For a night of many sleeps
with the earth as our pillow
we shared the sky

roots were deep
limbs strong
limbs supple
wings wide
sacred glade fertile

leaves from lips
taken by the wind
dried to dirt
given by the rain
to mud

sacred glade no more
you share only earth
for upon it
there is proof
of your tread

wings do not mark the sky

for a day of many sleeps
with the earth as our pillow
we shared the sky

*Published in Monsters, Avatars, and Angels; MAA is available from Amazon.

From Become Elemental

the red dress is a cracked bell jar
the vacuum seal on your psyche split

fraying ends and swaying swathes
crumble and become one with transient sands

there is no waiting
there is only decay

incidental transformation

will you free yourself of this vestment
abandon thread-bare hope and passions
or be ground down join the desert tides

there is a blue beauty to the melancholy
you have his memory your lunar emotions
you have the dunes of bitterness and longing
to shift between to erode and sand-blast
what is left of your youth

still and listen
a finer earth calls to you
above it all is an oasis
only those that have abandoned cloaks
heavy and empty illusions
can transcend to

shed the red dress
cross the coarse abyss
let the wind nourish your limbs
dissolve desires to energetic balm
dissipate hurts to myth

the red dress is a hair-shirt
his memory a millstone
free yourself from the heavy thorns
of time and regret

bare yourself become elemental

*Become Elemental is published in Monsters, Avatars, and Angels and available in paperback or #kindle