The stories are harsher
in the pervading gray of concrete
and rumbling thrum of traffic;
the young dad with a jitterbug son
waving his arms to the sky
while dad pushes sister,
the treasury of hope on stroller wheels
skittering over the ribbed sidewalk;
the slightly manic boy juiced on sugar
proclaiming ecstasy like a burgeoning Blake
his message of unrepentant joy
sparking off the passing cars
challenging the sun with human fire,
born as always from the passion,
the marrow of aliveness bright
in the limbs of a wild eyed boy.
*********************
At the Heart of the World
At the heart of the world
an altar pulsing light,
crucibles of fire
where the stories of Earth
rise with fragrant incense
into streams of compassion
nourished by a single life
and all its mystery.
********************
Ancient Well
There is a well older than the earth;
when I fail this depth is my nourishment.
I know the animal in strength
the tooth and claw of many wars
and the way my arms can wrap
an innocent heart filled with grief.
The way to understand is to travel,
to discover the frightening possibilities
that come with being human
then with a thread of faith
and the assurance of stone
let down the bucket and draw
the clean water of forgiveness.
********************
A Further Shore
Over the unbroken fetch the southerly breeze
raises the channel in wind driven swells
passing through the rumpled water
wind shapes surging in rounded layers
seeking comfort on the slope rocked point
like those waves that traverse the soul
memories older than life
visions of another world
pushing like the wind to find form
in depths of inner ocean
rising and falling as surely
as the beckoning sea
longing to step into the swell
take flight with the wind
seeking through the surge
for a further shore.