May 27, 2012
A medley of poems in ten sections. A listing with links is given below.
1.
When morning chill subsides
soft
air will vibrate
as waves of
cicada
in
rhythmic insistence
suffuse the summer woodland
with a
languid ebb and flow
that floats
the soul
outside
of time
2.
where unmoved mover
meditates
and quantum foam collapses
states
a force field quivers
random jitters
juxtapose, cohere in song
a lullaby
arise
arise
3.
From the mists of Paradise
from holy
grounds, untended
the
tree of life still grows
the
sacred stream still flows
from Eden’s
shores, unbidden
to
water the gardens of Earth –
Where
silent steam pillars rise
from
roiling fury
shearing
sky
with sulfur
mist
over
black pumice plains.
Where life clings
tenaciously, as sharp rock
yields
to
scattered patches of wind-whipped grass
in soft
tans
like
newborn down on desiccated skin
and
stunted succulents dare to flower
golden
yellow and rosy pink
defiance.
Where unleashed energies
overwhelm
the meek
with
brusque indifference. But here
a living
spark, hidden
in the hot
rocky heart
lies
latent, awaiting Word
to emerge
and inherit
a new Age
its own.
4.
Then rise the ghosts of
Carboniferous swamps
to cast their ancient spells, I
hear their call:
Arise,
reclaim Gondwana’s store
return
us to Pangean shores
release
your old reptilian core
to bask
the vast unending light
through
countless days of mindless sigh
hold
close your closed ancestral ways
cling
tight to pride and precious life
and
dwell here past eternity
it’s
long before the Fall.
5.
In sunny clearings
suffused with sweetness
sour passionfruit, fallen
offers rich red pulp
shamelessly
to all
who would partake
in its cycle.
6.
Afternoon
envelops stillness
as the river valley glows
a
shimmering green vision
that
surrounds a solitary
heron
inhabiting a heaven
of
sparkling brown mud
and slow
rich waters
that mingle
in quiet eternity.
The heron unfolds
into
neck and wing
in
ponderous flight.
Its harsh cry highlights
primordial
grace
disappearing
into downstream shadow
as eternity
dissolves
and light
breezes hint
soft
darkness to come.
7.
Amidst the shifting entropy
new riffs arise in life’s old
song
with notes of animated dust
evolving in the space that’s
formed
from light blue sky of summer
morn
and dark brown smells of
woodland floor,
from child’s first laugh to
granite stone
where chaos breaks and soul
takes form
to stalk the fleeting, ferret
meaning,
fiercely singing to the night.
And thus the sentient dust at
play,
its
fate, our joy, this borderland
8.
Where I once wandered
fall paths through pungent hush
of hickory, beech and white oak
stands
to forest edge at right-of-way,
cut
straight across the curve of
hills,
and there stood blinking back
the light
By
the sun-splashed shores
of
an old field grown wild
breaking
over asphalt slabs
which
once went somewhere
beyond
the post hole fence
that
vainly holds back green
swells
of sumac and thistle
tangled
in turbulence
sparkling
in the silent roar
of a thin place
opening
onto an
emerald sea
in
the presence of which
I
would remove my shoes
wash
my soul in sunlight
and
float the timeless warmth
to a new
heaven
and a new
earth
But here beneath the freshening breeze
a mute rebuke was meant for me:
You hear
your heart
not that of mine.
9.
From the fertile plain at
Pukalini
you
ascend the flank of Haleakula
through
tall stands of shady koa
to white
pine and pasture
scrub bush
and boulder
silversword
and cinder
sky, wind
Realm
of fierce light
of fierce light
piercing shadow
and stark
clarity
Stern words fell gently:
You were given a garden
and
precious days, numbered.
You
do not belong here, but
linger,
and count the colors
of
gold in the sunset below,
then
descend in darkness and fear
and
while there is yet time,
find
your own fertile plain
to
cultivate and sustain
for
all your days
in
humility and gratitude.
10.
By
the roaring frothy sea
fissured
lava fields lie
frozen
in flow
over
perilous sea cliffs
where
waves batter stone
into fine
black sand
on which
wondrous creatures
not yet
evolved
may one day
bask mindlessly
by tranquil
shores,
or play with
thoughts beyond my grasp
and
meditate, with me
in
the immensity of deep time.
Stanzas are taken from the
following poems:
1.
Summer Cicadas (1)
3.
Kiluea to Sea (1, 3, 5, 6)
4.
Awaiting Passage (1)
5.
Sacred Rainforest, Disturbed (1)
6.
Heron World (2, 5)
7.
Between Birdsong and Boulder (4)
8.
An Old Field Opened Up (2, 3, 4)
9.
Haleakula
10. Kiluea to Sea (7)
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