NATURE

Nature is what a world wants us to see
Reflecting its history over many ages
What we know now is more than before
From a worldwide span to microscopic
A lifetime of study on this complex topic
Yet is a mere fraction of what is in store
Some images are captured in shiny pages
Showing us all what our place may be

Hiding behind a mask of smiles, clouding my sight.
Always imitating, concealing my fright.
Panting a smile, a fake: "I'm alright."
Pretending and acting never feels quite right.
Yearning to end it all tonight, in fact I think I just might.

Grief is a heavy ocean wave,
That crashes and breaks against my shore.
It lingers, and I am left alone,
As I try to find a way to cope.

The days feel longer, the nights seem darker.
The skies seem greyer, my heart feels heavier.
It's a weight that I can't escape,
And I can't seem to find the strength to cope.

The future feels out of reach,
My joy has been taken away.
I can't seem to appreciate what I have,
My grief won't let me be okay.

The drum begins, coughing like a choking child,
Humming, producing sounds, stretching their souls further,
"gba gba, gbo, gbo", legs talking, calling forth the wild,
Hearts jumping in surrender, stained teeth, engulfing fervour,
Enjoying paralyzing rhythms, seducing, yet wild,
It's an era of darkness, vainglories and murder,
Yet they dance, washing off their legacy in its trickles

1935 - ~ May 4th, 2005
(untimely death sentence ordained ~ early February 1935)

I trot out a poem acknowledging birthday
of dear ole mom, who succumbed,
lost lease on life
nearly two decades ago,
who frequently asked me,
but never received acknowledgement
during her livingsocial years did abjure
(as the sole son)
communicating HAPPY BIRTHDAY.

Empty nest lingers
as bare branch sends off
its last leaf ~

...things left behind.

Two hundred Sandhill
Cranes flew by
to decorate the
southbound sky,
to soar,
to flee,
to freely fly
off to a warmer mire.

And as I watched
the sedge move on
from roosts of colts
now so forgone
from nest
to sky,
to freely fly,
my own heart carried higher.

I wondered where
they'd find their stay
through winter's plight
so cold and gray,
to rest,
to stretch,
to freely fly
as nature would aspire.

Departure

Little bird fly away!
You were never meant to stay.
In humanities grasp its filth and squalor.
Take to the sky, return not tomorrow!
Go your lone and solitary way.
Maybe the sun will take you,
somewhere far, far up and away!

Tis the season of reflection
To look inward at one's self
Facing holiday demons
Deep cuts hidden behind the elf

Holiday movies run rampant
Tears of sorrow grace my cheek
Realizing what's missing
How I must appear so weak

A home that feels warm
Where celebration isn't a crime
Candles glow from window sills
And giving doesn't have you doing time

Who knows what lays beneath the sand
that drifts across the desert bare,
what's buried by immortal hands
amidst the grains of yesteryear.

The houses that all once stood proud,
and fought the stark advancing dunes,
have disappeared beneath the shroud
of quartz' smothering platoons.

There's no mirage to quench the thirst
of those in search of visions past,
for badlands cover what is cursed
and desert forms can rarely last.