Animal

braided and tangled

i've seen the stomp

the drumbeat inside 

feathers and fire

mane and desire

nothing can feed you

and nothing can keep you

and no mountainside

is wide enough

to guide your restlessness

to swallow your scenery

you see that river?

where lions bleed 

and babies splash 

so brightly born and 

crying for more

i'm swimming the river

and fighting the deep

wanting to swim 

and needing to sink 

you see that river?

where lions cry 

and you will splash

so brightly born and 

crying for more

Song

flecks of light

stars above hang in the balance

holding it's breath
between sunset and dawn

each moment a pause
i wait for the song

to break through the dark
to cover me softly 
&
the rain wakes me up

hear, the heartbeat is strong

and my hands are no longer

shaking 
my heart once again is 
breaking
but the song of the morning
breathtaking 

Faces

tangible
concrete beneath me
quiet and engaged
in every breathe
like cigarettes
like coffee and constellations
in sharp winter air
you are fully there
when my eyes are wide
when my words are small
and my fingers hurt 

intangible
when my words are violent 
rocks thrown hard
rippling on the lake
scaring the birds
your words are swimming 
underwater
they're stirring the leaves
they're running from me
i'll shut my eyes to hear
i'll climb the hill and see you there
i will know your many colors and faces
i will see or hear or feel the traces
your forms and your flavors
are my daily bread

Dirt

plow with brighest silver
resharpened
these once were swords
but now i am a farmer
dirt tosses and turns
rake and refine
it's funny what you find
when you are digging.
like wooden boxes as a child
buried deep with your secrets
pesos and gold ribbons
and pieces of blue porcelain
milk glass and metal
traces of tornado
so we dig up the dead
pink granite bricks
indian clay
and poison ivy fences
it seems you weren't aware of this
and none of us can carry this

plow with brightest silver
resharpened
these once were swords
but now i'm a farmer
the dirt is dark earth
raw and inviting
awaken my senses
like coffee and constellations
every book you've never read
swallow me into this
i'll give all that i have

bury the tree of life
bury the seeds you find
and the speck will grow
into much better things

Skywalker Hill

streams of new depths
teem with bright fish
silver and gleaming
they run with the rivers
and into my chest

ever leaning
into to this
knowing all the thoughts that kiss
my mind are all renewing

my eyes squint at 7am
when truth won't make sense
the golden hill hints
that the mountains are shrinking
when i walk on the sky
the pine trees will glance
at my face so entranced
by this morning arrival

Ocean Drains

blue like the mountains 
blue like the sea, blue like sky
all the things are marked and measured
but you still don't know when it will rain
and you'll never know where the ocean drains

the water fills me up 
and yes it runs out 'til i don't care
leaks through the cracks (they've always been there)
but i don't know anyone quite like you
who is so happy when i sit down
to notice the birds and the clouds
and the specks on cold concrete 
and i think i'm only crying with relief
that you are here, not just there

you are here, not just there

Glimmer

i long for 
your hands on my shoulders
i'm not getting older 
i'll stay right here
i long for my hands to feel
the texture of tree trunks growing
to pick on guitar strings
that run with your voice
to sing with my eyes shut
drown out the noise

the way you sail
the way you go down
glittering in my throat
glimmer in my eyes
you're the pain at sunrise

i love the way you are there
the way you go down
the sigh in my throat
relief in my lungs
you are the peace at sunrise