becoming

april 28th 2024

among the woodland trees

danced the young foliage

arising from the ground

spreading over the hills

and into the valleys below

she was of the same valley

slender and pristine

blooming in delicate pearls

illuminated by the sun

over the hills of Bether

~ share your thoughts below ~

Ode to 25

March 30th 2024

When I was seventeen

I dug a ditch and slept in it

for a hundred frigid nights

just waiting for the prick

of frost to rest upon my face

and arms and chest and

fingertips in frozen crystal

bites…and despite having

witnessed the passing of

five thousand

four hundred

and fifty seven moons

since that hundredth day,

sometimes I still sense

the frost when I wake.

But, nowadays the remnants

drip upon my cheeks

within a blink or two and

merely pause upon my skin

and in my pores, pooled,

until they disappear.

I wonder why the frost

still wants to come alive

and if it knows the air

is warmer at twenty five.

Feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts!

Along the Ocean Floor

March 18th 2024

The fish began to dart

about in the dark depths

where I found myself

stumbling upon the cold

slumber of a lost ship

while mumbling to myself

in the midst of all this

laid an old wooden chest

in a divot in the sand

where it once came to rest

and witnessed only by

the fish was my name

left scrawled in the grain

of the walnut boards

decomposing in this place

as if in disintegration and

decay was a newfound

creation of profound peace

swept up in the currents

and consumed by the sea.

Leave a comment below with your thoughts!

Lenticels

March 9th 2024

into the lens flickers morning light

reflections in the dew-covered bark

of a young slender white birch tree

contrasts between dark and light

pores inhaling life from the atmosphere

heavy with a vaporous sustenance

quenching thirst beneath the surface

and myself as a wandering witness

mist soaking into my cheekbones

a newfound home of resemblance

picturesque within a single frame

There is Chaos in the Trees

February 6th 2024

There is chaos in the trees.

Why else would the branches

begin to bend and break

under the weight

of a few little offshore breezes?

If we withstand the winds

as they roar through the streets,

we preserve an unforgiving

branch of humanity. Yet

the same great storm,

in all its might, would not

be survived by the trees.

Selfishly, I would rather

protect the roots and branches

and leaves, as in time gone by

they have protected me.

From The Hand of Another

January 29th 2024

Sometimes I begin to wonder if

the cooing mourning dove

is lonely where it sits upon the eaves.

And, if such thoughts as these do fill

my mind, perhaps they fill his, too.

Perhaps when peering through the glass

he sees a solemn view of where I sit.

Why would I not hold out my hand,

if the dove may come and eat from it?

Redwood

January 23rd 2024

Is it too much to ask that you

not outgrow the Redwood Trees?

I prefer to never know a life

where their reflection does not exist

within the depths of your eyes.

Could I propose, instead,

that the richness of my soil

be a resting place for the roots

you may bear? Perhaps a Hugo

would be best. And in such ground,

may your roots and the roots of

those that follow you be a hidden

indication of the heights we may

reach, so that when the fog clears,

it is you and I within the rings

of the Redwood Trees, and all will know

that we were not one without the other.

Sobre el mar

Hatillo, Puerto Rico

---

Upon the mountainside,

surrounded by the sea,

sits a quaint little home

peeking through the trees;

the home of birds that

chirp and crawling bugs

and buzzing honey bees

and peace abounding

in the salty breeze

upon the mountainside,

surrounded by the sea.

Sobre el mar, Pen and Ink on Bristol

Regrowth

January 8th 2024

arriving at the garden gate

a glimmer through the panels

reveals a type of growing pains

along the river channels

and crouching by a wooden chair

a look upon the soil

unveils a healing disrepair

through growth in past turmoil

arising from the earth becomes

a delicate fiddlehead

from where it could not overcome

for it lived among the dead

disintegrating ashes rise

and leaves begin to quiver

for the fire looming in the sky

was no match for the river

Endure

December 30th 2023

I find myself in a state

of pure intentionality

judging every word

and move and breath

as if a step without regard

would be a step into

absolute nothingness

but the pull of existence

is stronger and to not care

would be to self-destruct

I have pushed that button

once before and somehow my

scattered pieces landed here

Home

December 19th 2023

I have lived inside

a polished castle, dripping

in a shining gold;

a flawless encompassment

of hidden imperfections.

And I’ve lived inside

a wooden cabin, leaning

on the mountainside;

an unknown exhibition

of looming uncertainties.

I have also lived

in a submarine, sunken

on the ocean floor;

residual loneliness

of pressurized inhabitance.

But between us, when

I am asleep within these

familiar walls,

I find my soul in a state

of rest from imperfections

and survived uncertainties;

alive in a house, a home.

Woman

November 19th 2023

White-haired and aged with smile lines

from years of giving love and life, a woman

sits and ponders.

When glancing at the black and white

of photographs in frames, aligned, the woman

will soon uncover

that maybe by some grand design

she is a woman, wise and divine, a woman

growing fonder

of growing age and smile lines

from years of giving love and life; a woman,

turned a grandmother.

November

November 11th 2023

I lay beneath a November

sky, trickling with rain; clouds

covering the craters of the moon.

Where are you, moon?

I question of the night,

Where are your stars?

A sudden breeze arrives

as a reminder of its presence;

a breath upon my skin.

I am not afraid of the abyss,

I remind the unseen moon,

and I will wait for your return.

Peace Like a River

November 7th 2023

In dreams, in wonder,

I step in-to the water,

drawn to the manner

in which death begins beneath

the dark shadows of my feet.

But soon, I perceive

that life below the surface

is not built for those

like me; those in need of warmth

and light and color. And so,

I emerge upon

the reflections of His Peace;

ripples in my chest,

and the cold river lapping

at the stone where I now stand.

Visage

October 31st 2023

I fall fast in-to

an unforced sleep,

dreams finding me,

lit by the light of

seemingly a hundred

dappled moons.

And in the face of

one such moon,

shadows begin to dance

upon the features

of its dunes, and

they soon resemble you.

Weathered

October 2nd 2023

Your heart is my heart,

in a reigning triumph

over gloomy skies;

dark with uncertainty.

In the midst of any storm

that we may weather,

you are my certainty;

of that, I am certain.

In the Shadows

September 27th 2023

A soft creak in the night wakes me from my anxious slumber

and I adjust to the darkness, when comes a crack of thunder;

Is it your figure in my sight? Is it you? I begin to wonder.

And with fire in the sky - a bolt of lightning that I conjure -

upon the walls dance the shadows of your form strewn asunder.

Merlot

September 21st 2023

Red-ish pink abstracts

in a feeling soft and slow;

What may come from this?

Love pouring from aged casks,

oaks fruitful like Merlot.

Silver

September 18th 2023

I hear the gentle

strumming of an old guitar

held by the worn hands

of a man, closing his eyes,

playing songs built out of dreams.

Like most rainy days,

the shadows of small raindrops

dance upon his brow.

Toes tap the hardwood floor; a

rhythm built by newfound love.

And as evening comes,

a soft, red glow surrounds us,

reflecting into

my eyes, from the mountain range

etched in silver on his wrist.

Absorption

September 12th 2023

You are a vapor cloud;

mist, swirling around

my head, settling, like dew

upon my cheeks and

on the bridge of my nose and

to them, you are invisible,

apart from certain light,

yet I can feel you,

seeping into my pores,

drowning me, unknowingly,

from the inside out.