Rolling painted deserts
of the west.
Shrub bushes dot
sloping hillsides.
Relentless sun heats up

Dark bulk of a single bird,
With red puffed up chest,
As winter’s breeze sways his perch

I lay still
While my loved one,
Sleeps.
His warm hand
In my hand,

In the dead
Of Winter,
I long for Spring.
In the rains
Of Spring,

An owl hoots
on this cool, crisp
Spring night.
A sound that’s
distant yet echos

There is my shadow,
A dark outline of this body
And yet, it also holds,
The hidden imperfections
Of my existence.

Sometimes wonder
about a star,
way afar.
How life might be
in outer space,

When I first heard
“The Blackbird,”
In the middle
Of night,
I was just thirteen.

Life is not fair at times...
But of course things
Change quickly down the line,
We are born into a
No guarantee world.

Inhale, the arms float up,
Exhale, the arms float down,
Namaste, at the heart.
Inhale, the body bends,
Hands at top of mat,

Just a small part of me
wants strife to go away,
to return to a kinder time.
Am I just losing courage?
Life is draining me,

The wind went through me,
it carried the yellow, orange
and red leaves lightly
on the air.
Another change is coming,

The many places I have been
And countless faces I have seen,
The many tales to be told,
Into the universe, they unfold.
It’s all a passing show,

Time is going by fast,
Trying not to live in the past,
To keep priorities straight
And not falter at the gate.
To join the universal goal

Perhaps it is the mind
separating things
into this and that.
Perhaps it is the mind
with it’s preferences

You may not know what you’ll
do next:
Hit the open road
With your thumb stuck out.
Give up all you own

I heard past generations
In my son’s voice,
I saw his life fly
Into another dimension,
A place, I can only imagine.

Red cardinal dancing
On white snow,
How regal you appear
With your cloak of red,
How it cheers my heart

Lately, a sadness pervades,
I mourn for youth,
perhaps passion
of younger days.
With age, some of that passion

Not sure where we are headed,
Could be a long ride,
Keep your heart steady,
Open wide your eyes.
There is something to learn

The buck in the garden
Chewing up hard earned
Labor,
His antlers raise,
His ears perk up, as

A path with heart
Is full of love
Which makes us right
Brings in the light
And chases the dark.

Today, I wish the pain to go,
the fatigue that I fight so.
This process of aging is unkind
and yet, the law of nature
is a fast lane of change.

Life is but a dream,
our fantasies,
spill, like liquid tears
that pool and vaporize
into the air.

The misty, night rain,
Soaking bare trees,
Bringing nourishment.
I stand at the window,
A steady beat echoes

When you are not here
An empty heart full of fear
Arises and wonders
If I will see you again.
What will I do without

In the rustle of leaves
the wind plays a tune,
the change of season
is on the horizon.
It asks permission

Walking on the edge,
Between awareness and sleep.
Sometimes...
I’m in the moment,
I feel my body,

Summer is near it’s end,
I regret not visiting my
childhood home,
near the gulf,
where the sunset

Not sure what to write
while the world
is on the brink
of another war.
While others face

Harsh reality smacks
like a slap
of cold wind.
Sometimes I’m a tough
sailor, at the helm,

Brown hawk with
spotted tail,
soaring on the wind,
balancing like a sail.
Your piercing cry

Orange full moon
with a half smile,
a hanging lantern,
lighting the way,
through dark streets,

Photos are all I have
At times,
Of smiling familiar faces,
My family spread out.
I would travel often

Pink hues from the west
Filter through
Snow covered boughs
Leaving,
The evening light

Memories of my childhood
Visit more and more
Each day,
As ghosts of past relatives
Cast their shadows,