Disco Styx

there was an angel
then there was a star, a spinning ball of light
and the mist of night descended with love
with a cool love and a pulsating rhythm
angels sounded the trumpets as we hustled to the street
grooving to a familiar vibe
knowing what we really loved was how we moved

I'm so old someone shouted
keep dancing the night replied as we lined the street
and down the middle each moved in turn
celebrating a life and

whoa........

....lou rawls was presiding!

he stood there under the stars, smiling so cool,
as the velvet tones of his voice broke the news
that we were going to miss his loving.
hands clapping
side stepping down that line,
swaying our hips and arms to the beat
we knew he was true
and to the sweet mystic rhythm of disco
we gladly danced
forever

Maypole

Oh

round about the ribbons
lost in thought i go
the best provide
as this life should
for those i do not know

the joy i feel the love
the love
the love
not god
but from my monstrance heart

beating red and flowing
from my fingers
love and knowing

that ever more
round elephant
or kisses for the flea
the lace of love embracing
twirls

not god
not god
but love
just love
for thee

Oh

Reconciling

everything in memory is either this way
or that
good or bad
happy
sad
clear or hardly there
I pull from my past
reaching deep into the murk
and marbled slew
grabbing at bits and bites

it’s like a soup i tell you
soup
thick and old country
roiling
savoring the smell
so soon or far from the happening
i blow on the spoon and scrunch my eyes as i slurp
relishing the questions from my childhood

it tastes so good now
less filling

Curtain Call

orange red black golden
bubbling up
a craggy caldron
veiled in hot vapor darkness
and unmeasured time

nothing else out there
but other caldrons
simmering
not as hot
not as large
not enveloped in the swirling
just right mix
of gas fire
and elemental spice

who knew of our beginnings
measured in eons

or
one mighty touch

the work of unknowable forces

or
one to many gods

this beginning
of desolation molten rock
flaming meteors hitting oceans with a hiss

or
dark star peppered day by day creation
ordered and made ready
just for us
by him

the flames extinguished
cooling
mixing it up
hydrogen beget oxygen

or
adam and eve beget cain

miraculous chemical mutations
molded by time and space
rooted swimming
lumbering between two worlds
finally inhaling
cast out from the cradle of birth into a stinging world
of calamity and chance

small became big
walk became run
some became giants while we slept in trees
until a fireball cast us into dark once more

or
in such a short time as he created
we became the fireball
and smothered the whole good thing

The Winter Branch

the winter branch held
not knowing that mother spring
was budding anew

Healing

after the glass cut my skin
the initial blood pain stunned moment
i focused on the index finger of my left hand
i was careless and injured this little party
I accepted responsibility for the accident
and together we mutually decided
to go to the little digit emergency center
and get it checked out

so i walked to the sink

gently sudsing the red trench
pulling it open as the warm water
coursed down the little fleshy canyon
it was hurt but not tragically
so we cleaned up and sat down
and let the air and micro magicians
do their work
i slept a bit as it healed
hours later the report was in

no hard feelings

ready to return to work with 3 days off kitchen duty
light dressing required
I placed the bandaid gently over the line of hurt
and decided it had been a hard day on the digit
so off to the sofa
resting my hand on a pillow
assured all is well
as i read aloud from a favorite book
words known to heal

It Is

beautiful
so achingly beautiful
so seemingly same yet outrageously different
how changing in colors and scrumptious in forms
outrageously lovingly achingly beautiful
world

Sentient Being

a smart brain circles a new image
whether in snow or sun
the brain knows
yes
no
something to ponder

it stops
wary still
considering
no
maybe
pretty
sure
yes

the same brain
regardless of cranial form
decides
swift or slow
for good
or ill
and proceeds
with its knowing
in a certain
smart
moment

Merry, Holy

merry white the crystal that has fallen from the sky
merry be the holly berry
happy be the birds
holy is the bramble
and the forage for the herds

it is the time, tis the season
snow and cold abide
merry be the shortened days,
the winter
and the holidays

happy, merry, holy, berries
to you

You Can See It in Their Eyes

and for the feathered,
before you eat,
know they sounded this morning.

and in some memory,
scratched the dirt not known
saw patterns the day should bring
and a respect
their full breath
did not provide.

Nets

there is a net down there, a trap
it lays across the walking grounds
it reaches to the far corners of the country
and stepping into the search
for something to eat
to wear
shelter
company and kind
it waits for the lightest of footfalls
before it snatches ,snares
sending so many falling
then hoisted
upside down
their lives
upside down
above the net.

the greedy thieves
hungry for others
extend and strengthen their trap
catching more
leaving them hanging
as laws are written
mandating better nets
everywhere.

Full 8

wow
i slept good last night
so good
i could star in a poster
pro sun and daybreak
marching for a greater good
so happy for others
i share the joy and look to the sun
without shades

i will dress like i feel
in energetic flowering fabric
and blossom throughout the day
howdy day!
nothing i can’t do
if i let me
be

Upper Balcony

how can i believe it
here, in a mirror
how silly of me,
and you are?
i know why
when watching a silent film
one sits so still in the dark
concentrating on the unspoken

staring into the mirror
close and quiet
turning left then right
exaggerating my expressions
watching wrinkles layer down my face
crowding to examine my laugh
aghast!
my features shift and alarm
i recoil from the villain
til i near swoon

i take to this stage
at least as loved
as a saturday matinee
so rife with character
like back in the day
when the story of my life
had yet to speak

Infinite Presence

all creation is our family
and like sky who welcomes birds
we are carved by souls
we'll never know
so love need not speak words