Categories
2022 American Place Colorado LOVE Poems

Forest Escape

Can I escape my inner me? Only if I take to the woods with thee. Where I must bathe in dirt and soake in sap. Where the air is so thin that I must breathe it again and again and again. Where butterflies mate and meet by the lake; fly up to the meadows to lay their little eggs on the purple and sage flowers that the caterpillars like to eat until they get fat and climb into the trees to turn into goo and then something new. To return once again to the lake to mate. They gather like scales on the dragon’s back, reflecting yellow and black like the sun on a stack of golden tiles that fly off now and again with the wind. They send my thoughts to the deer that disappear and appear out of the bush when you didn’t know where to look and see them standing right there in front of me. A Buck and three Does, a family so it seems, they fly off through the bush with a bound that makes no sounds and disappear into the beams of the sunset. So, yes I say I can escape with this outer Me when I spend time in the woods living this life with these — My Family.

Categories
2022 American Place Bird Song Colorado Poems Shapes

Osprey, Osprey

Osprey
Osprey
Soaring
so
High
Osprey
Osprey
Preying
with
Eyes
Set
so
Sharp
as
to
See
Small
Movements
Only
the
Lucky
Will
Escape
This
Moment

Categories
2022 American Place Bird Song Colorado Poems Shapes

Drip, Drip

“Drip
Drip”
Says
the Grackle
“Drip
Drip”
Black
Birds
in
the
Meadow
Morning
Crackles
“Drip
Drip”
Sounds
the
Splash
of
the
Rain
Black
Birds
Songs
Sing
Rain
Drops
on the
Range

Categories
2022 American Place Bird Song Colorado Poems

Robin in the road

Robin, Robin
In the road
Why do you appear
Everywhere I go?
Are you my bird?
My spirit animal?
I go by Peregrine
Yet, there you are.
A family or two live in
The trees in my yard.
But, there you are
Even when I leave
And head out into the
Woods to retreat
You are there
In the road being
Pleasant company and
My constant companion.
Every night I hear your chatter
As you call all your family in
So I too go as I get called
To dinner, as mama makes sure
To count them all (1,2,3,4)

Categories
2022 American Place Colorado Garden Psalms LOVE Poems

Calm

The placid calm
of an abandoned hillside
now made resident
by my soft side
I have taken up these rolling hills as my cape
I drape it over my shoulders
to warm my spirit
against a cold dark world
that has sent me into the wilderness
to remember my origin story
to bathe in the forest air…
to watch the golden light set
fire to the pond which sears the
sun into my eyes emblazoning
the path to eternity
into my soul and kisses
me with hope that the darkness
can be killed by the light and
make the dark whole and holy
instead of dangerous and vicious
it’s delicious to consume
the sweet love of my family
as we spend some time in the woods

Categories
2022 American Place Ars Poetica Colorado Poems Shapes

You Can’t / I Hope

I

You can’t
You can’t
You can’t
Wait.
I’ve started in
The Middle
You’ve
Made
This
Suggestion
To Yourself
And immediately annihilate it with
“You Can’t”
—You Won’t
—They’ll never
— I’ll always
Accept defeat!

You Can’t
Be a poet, solve that problem, ______________
Mind your temper, be a kind person

You Can’t
because you always tell yourself
You Can’t

II

I hope
I hope
I hope
Wish
For the mystery
of maybes
You’ve
Decided
To believe
In something
Greater
So
I
hope

— You Will
— Why Always
— Just believe
And remember
That you are
FREE
To get published, help the disenfranchised, _____________
Share Love and Give Kindness

I Hope
Because, if You Can’t
There’s Always
Hope

Categories
2021 American Place Colorado New Mexico Poems Utah

Last Day, Last

It’s the last day
Of our family outing
Alone I sit with
Dog and pen
To re-collect this
time spent passing
With my loved ones
Out in the open
Breathing the air
Of the American West
Full of trees
And smoke and dust
Hot air, cool air
Dry air, wet air
We’ve made so many stops
I can no longer compare.
I’m bone-tired from
100 Miles walked
So many things we’ve seen
So many times we’ve talked
All such inspiring scenes
No aspirations mocked
To find this life serene
On happiness we’ve stocked
The bare cupboards
Of our souls
And fill our empty holes
With moments where we lived
So that we’d have more to give
Each other and our world
Full of memories we clutch like pearls.

Categories
American Place Arizona Colorado New Mexico

He who is against me all of the time (1st draft)

Comanche – So the say
“Kohmats” more particularly
Best to make friends
Or be of great use
Otherwise, against, you’ll suffer abuse
Death, torture and rape
No greater friend than
The new minted Mustang
Emblazoned brand
Of the great plains band
Who had many foes
But knows no competition —
Save to better
Fort soldiers in gambling
Games of attrition
Yet, bent around
Their horses necks
They were unrivaled at
who they could best
with brutal speed
and unyielding will
few enemies escaped
their thirst to kill
and take the scalp
children and mounts
and of your women
have their fill…

Categories
2019 American Place Colorado Poems

Fresh Snow

Shrill, shrieking screams
Cold. Violent. Chilling
to hear in the distance
A sharp thud and another
and a scream and more
yelling I can’t understand…

As gentle flakes drift
and sway in the silent wind

A murder
of crows caw and bolt
into flight as the next
wail splits the silence.

Round white globes volley
back and forth
another thud
another scream
as I approach.

Fresh snow, two hands
A shocking cold spray of
force and wet hits your
cheek and sticks
to your glasses.

“Hey, no fair! I said not in the face.”

Categories
2019 American Place Colorado Poems

Snow and Coal

A dark cloud rolls
O’er the town
Backlit by street lamps
Burning the midnight oil

As herds of children
In their ‘jams
Drag “experiential” parents
To the steam engine’s boil

For ‘cross this frosty
Little town
Large groups of people
Can be found

Searching for the next Express

Into a time they step
Back in line to board
The old coal and steel
From rail to tail first
Cold winter’s night

They experience the past
As if it were real
And Christmas wishes turn kisses
Into hot chocolate dreams. Awake
They return
Glowing with the magic of the season!