The Commenter

His mind swirled in a whirl
for he travelled far
yet never left his chair
but the whole world
was there
he watched it on his screen
and mind told fingers
just where to go
tapping the keyboard
late into the night
while the ideas
were still
bright
then they took flight
around the world
onto screens
here and there
and now and then
someone else
on a chair
read thoughts
as the Earth
swirled and whirled
around the Sun.

The Desert

The desert is a place
where all certainty
is uncertainty
where reality
is a mirage
where a mirage
becomes reality
where the wind tests
all that dares to challenge it
and the challengers that survive
are never the same
erosion bares all
with softness the first to go
hardness is the survivor
adaptability
coming in
a strong
second.

The Scientist

He flew
in airplanes
and walked on
sandy shores
and rocky ones too
he could count atoms
and stars too
constructed molecules
inside his head
with thoughts and memories
of textbooks and tweezers
he inspected
insects
and with a hammer
he once split a rock
just to give light
to a trilobite
and ask
who
are
you?

Molecules in One Grain of Sand

It was about a
trillion billion
by his rough calculations
but I wasn't about
to start counting
for I had sixty whole minutes
in the hour that I thought I had
until I realized that
time wasn't minutes
for me to count
but was a trillion billion
chances
just waiting
to be.

Mojave

In the Mojave desert
I once spent the night
talking to the stars
in darkness
in a sleeping bag
atop still warm sand
as the wind calmed
eyes to the heavens
filling my mind
with wonder
as I told the stars
that they twinkled
and could think
of nothing else
that the universe
wanted to hear
and so 
I closed my eyes
and listened
and heard
myself talking
as always 
to 
myself.

Soul on Fire

Was it funny
that he put
a smile on his face
when his soul
was on fire
for want
of a better
term?

Ode to a Leaf

I couldn't see the forest
for the trees
and couldn't see the trees
for the leaves
and couldn't see the leaves
for the cells
and couldn't see the cells
for the cytoplasm
and couldn't see the cytoplasm
for the forest
that I held in my hand
that I called
a leaf
that was filled
with more wonder
than my mind
knew how to
grasp.

The Ruse

No thing
seems at times
like nothing
but that's the ruse
because behind
all the aught
is everything
under the sun
with thoughts
that go beyond
the stars
with memories
sprinkled in
just for delight.