when we learned

we asked the older ones
for the path to harmony of heart, mind and soul.
at first they said we were too young,
that we must wait.
but finally they said we were ready
and they gave us music.

we did not all understand
but some flourished and took the gift with passion.
and with their music they were able
to touch the hearts, 
move the souls,
and inspire the minds of the many.


12/6/1990

the wooded wild

at the last light of day
i stood deep within the wooded wild
and faced myself,
my fears,
my dreams,
my mortality.

i suppose i did not so much prevail
as survive the encounter
but i noted a change in the wind,
carrying the leaves in a new direction.


10/29/1990

i thought

i thought i had a thought again

just the other day.

i tried to get it down in pen,

it tried to get away.

i worked it hard

throughout the night

until the words rang true,

but sadly then i realized

the thought was nothing new.

10/26/1990

your memories of me

the waves of sleep wash over me
and i drift away,
to run aground on the gentle shores
of a distant land
and a different day.

it is there that i find my memories,
in the land where i once found you,
on the sand by the sea
with the wind and the surf,
in a place known by only a few.

i left my songs and poems there,
by the shore of that gentle sea,
that you may one day find them
with your dreams
of you and me.


10/25/1990

Lu (the traveler)

i stood at the roadside wondering;
which way will lead to my future
and which was past?
there were no markers, no signs to aid me.
but the weather was fair
so, resolutely, i set forth.
not knowing where i was,
not knowing where i had been,
not knowing where i was going - 
i had complete freedom to move in any direction.
eventually i would arrive there
somewhere.


8/31/1990