Once Dear

I cannot forget you

Standing in the crisp September air 

Moonlight shine curled in your hair.

The stars above could not compare 

To the shimmer in your eyes;

Azure, deeper than truest skies.

Your laughter still echoes in the dark

Next to where my car was parked

When headlights first lit our kiss;

Lips now parched and loveless.

Now tastes of bitterness, forgiven 

Not forgotten; a lingering cloud. On the horizon, 

A dark smear of ink-soaked cotton

Blotting memories once dear.

Wished for more than to expect

Accepted less lest I forget

The deceit your serpent heart begat,

I have not forgotten...

Yet, I have no regrets to say,

I loved you once, 

But not today.

I loved you once...

Haiku

Cold wind whispering.

What is it saying to me?

Be thankful for warmth.

Fresh, white snow crunching;

In the cold we made a man.

He survived one day.

Inhale the sound of

Birds chirping soft symphonies.

Greet each day with song

High white clouds, blue sky.

Sweltering sunlight burns me.

Welcome cool shadows.

Rippling visage,

Heat obscures clear horizon.

We all move slowly.

Tree light, shadows dance

In Fall, with changing colors;

Leaves crack under foot.

Orange pumpkins glow

While the costumed children laugh

Trick or Treat, who knows?

Lightning Jar

Captured lightning in a jar;

Curiosity enclosed.

Why let it go.

Innocence, a faint blink,

Soon to shrink

out of a station wagon window.

New life is old.

Wishing for blue grass.

The Clockmaker

Hands are moving, 

Interlocked as gears. 

Waving as they count

our days 

our months 

our years 

These hands did not make the time, 

But merely point beyond. 

Half past 

this cage of reason 

Half past 

the sun at dawn. 

Each face tells the ceaseless story: 

A maker, immutable but kind 

You would find his 

Quite like yours 

If you'd take 

the time. 

Do not worry about that clock 

Only where it leads

Time is wasted 

flies away 

The maker never wanes.

Ozark Psalm

                                                     

Sit on the dock and speak with God

as the Sun sets on your time,

It will make a golden path on the water.

Sing your picnic table psalm.

Let voice rise over traffic

and fall again in mountain rain;

Be drenched in praise.

From balconies through caves,

It is never dark with you;

We are fading memories

Drifting with the tide.

Though paths are different

All destinations the same.

When the Sun sets on that water

It will make a golden path again.