Tag: poem

Poem 20151231

crow

signs and portents on
viewing an owl in flight
and stationary in a tree
and again in flight
on the last night of the year

the owl, athena’s friend
and harbinger of eternal night,
paused in her flight long enough
for us to view her in a tree

tawny and silent she watched us
and allowed us to approach her tree
while holding her in the beam
of a flashlight

and then she flew again
wings silent
all we could hear were the sounds
of nearby freeway traffic
so much like unceasing waves

the day before we had seen
five hawks
sentinels on lamp posts
lining the road during a drive
and counted ourselves lucky
–a five-hawk day

but what does this night predator
so beautiful and silent
caught for a moment in her flight
in the white artificial light
in my hand
portend for the year ahead?

Poem 20151230

crow

it waits

not in a place
like a monster you can
dispel with a flip
of the light switch

it doesn’t lurk
in the closet or under the bed
though you can feel it waiting
waiting all around you

that clicking
ticking
of the clock

reminding you that
the year is spent
like your birthday money
that you blew on
a record that you wanted
for just one song
and a magic trick
that was interesting
exactly once

Poem 20151228

crow2 Comments

i glow
i am a furnace
hot and steel-forging
and the blades i produce
make damascus weep
each word an edge
each word a razor so fine
it slices my tongue as it
leaves my mouth

i quench my blades
my words
in the cool water of you
in the satisfying draughts
of your eyes
of your words
which are sheaths to my own

Poem 20151224

crow

white-faced and alone
in the evening sky
this christmas-eve moon
looks lonely
her light so bright
she’s driven away all
but the brightest of stars
who drift outside her halo
just out of reach

i too have felt this melancholy
at christmas
this outside
this feeling
that everyone is connecting
and enjoying the season
except for me

so, i’ll keep you company, moon
and you keep shining
your light may be cold
but we are fast friends
here in the dark

Poem 20151222

crow2 Comments

the water trickled under the fence
at first
carving out a channel
through freshly laid earth
swelling
rising over the edge
of the sidewalk
carrying soil
over the curb
a dirty waterfall
washing down the street
to puddle and waste

the water carried the earth
as the water always carries the earth
eroding it
and making new canyons

the dry riverbed
in sedona
rusty red from being submerged
millions of years ago
now hot and dusty
and waiting for rain
to carry boulders the size of jeeps
over cliffs
dirty waterfalls

earth carried
in the invisible hands
of water