Wisdom

Would you give up your livelihood

load your possessions in the car

to drive across the country

following a star?

Would you sling your worldly goods

into a bag across your back

and trek across the globe

with your treasure in a sack?

At the end of your journey

would you lay it at the feet

of a helpless homeless infant

whose parents you chanced to meet?

That one man would do this

is amazing beyond belief

but if you searched the world over

can you imagine finding three?

The Color of Snow

The trees all know

the color of snow

isn't the white

you see all around.

There is an after glow

from fallen snow

as if a rainbow

fell to the ground.

The colors fly

back to the sky

in the dusk

as the sun goes down.

The Evening Star

calls from afar

and the rainbow

returns to her crown.

The Wolf's Tale

 "Where are you going, little girl,
Wrapped in your mantle of red?
I can smell from your basket
The scent of fresh baked bread."
The wolf rolls his yellow eyes
And shakes his shaggy head.

"Why tarry in the wood sweet child?
Did you stop by a stream to play
Or to gather roots and herbs
Before the waning of the day?"
The wolf rolls his yellow eyes
and lifts his nose to bay.

"You shouldn't stray, pretty poppet,
Seeking berries far from the trail.
I know where brambles grow best
Juicy and black in a nearby dell."
The wolf extends a furry paw
And wags a friendly tail.

Night in the village sounds the alarm.

Lanterns wielded by burly men

Yield a single shoe and a crimson  thread

In search of a child who hasn't come in.

The wolf crouches low and licks his jaw,

Baring his teeth in a canine grin.

A pile of bones and one small shoe

Deep in a den underneath the fell

Are the only sign of what took place

Just before sundown in a forest vale.

The wolf lays his nose on a ruby cloak

And his silent muzzle tells no tales.

Midsummer's Eve

Just an illusion

A trick of light

An indulgent dream

From a star glazed night.

Imagined realm

No map can find

A kingdom of dreams

Made in your mind.

Ephemeral lover

No heart should trust

A comet that ends

In a trail of dust.

A dream will travel

Where the heart will bend

But what of the dawn?

All dreams must end.

Day breaks the chest

of night time fears

And sorrow is caught

on a pillow of tears.

Now open your eyes

and watch the sun rise

for your lover is sleeping

Right by your side.

Mountain Thunder

There is a certain thunder 

that only mountains know

the crash of running water

onto the rocks below.

There is a certain roar

that only Nature makes

the clanging of a creek

falling over breaks.

There is a certain music

that only water plays

as it tumbles down the hollows

into shallow bays.

Fortune telling

He loves me not, or does he?
I asked a daisy to keep the score
from signs her yellow eye could see.
But should I trust in flower lore
to read his heart and show his mind?
How many plucks will it take
To secure the answer I wish to find
And by their death reveal my fate?
Counting petals in poetic time,
Lying in a heap like snow.
In this, no reason and no rhyme.
Oh tell me, what does a daisy know?


A different kind of fire

Rooted she is to the ground.

Against her will she is bound.

Still her spirit runs wild and free,

No shear to tame twig and leaf.

For ten months ragged and worn

But every Spring, fire reborn.

 



Feeding the Fire

 

The addiction I created

I could not keep it fed.

The hunger roared unabated,

Desire freely bled.

Closed locked and gated,

the story went unread,

Still the craving was not sated

nor the longing in my head.



The Game

 

 

It was fire that I played with

And the coals were hot and red

But I jumped into the core

where angels would not tread

and let the devil count the cost

for the only game I ever played

was the only game I ever lost

 

The flames licked my skin

as I danced upon the pyre

like a moth I could not resist

being drawn into the fire

The scorching heat was half the fun

and the only game I ever played

was the only game I never won