Breathe

Nostrils flare in anticipation
as earthy caramel smells sift
past heady cavities, past
gates which open up to lift
eyeballs and ear tips tingly,
chilly red and awake. Brain
swoons soft by the glow
of fresh air flow, rushing in and down,
as chest and rib cage expand out,
extrude on an excursion to full balloon.
Neck, spine and cartilage joints gather
to allow room. Liquid xylophone bones
bloom as body soaks in tipsy
nourishing oxygen lessons,
rush of ancient, instinctive motions
learned, zillions of times churned,
practiced measures, yet new and vital
with each sumptuous breath.

Now exhale slow, soft thoughts as
your spine elongates toward the sky.

Breathe. Repeat.

Through the Alexander Technique, I’ve learned, again, how to breathe, to really breathe, without tension, without clenched neck, stressed chest or anxious eyes. Letting my body breathe as it has learned for millions of years, is like being reborn with each breath.

Ache

Ache in my chest.
Sometimes
he well up
through
my
neck,
into my head
and out my eyes.
He tears down my face
soft and wet, salty
in my mouth
in my mind
in my heart.

Somehow

Sallow fruit of doubt (guilty, rotting holes,
smashed hope, mute possibility, pause for complacency),
whose lazy seeds spawn
contorted fragments of forget;
tattered, moot sentences,
                                                hesitations,
echoes of fear,
                                                following fear of fear.
Craning, one can hear
their long lost sorrows attached
to our own, thumping heart.

Mind’s hoary soliloquy
flaps frantically,
fitfully free; while
          quintessential doors of perception
(five of them)
          filter cosmic, white heat
          through prisms of colors-
          lapis, ochre, sienna
rainbow’s light,
dark unraveling.

Decoding time into days,
we clutch at pebbles in the stream
dreaming the gurgling flow
into pomegranate’s passion,
guzzling its nectar, pits and all.

Vignettes, billions, (perpetual unfolding)
trembling plays with no set-
Characters (you and me) act
on shifting grains of
windswept dunes in
Sahara’s raw dance.

Yet, selfish insistence,
pearly data of birth
assembles uncannily-
             mapping gravity’s clout.

Dikes of persistence
shape tomorrow’s fortunes
from today’s regrets.
Torrential rivers
of love and pain, joy and betrayal
flow past eroding banks,
             through unequal silences of
             sorrow and shame.

Pandora’s plethora of tarnished ennui
sinks overloaded barges-
               good intentions, weighed down
               with neglect.
Compost condensed beneath timeless
yearning, crushed into syrupy coal,
morphs
to become diamonds.

After all is said, all is done,
After Time spins out
when doubt is spent, words gone-

Somehow, Silent
from amongst this clutter
callow wings unfurl, revealing a Pearl.
Salubrious jewel.
Tabula rasa.

Seasonal Poems to Warm the Soul

Happy Winter Solstice! I may not be religious in the traditional sense, but I understand and cherish the importance of the “spirit of the season”.

As many of you know, Jesus wasn’t born in December, but his birthday was placed near the pagan Roman holiday of Saturnalia by Constantine to encourage pagans to join the church. The celebration of light and rebirth appeals to all.

Over the years I’ve written various poems for the season. Some are just ruminations on the mood, some are about the solstice, but all, I think convey universal sentiments. I’ve linked to some and printed others in a list here. Enjoy.

—
Rhythms of the Seasons
—
Noël
—
Sacrificial Tree (two poems)
—
Jingle Ironies
—
A Simple Gift
—

Inspire Beauty

Beauty calls and yearns for your attention,
it gives rise and dimension to your soul,
a reflection of your truest goals.

Lest we forget, our hearts are fueled
by a love enduring beyond our lives.
And beauty is its chaperon,
a spark through the dark nights
on the long walk
to the light of the mountain top.

All we have is each other.

May the comfort of love be with you.

Hovering

I am empty.
Wine nourishes my soul.
Carelessly
my thoughts
                            wander,
tripping on stones
                            (painfully)
hovering
          over an
                abyss,

                floating

like
          someone
                   singing
                         (softly)
                                  to himself.

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