Fingertip counting
Syllables shaping poem
Got to write it down
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 11/24/15

Blessings are not deserved
Blessings are bestowed
Upon those who wait
Expectantly breathing
Recognizing the power
Which flows in each of us.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 08/11/15

Being alone together
Gives time to tie the heart strings.
Together we are not alone.
The time frame of hearts intertwines through.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 10/27/15

I am pretty certain that I underestimated you.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 08/20/15

Redwood trees of the California Coast have stood strong for hundreds and thousands of years.
When someone visits these incredibly large trees along the “Avenue of the Giants” the lessons to be learned might have something to tell about the local culture and hierarchy.

The redwood groves have layers of climate and environment; micro climates are distinct.
At the base the roots reach out among the trees. And as the roots grow intertwined the trees help hold each other up by their linkage.
The forest floor amongst the redwoods is rich and moist and a place of peace. Respect for age and size and interdependence of each tree on the other trees is experienced here.
In the middle range of the trees there is life among the branches. Birds and mice and flying squirrels move about, living a life in the middle.
In the top reaches of the tree, up among the rich sunlight, the newest growth reaches up. The moisture of the fog as pulled in to refresh the sun drenched branches

The people who are among the top branches of the Redwood Empire may see themselves as the ones entitled to the sunlight, they may feel the fog belongs to them. To be accurate though, the fog reaches the entire tree and nurtures the entire forest. The sunlight belongs to all.

The people at the base of our society are the ones to hold up the tree. The forests is made up of intertwined relationships which form all cohesiveness and collaboration.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 07/30/15

Love is in the air
Hummingbirds come together by the redwood trees
Beak to beak flying
Spinning in a synchronized pattern
Spinning like a corkscrew into the air
Cascading suddenly down and away
Flying off to wispy clouds
Beyond the stand of trees
Lovers laugh to see the sight
Of nature all around
While hearts entwine our feelings find
Our hearts back here on the ground
Joyous visage looking up
The lives in truth emerging
As beauty was
Still beauty is
In our joining we have found
The parts of us worth saving
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 07/18/15

The Sun whirrs
my loved one stirs
my heart improves
on a sunny Sunday afternoon
sunshine on the curtain falls
like a poem falling off the bed

hearts delight in the afternoon bright
as lazy is what lazy does
on a day like no other
balmy breezes and the Redwood trees
river noises expanding none the less

the mating Hawks above us
calling out their names
omen of magnificent becoming
on this glorious day
I have learned to live each moment
and this indeed is a very fine moment
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 08/16/15

On the patio watering plants in the Sun
a hummingbird brushed her shoulder
and gazed briefly into her eyes

the river of life and wind of God touched by a hummingbird

a river of humanity flows on a road
like water over rapids
sunshine or clouds do not slow down
the flow the river passes

and wind of God touched by a hummingbird

loving beauty and cherishing time
to make a space to reflect
surrounded by color and wisps above
finding each moments best aspect

the river of life and wind of the creator
touched by the brush of hummingbird wings

gazing on this sunny afternoon
at the beauty of her smile
and the gift of her time
days and nights shared
with wings of a hummingbird

the river of life
and the breath of God
across the earth arriving
at the place, this space,
in the form of a hummingbird
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 10/06/15

A cocoon by a river
Hanging in the air
Above the trees
Not in the trees
Above the world
Not in the world
Tender warmth
Enshrouded in thread
Growing new wings
And colors which emerge

Awakening in a cocoon
Branches shadows colors
Light of day or night
Sometime difference merges
In vivid space to grow
Where life and love are melded
In a protected place
Breathe and pulse enshrouded
Growing all life’s grace
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 10/24/15

Peace be with you in how you honor them.
All the gods and the goddesses were never so blessed as you.
Life’s currents running
Down the passage of time

Riversides of the streams we flow in
Collect the detritus of our lives
But the times we anchored there
In times like these we have no care

Another once might linger there
Ocean breezes push sails; pulling these ones
These humans living a day of their life
Holding their good as well as their strife.

Back to the waves and the ocean blue
Far and near they change in hue
Blessed horizons blend with sky
As the lives and waves slip by

Honor these the lustrous ones
Brothers sisters all the one
In times when live’s best deeds were done

Hearts in time will find their place
In a precious garden or a smiling face
Dreams do come true.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 09/04/15

Your laughter was delightful
that is what brought me in
to talk about finding strength
and building a fine life again

looking at the vistas on the bay
and mountains we have seen
the past still explains something
about how you are today

memory is fiction highly susceptible to distortion
memory is rewriting of thoughts
memory of decades gone
youth and visions dancing on

holding to each other
as we are moving on
dreams of life ahead
youthful wishes wonder
where we’ll go
and who we’ll be
time will tell us all we know
so get ready set and go

now the years have passed along
wives and husbands
daughters sons
have writ their song upon us

looking back to share the past
we come together now
to glimpse the fate of these old friends
our memories hold fast

events, experiences in life, have moved us on through time
we made our way
we had our say
we lived our values daily

now back together in this place
we celebrate
we made it
we honor our knowledge
and time went by
then brought us all together
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 09/17/15

An old companion
Never really a friend
Comes to mind now and then
In some days gone by
It was an ever present reminder
Of isolation and uncertainty
For hours on end
Thoughts would bend
To fill the current void
Nowhere for heartache to send
The longing for someone missing
The ache of being alone
The love to give
That had nowhere to go
Hours gone by
With only a sigh
And a longing to hold something true
Down through the days
The lonely one prays
For a blessing of someone
To become a wonderful known one
Months, maybe years,
With no place to put tears
No balance for fears
And hope a misty reminder
The mind reaches out
But with no one about
To have and to hold
Can be found here
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 08/13/15

god save you and god save us
my strength is worn and weak in the face of all these burdens
or, is my soul resilient to carrying on and carry the burden of my empathy
my tears do flow in the mid August heat
my heart aches as much now for her and for all those we, the helpers, could not save
after the traumatic stress, as years go by,
the events are remembered in the ghostly dim or a cessation of empathy
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 08/14/15