Letters in the Sand

He began etching
flowing thoughts
on damp sand
far enough
with stick in hand
from foamy surf
the words withstand
sandpipers
dancing
atop
the strand
when finally
stylus thrust
into the froth
overhead
gulls cry aloud
as the sea
begins to shroud
now
thoughtless
wounds
no longer
proud.

The Hermit Crab

They pick me up
and poke fingers
into my cottage
all in fun
as they watch
me scamper away
yet know not
I carry my home
balanced upon
my tired back
and soon I outgrow
this shrinking estate
and the hunt begins
again
until I find 
a more spacious abode
yet others too 
stake claim
and battle we do
until I scamper away
with a wobbly fit 
learning once again 
how to balance
a mansion
in shifting tides 
while escaping 
another 
human hand.

Still Lives On

She reached for his hand
together as one
they wove through the crowd
now she led
a quick glance back
eyes meet
for an instant
that still
lives on.

Inside His Head

Sitting beneath the tree
he adjusted the earbuds
the sounds of nature
recorded long ago
were music to his ears
and the book he opened
written a century before
soon imagined people
came alive
inside his head
along with now
dead birds
still chirping
after all
these years.

Deep Into the Night Too

Sometimes deep into the night
deep into the desert
with but the canopy of stars above
a meandering breeze
that seems to come and go
as it pleases
a kind of darkness below
the circular horizon that stuns the eyes
tiny sounds about
some familiar
some strangers
seated atop gritty sand
still warm from the long departed sun
new smells tickle the nose
the body slowly finds an ease
and seems held upright
by that breeze
the mind
oh the mind
wants to take it all in
as the senses grow bolder
and bolder
what was once ordinary
becomes extraordinary
then the mind lets go
the voice in the brain is dumbstruck
what was thought to be stillness
suddenly becomes forever change
and in the blink of a blind eye
the entire universe
slips
into
the silenced mind.

Silence

Silence may be a tribute
to holiness
but it is the tiny bit
of complex coordination
between mind and matter
that manipulates sound waves
into codes
that all the bigness
is ignorant of
yet other tiny brains
grasp and decode
and too
think and wonder.

Serious Business

No matter the bigness
of the universe
it is composed
of tiny building blocks
be it a galaxy
or my tiny brain
more building blocks
not larger building blocks
that is
serious business.

Next Move

He was a war veteran
a young man
with his pocket knife
whittling a walking stick
from a slender branch
beneath the cottonwood
next to the stream
and was considering
his next move
when across the water
he spotted a deer
drinking and unaware
of the danger
of being
unprepared.

Recycling

And in the end
his atoms
were resurrected
building blocks
awaiting
new construction
for
another day.

The Mosquito

I slapped my ear
in the dark
aiming for the buzzing
that in my dream
interrupted a conversation
with who
I cannot remember
but it was important
I was sure.

With Delight!

Life is holy
everywhere holes
as we attempt
to cram dark matter in
for we are an unholy bunch
fearing the unknown
fearing the empty spaces
yet in it all
I seek my holiness
a path
filled with potholes
that I dance around
with delight!

Iron Stars

An iron skillet in one hand
a spatula in the other
two eggs cracked
sunny-side up
a breakfast with an answer
not the chicken
nor the eggs
but the star
that one day
became
an iron skillet.

Talk We Can

Did the universe evolve
from a singular moment
to now
and along the way
life came to life
and evolved
until brains became minds
and how many revolutions
around the sun
before minds began
to speak
and talk we can
for silent
was the universe
for much
too long.

Thinking Thoughts

I open my eyes
to see the ever present ants
trekking about the sand
and me
a solitaire creature
atop a boulder
inactive in body
yet mind moving
as frantically
as ants scrambling
alone
yet with as many memories
stories and meandering thoughts
as the number
of countless ants
I watch.

The Split Reed Trip

The jazz riffs
took him further out
than he'd ever been
until the reed split
the saxophone buzzed
and honked
until a golden vibration
turned the brass around
racing fingertips
to pearly keys
finally
brought him
safely
back home.

Eyes and I

The wind chilled his soul
and the injured finch
in his hand
seemed to look
directly into his eyes
and began to chirp
about a life
of flight
and once a furious chase
and an escape
yet the eyes of the hawk
were never
forgotten.

Bookends

Most will eventually find
the bookends to life
was and are
anticipation and memories
yet for some
the in-between books
are many
while others
have a single book
unfinished
a puzzle
never solved.

The Old Man

A breath
and an ah-ah-ah-choo!
cleared the mind
for all the rest
and after all
when breathless
filled the soul
for yet more
when life seemed
forever more
a cupped hand
enough to scoop
another drink
from
the river of life
now grateful
when other hands
offer
to calm
what once
I could do
myself.

Compassion

He so often felt
compassion for others
and wished
life would be kinder
yet he also felt
ashamed
when his will
was not enough
to transform his feelings
into action.

Happiness

In their work
they gathered beetles
from the floor
of the Amazon basin
just as when
as a kid
he collected crickets
in a Mason jar
along with twigs and leaves
a home for them
as he waited in a darken bedroom
at night for their first chirps
his flashlight caught them
in the act
and since that night
he sought to catch
one more thing
in an empty glass jar
that had eluded
his grasp
until she captured
his heart
and since then
he knew that some things
can't be studied
in glass jars.