees. We climbed to the peak As a halo encircled the full moon Silenced at last We heard an almost-human cry. Nearly invisible, we saw them, The plaintive, grazing deer. Image: Deer in the Grass courtesy of Ron Jensen 4/28/2013

Natural Force

The earth shrugs
and beneath the sea
mountains lift shifting waves
driving man
to higher
planes.

Primal force defines
the earth
as we are defined
by the rise and fall
of breath.

Yet contented we live
by the constant sea
as darker oceans
roil deep
beneath our feet,

and transfixed
we gaze as eternal waves,
pounding thrusting stones,
shatter to frothy foam.

No wonder, then,
when deeper lungs exhale,
in terror we flee,
and cry to God
for mercy.

(10/30/2012)

Peaceful Evening

Like a dark tower,
my window looms;

ebony night waits
just a step away.

Deep silence
consumes empty spaces
in the tall trees

where breezes sing
in the joyful morning.

My feeble lamp
can only reach
a few feet out

and sets
the pale grass
aglow

as glimmering ghosts
softly search
for peace.

But peace
can be uneasy


and stillness signify
oblivion.

(9/10/2010)

The Bridge at Rio Vista

The bridge stands low

over the swollen

Sacramento,

black water,

rushing to

darker seas,

hypo-thermal,

sucking breath

from the fallen,

the overboard,

the suicide.

Its sturdy stanchions,

hold fast,

give refuge

from the maelstrom,

a way across

or a place

to jump.