Tag: Published

every breath from your body is a stone
tossed into the smooth surface of a lake
the ripples
a reflection of your effect on those around you
there is no stillness in living
every word and deed is its own stone
even silence
even the decision to do
nothing
inaction is itself an action
your stones
hit the stillness of life and disturb it
creating wave upon wave of
reaction
and the fact you didn’t see the ripples does not
absolve you
from their effects
you see
you are responsible for yourself
always
your careless harm to another with
blunt words or
inattention
is just as heavy as
your instinctive smile and
soft touch
you are a creator and destroyer
of mountains and molehills
for they
too
are made of ripples
and stones

my favorite flower is the lion’s tooth
the puffball cousin of the strong sunflower
fortuneteller and wishgranter
perfect
her blossom is a yellow sunlight
concentrated in tiny circles of petals
her leaves are bitter greens
an oft ignored feast grown freely in every climate
everywhere across this country
she doesn’t do limits
or lines
her seeds floating past our arbitrary borders
to spread her presence
everywhere
her roots dig deep and wide
and cannot be removed by simply digging her up
you foolish gardener
human
you think she’s a bane
to your picture perfect garden
but no
she is life after the violence
and the poison
and even after the fire
she is the survivor’s role model
a reminder
that the spirit is indestructible even when under attack
she is a resilient being
sister to the ever-returning phoenix
and still you call her
just another
weed

time is a patient teacher
her lessons are of
only chances
and
never agains
she knows the way we stumble in her presence
suddenly hyper-aware of each tick and tock
each lost second a
silent sentry
to our fading vitality
and yet
time is a teacher of patience
reminding us to savor each moment
each breath and heartbeat a blessing
even when we’re bleeding
because the cuts and bruises life inflicts
will always heal
with time

in seeking god
it seems like I’ve always been
on the outside looking in
always trying to see Him
in the glittering of sunlight walking across the waters
or to feel Her
in the moonlight when everything is quiet
and vulnerable
god has been an abstract matrix of
imaginary numbers and
unfamiliar formulas I was never taught
and sometimes
I swear the letters mixed into it are just
distracting algebraic words
trying to make me
believe in
(d) all of the above

it’s the cool colors
     the blues
          the greens
     the violets
colors that soothe me
playing pressure valve to
these overcharged emotions
this world is a cacophony of life
so many
     people and
          places and
     things
in movement
I seek balance in the shadows
     in winter’s quiet
          in stillness
anything
to tame my inner fire and
keep this kindling heart safe from
spontaneous combustion

we are
eyecatcher and
light-twister
a flicker of color at
the edge of sight
playing
both unseen and always seen
thing
contagious
chromatic crystals
made of
aluminum and tenacity
sticking
everywhere they’re wanted
and quite a few areas they’re
not
we are
soft shimmer and
surprise confetti
found in the strangest places
on hands and clothes
and faces
the stealthy sparkle
a stealer of the smallest light
and reminder that every touch has the potential
to leave something behind
like glitter

I’ve been a witch
longer than I’ve been a human
this borrowed body
bleeds magic with every heartbeat
a constant ebb and flow of life
this mouth
wraps itself around explanations
of power and purpose
and poetry

I’ve been an animal
longer than I’ve been a witch
this spirit covered
in fur and feather and fin
but I needed a chance

to grow
to change
to become the ripple
in the cosmic ocean
that led to all this
magic

I dwell on the past
a lot
on the whitewashed walls of
borrowed homes
my rootless childhood with transient friends
and the chance to experience life’s spectrum
between the temporary pit stops called
home
I remember the taste of
summer huckleberries and
the smell of rotted autumn leaves and
the gurgling little creek and
the feel of sand between my toes
and I wonder what I’d be if
none of it ever happened
life a giant question
what if?

a hundred thousand wings
beating at the air
buzzing
bodies in constant motion
life distilled into liquid vitality
a golden gift
encased in soft wax and sharp stingers
the hidden nectar of flowers
protected by nature’s design
sticky sweetness
drizzled into tea as a reminder
hard work is rewarded
with the warmth of sunshine and
luscious success