Where Bones Grind

The cherry trees soaked in rain, the valley skies wrapped in gray. I watch with faith like a druid of old, talking quietly to the broken earth of my body. Where bones grind the lesson go slow takes form and speaks. Patiently I wait with the cherry trees, roots sunk beneath the pavement, drawing up […]

Building Bridges

Under gray winter skies the heart of the valley pumps through the tap roots of evergreen. Crows sit atop the tall firs, lean and thin with winter hunger. I am not gathering, no, still living off summer fat, quiet as the stones beside the river. There I dream of building bridges to span the chasm […]

Eyes of the Awakened

Thick and gray the clouds of winter break open on the ides of March. The threshold of hope bringing reason for faith, while discontent yet plagues the restless. Roots of the ancient forest stir beneath paved streets, life older than imagination come to resolve our sorrow. Within the hardest hearts there is the sound of […]

Shaped by Snow

I feel the snow falling. I see it under street lights beyond the window glass, but here beside the fire I can feel it. The blanket spreads muffling the city sounds to where the snow might shape us into the silence where all songs begin.                     […]

Skipping Ahead

for Eilish No translation needed for the language of the heart. Age doesn’t matter, only innocence and desire for the timeless. I thought she was left behind but actually she skipped ahead, speaking the language of the pure in heart, no translation needed.                       Reading […]

In These Dark Hours

Gnarled bark and twisted branches tangle in the gray sky. I lose touch with the turning, the language of wind in the trees. When we rode in tall grass the earth was all we knew. Now I pray upon a wooden altar that the sun may rise and shine upon the people. My clothes are […]

Her Desire

This is my world, and yours, just as we created it, sentient and wild. Brambly thorns, shifting tides, hard-as-nails streets, beguiling lovers, all of it just as it is. Her only desire that we road-weary pilgrims throw our arms around her, and whisper in her ear yes!                 […]

Dark Green Solitude

Winter sun lights the valley. Along the coast a flood of rivers, swollen bays, log-choked coves, melting snow and full moon tides. At rest in the quiet without hunger or thirst, the land teaches silence is enough for a rivulet of dark green solitude to nourish the earth.               […]

As I Bend

Hours before dawn hard rain soaks the streets, in the distance the outline of trees buffeted by winter winds. Though quiet in this room I feel the world’s unrest. Deceit sits astride our fate; the clever regarded as saviors. I can’t stand rigid before these winds, rather keep faith and sway in the dark night, […]

Forgotten Temple

And so we gather in winter dark lattice strong with sacred life as earth drums sound the heartbeat of creation. Pulse to pulse we move in ritual, tracing out ancient footings. We set round pillars to bear the world’s sorrow and roof beams composed of praise. Mighty the forgotten temple that holds the prayers of […]

Troubles are the Rocks

When dark gives way to day and the city stirs with the sound of machines, I pause and take inventory. Considering the peace I foster and the good fight that has its rewards, I ponder my stream in the river of life. Troubles are the rocks by which the river sings, the pebbles of my […]

Empty Bowl

There are things I want to give you, that I forget at the sight of your handsome face, so mature yet tender to the world that’s coming. No one can spare you heartbreak, or bring the joy that you deserve, so I sit here with my empty bowl, filling it slowly, drop by drop, for […]

In the Unknown Distance

It’s not a wide path and it’s not straight. Thorns and underbrush tear at your clothing, the ground rough with stones, in some places bog. Once in a while you break out to the bend of a river where you stand clear on a cobbled beach, or on the tip of a ridge where the […]

For I Am Water

I hang on with aging roots, the soil around me without comfort, knowing my time may have passed and I a ghost left above ground. Cautious of becoming bitter, acidic to the green world, I grow quiet, dissolved in silence. Then like a branch lifted by the wind, I understand my errors are the roots […]

Second Birth

Christmas 2022 In the season of snow I pull against the restraint of weary nights and biting air, looking out across the valley at the towering firs, green against gray morning skies. Feeling more tree than mortal I reach out to the wet earth, gain purchase in the soil and from dark root strength lift […]