river

i am reaching for the mouth of the
silty river basin,
where peace falls like petals,
where peace follows the barefoot peasants,
kissing their ankles
sticking like dust
to the pads of their feet.

Follow me, peace,
sweetness within!
This delicate system of bone
and desire
it still flinches
at kindness.

For my soft body to roll
like an eel
through the absence of fear,
for the ache to cool
like a healing burn-

teach me to sit with hope
and not wane

in your company

What is this pain?
gently
pulling me away from this busy city-

somehow my soul just
o p e n e d u p
as you were speaking;
the tones came rolling in
across my ears
like forgiveness, like dreaming.

Suddenly my heart
stretched wide across my ribcage,
pulled apart by the beauty
of
this
moment.

Come sit down beside me
and listen-
someone nearby is playing a piano,
the notes are telling us to breathe.
Calling to us,
come
and be absolved.

just before sleeping

i am not aware enough to dismiss the memory of your warm body
and so i let it lie beside me and feel the movement of your belly with breathing

eros

I have grappled with the question
of a lover
and would i choose the man or
human who
treats me well over the one who
feels me, ignites me-
would i choose that good over
this desire ?

And what i am finding is
the balance of those things.

It is wise to be cautious
with fire;
to have warmth and not burn,
to have light and not destruction.

To burn slowly
and not burn out,
to let the flame run its course;

and when the time has come,
to fade
to a soft glow,
to flicker and crackle

and let go.

be longing

I belong
to the endless brilliance
of energy,
I belong to the ache

I belong to the silences between
strangers;
and the intimacy

I belong to the spirit moving
through all things,
the atoms which are me but are not
mine;

slowly life is teaching me
to feel the infinite heat
of all beings

and so I say, with utmost wonder
I am glad that I am here.