endings
beginnings
what to carry
what to let go
complicate
simplify
shed
layer on
retreat
release
grab a fistful of grateful
hold it close keep it warm
past is past
none returns again
breathe out
breathe in
hold steady all possibility
of the moment you’re in🪶
winter wind sings
so the mosses know rain songs
moon flowers stars🪶
Up there in the forest
expectations fall away
heart beats follow your
chosen footstep flow
if you tune into
breath becomes rhythmic
mind breaks free
except for mantra
‘I’m so glad’ you might hear
your own voice in whisper
to the cedars and the wind
No rules to be so quiet
yet treading light feels
right when you’re here🪶
not a thing for sure
but a Poet knows how to
hear the pulse of
take steps to
shift scenes about
invite possibilities for
ponder depths into
cut through the
hold onto
accept the or
hush when
ask
listen
learn
feel
wonder
wander
dream
keep and
never reveal your secret🪶
when the sleep time comes
i creep about looking out
moon and starlight shine
breath beneath all audibles
light pulsing from a black sky🪶
travel light
that’s my advice to this present self
I can’t heft loads
so well as I might have
once before
yet still on the move
wanting to see or do or know
probably shaky on courage
feigning an adventurer’s gait
travelling light—
it’s not I’ve become obviously weak
or afflicted (to my knowledge anyway)
what is useful versus what might be
shedding feels natural
what must be dragged must also be abandoned
I might be shallow
depth buried too deep for the purple locator
adept at lightning dodgeball
not so much lost
not identifiable as numb
person in waiting
avoidance skilled
ugly horror sidestepped
no action participant
frown frozen militant
near sighted visionary
preferential blurring in sunrise frame
I read poetry rarely
except for the not yet available in translation
I hear the imagery
I see the screams
I watch the vengeance fireworks
I sketch the destruction
I spin the globe from 1970
plan my escape ticket
check my light for longevity
braid my hair
wish for nothing and no one
breath in 4
practice laughter back in my overgrown garden
slip on my boots and go🪶
on the other side of the world a privileged woman trek stumbles between one village and another/ she feels the autumn wind while climbing steep hills to view a wild and shimmering ever shifting sea/ dodging crowds she repeats mantras to hold onto sanity and kindness/ it’s open season on ancient wonders and civility/ so many photo ops and each one a smiling special feature subverts the object of the frame/ I am a tourist and why is it tourists must exemplify the obtrusive (and loud and lame)/ rainy days bring quiet albeit temporary reprieve/ big maple leaf on damp crosswalk stones reminds me of home/ it doesn’t mean I’m yet ready (unwilling) or driven (out) to go🪶
walking slow
through crowds
unrelenting scatting voices
crossing peace gardens
hush hush
why must it be explained
gravel walkway
gaits of many crunch arrhythmic beat
insert noise here
before a tranquil lily pond
placate this uneasy heart
oh white mulberry
humble leafy shelter for me and
this still trani meditation stone🪶
thoughts get lost in a lost overfull suitcase
keys in a pocket get lost separately
treasures of memories sewn deep
in silver lining soaking now in a dark salty sea
maybe the seal will have to succumb
all your collectable colours be displayed
dolphins and whales and sea urchin
explorers will all take a part of you away
give no quarter to thoughts of rescue
gone is gone for ever in the drink
what was once becomes eventually
withered remains or a part of an unexpected
imagined or hopeful and though unseen
something shining brilliant and new🪶
Another No Trespassing sign
steel fence imprisons all green remains
a hole where once lived a peopled bungalow
Maybe they were glad to go
maybe they sighed with big relief
maybe their pockets bulged with cash to close
A lei hangs from the limb of a border tree
might be a piece of someone’s parting prayer
might be a remnant of a leaver’s trash
might be there just to start a conversation
I pause to ponder this transition scene
we are home
we are going
we are the change
I found a dime in the alley
shining in the sun🪶