moonlight
cool air on my skin
the blanket's smell

Olden knowledge should smolder
As smoke rising from an ember -
Universal but not common -
Peculiar but not forgotten.
Tell me of those days of yore -
Of circumstances transpired -
So I can repeat on my lips
That which slumbers in silence.

He comes around the wall
  And I feel my quickened heart.
I dare to look even while
  Seconds become a moment.

He passes with dull eyes
  And a whiff of musky skin.
I wish I could pass by
  As unaffected as him.

One Christmas, death showed up
To rip the bonds apart
And they, who were stunned -
Said their good-byes
Hastily at the tomb.

That same Christmas -
Another family opened their arms
To a transfigured man
Who wiped his eyes
And ushered him home.

I saw a woman emerge from a shadow
  With a sly demeanor and look about.
Her sequined dress was aglow.
  She didn't know I was also out.

I watched her remove a silver shoe
  And stick her foot into the mere –
One of the darkest ferrous blue –
  As if testing the temperature.

Her dress was even more brilliant -
  After a countenance of approval -
When she crossed the bleak horizon -
  Careful not to soak her lunar veil.

eight doves on a wire
together
friends on bar stools

Her voice resonates
Strongly in my delighted ear;
My soul smiles -
As if she'd not died years ago
And been shut away in a wall ...

marred by insults
the heart heals with time
scar tissue remains

I stroll down the sun-dappled trail                              
under a tranquil canopy of trees
where the glow of light uplifts my spirit
and the shades of shadow soothe my soul,
The aroma of blossoming flowers
strives to set me free from
the restless nights and trying days
persuading my forlorn heart
to venture forth
in the quest of love anew;