footprints and shadows

the Others told us
our lives were memories,
footprints and shadows,
mostly illusion. 

what have we done?
they asked,
what deed or thing will outlast us?

we didn't know how to answer
so we left them in their caves
and wandered into the meadow

leaving only footprints and shadows,
memories,
to mark the way.


4/24/1991

the distance between us

in the daytime we would walk
ever searching
reaching out across the void

at night our dreams
were filled with travel
not to places
but to our moments together

until finally we found a place
where we were no longer aware
of the distance between us.


3/19/2011

contentment

a kiss was left
on blushing cheek
breath became shallow and quick

time stopped
as arms embraced
tears mingled with laughter
until nothing was left
but contentment


2/25/2011

tomorrow again

i want it to be tomorrow again,
the kind of tomorrow we had as children;
the kind we looked forward to,
like our birthday,
or Christmas.

i want there to be no sorrow again,
just the carefree times we had as children;
each day filled with hope and wonder.
each night filled with sweet dreams
and peace.

i want to see the flowers again,
i want to see them through the eyes of children.
but i must wait for tomorrow then;
for it to be tomorrow again.
today seams unusually old.


2/1/2018

floating

together we watched as time slipped by,
each moment a separate leaf 
caught in a river's current.

we understood that we were like the leaves;
souls floating through time and space.
and, caught up in a draft,
we may have touched once
or more.

but we remain as we always were,
two leaves in the stream,
grasping for our few moments of time.


4/20/1991

fading

memories
and smiles fade
in evening's light

as daytime's warmth
slips away
in the dark of night

whispered promises
shadows
fall from sight


4/16/1991

the leaves within my heart

i answered the wind

(calling me softly)

with a sigh of my own:

i have no more tears to give to the dead.

yet i linger still, unable to turn away.

the leaves within my heart are burning,

their smoke stings my eyes,

forming a cloud that blocks the sun.

the wind stirs again

brushing my cheek gently,

like you would do.

there were tears left after all.

i freely let them fall.

6/23/1991

quality of dreams

dreams have a quality
mysterious yet familiar,
like the scent of a perfume rarely worn.
does time move in dreams?

i study the sound of your breath
as you sleep beside me.
the gentle rise and fall of your breasts
reassures me that i am here

dreaming of warm embraces;
abstract images that rock my world
gently, gently.


      4/22/2011

becoming one

frozen

thought and motion become one
wind whips through the trees,
stings my face,
i turn away

frozen

time and energy become one
drifting snow obscures the land,
blots out the sun,
i turn away

frozen

life and death become one
the voice whispers hoarsely,
beckoning, cajoling,
i turn away

frozen.


4/13/1991

offers

i could not give you what i wanted,
nor from you receive what you would share.
my vision is not yours-
while i looked forward, 
you were farsighted and saw beyond my dreams
(even as i saw through yours.)

there is no snow in the woods today
but the naked trees still stand
and i among them, wondering,
what could i offer?
what would you receive?


4/10/1991

death koan

i hear the quiet,
the sound of one hand clapping.
i cannot hear you.

i am near the source,
dry flesh and bones drop away
to free the spirit.

below, the clouds pass by.
above, the heavens thunder.
i hear the quiet.


3/31/1991

haiku 33191

buds forming on twigs

gentle rains replacing snow

beginning or end?

3/31/1991

alone, in the forest

i heard the sound of one hand clapping.
alone in the forest,
a peal of thunder was lost amidst the crash
of trees falling in the onslaught of time
as a voice cried out, tentatively,
and the sound of one hand clapping
kept time with the rhythm of the wings
of the flights of fantasy:
man and mind,
nature and time.


2/4/1991