we meet but we are not strangers / no one is a stranger and nothing is unknown

we meet but we are not strangers
no one is a stranger and nothing is unknown
we are inventing games and stories
in every room we wish in the mansion of god
we might even say we are scared or sad
but when the time changes all is forgotten
god opens up the front door and all the windows
we are like birds and we zoom into the sky
what glory is the reaches of all possible flight
stars we navigate by are constantly renewed


no fear or signs or signals holding you back
every limit is gone every change is done
go weights measures or schedules or creeds
prohibited thou shalt not or do eclipsed
into the original state of mindful bliss


where every trail and path becomes same
and innocence begins again though in
that very state you see you never slipped
or erred



**

they say don't wait / i am not waiting

they say don't wait
i am not waiting
if it seems like i am

who waits for the sun
to rise each morning
we know it comes

when your eyes open
you see the light

the same is in hopes
for the heart assuredly
people come and go

sometimes they stay
they say don't wait
i am not waiting

if it seems like i am
i am not

letting go i go
coming to my senses
see the fields see the lakes

outside out of thoughts
what i was really waiting for
was this perfect bird

singing
with red on the shoulders



**

you can't give me the moment / i give it to myself

you can't give me the moment
i give it to myself

you can't take away where i am
i take it away from myself

you'll always inspire me
to be kind to those around me

that is why we need each other
when we walk the path



88

inside

time robs me of all my illusions
there is no happy ending

but then i disagree with myself
there is always a happy way to live

a sun sets and we both admire it
you happy in your way and i mine

inside we both have possibilities
beyond all conceptions


----

Minnesota
Spring 2018

that was 10 years ago/ when we were both alive

that was 10 years ago
when we were both alive
and nobody was going to die
planning and jiving
joking making books
getting into quarrels
with literary figures

today a white bank
of bright snow with
some mud on the top
of your grave the snow
so bright as sun jumps
from behind a cloud
it makes my eyes tear

i never noticed
the wildness of wind
never noticed
how many leaves
never noticed
the depth of sky
never noticed
the tallness of trees

until i stood at your grave


**

this spring morning / when i was waking up

this spring morning
when i was waking up
i was thinking about you
then i heard a voice
a voice said

'you have choices
and you can pick from
many kinds of light &
many kinds of darkness
so choose well
for you can pick any
kind'

i opened my eyes
i said a prayer for you
and a prayer for me
that we both awlays
pick the brightest
the best of all the light


___

3.24.18

show me the road

show me the road
when it is especially beautiful

so that i may take to it joyfully
and with best intentions

this is how we kind souls encourage
others to take up the path

promising beauty and surprises
taking us beyond any kind of death



**

with our own play

in one of your pictures
you balance something
on your head
with a kind
of humor and grace
that says pages and pages
of who you are
and how you feel
that this poem
will never reach
but the poet can say
when we are happy
and have such fun
other souls
people closed off
can open up
laugh and breath
as if we had saved
their very lives
with our own play


***

Reprise

he gets that light racy feeling
in his heart he might feel faint
when he looks at her/ but doesn't tell
how he feels
almost like a child who doesn't want to go
he wants to see her face every day
even if he just walks by and says "hello"

when they talked he tried not to stare
when they walked he managed to walk carefully
the time is passing/ their meeting
is ending
he is mindful of this and tries not to be mindful
their meeting is ending like running out of
food or water or whatever is irreplaceable

when she is gone he is quiet
as all men are when beauty has passed
not sad not desperate / and yet
there is missing
every avenue is strange every road is long
when they may meet again he hopes
but as for when he does not know


**

i try to remain but i'm barely here

i try to remain but i'm barely here
seldom did i arrive fully without being then
halfway gone into some other thought
or being as polite as i could manage waiting
for you to be done so i could speak my part

now remaining a bit easier as time
and toil removes objects and persons
brings in new baubles and takes more people
with less friends to talk to i see how i used them
when they were happy kind and willing

i wonder was i ever a true friend to these
the people i call friends or was i just warm
to the idea of companionship and the uses of
i read richard III's midnight address to himself
his mourning self assessments reproach affirmation

see i am such a like puppet to my own discussion
but for me i know there could be so much more
beyond the ideas if i was good friend or a villain
past the part of the party in gardens of delight
or one's youth is the only place to find such joys


**

sunday being peaceful and tranquil / free of nagging doubts or any fear

sunday being peaceful and tranquil
free of nagging doubts or any fear

the heart naturally rests and details arrive
what blessings we all have if we choose to see

a precious world

there's a backyard to gather with friends
by an arbor that will be full in spring

beyond this a field and rows of trees
then the river which will last forever

the snow starting to melt and a small stone fox
in the corner of the yard peeps out

to some trivial details like any other
but for the ones in gratitude

a precious world


***

=

Reprise

keep me more like
a little joyful bird in my heart

the kind of bird
that can play in any kind of sky

even the stormy ones
bouncy and fun


***

ag al da

ag al da
ef mo ad
oe gi xi
yo kex pya


__

at night she waits up

at night she waits up for her son
something mothers have been doing
for children always

father might say
'be home at midnight'
and 'here's the keys'

but mothers wait

her son comes home
he's happy a bit tired
just past twelve

says 'you don't need to stay up'
she smiles seeing him almost grown
in a warm lit space

her progeny home


____

Elk River

after a long day

after a long day it is nice to come home
put my feet up and even daydream

adding something to the coming dusk
imagining the red gold rays of the sun

congratulating everyone
and thing in town



**

keep me more like

keep me more like
a little joyful bird
in my heart

you see them
playing in any kind
of sky storm or calm

full of delight
that never ends
all day long

never weighed
down these larks
of happiness

free in any
kind of
sky


**