Kitchen Porch Repairs

Replacing purlin, post,
Where rot most appears,
One climbs a house's
Heart from here, alone--
With tools and tapes,
Embraced by redwood bones
Where weather chews--
To review foxing soffits
And incursions upon
A porch's purpose
To protect-- protect
Where life goes on.
It holds onto one
Until the job is done.

Something I Wrote Emma and Ygraine

Sometimes I dream

Of departed loved ones,
And like to think,
When the dream is over,
We all return to our
Different mornings
And get on with life.

Travertine

Eyes long gone,
And what they saw,
Caught under crystal--
Ancient light compressed
In stone, deposited
There-- their tongues
Lapping waters
Turned to desert
Long ago between
Brown and yellow are
Black veins in
Travertine that tell
Of lakes, rivers
Come and gone,
Prairies carbonized,
Wanderers tribalized
And much to read
In a pebble.

Despite Drought

Despite drought, clouds
Venture out and nest
Among  mountains, 
Pile over arid plains,
Do their best at summer
Rain but steam away.
They write a promise
On our pavers: another
Day..... another day.

Visitor

Hello you,
Visitor under 
Shadow where
Summer sun has 
Yet to go -- hello.
Among clay pots
Cooled after night,
While pavers still release
A gentle chill, be
At peace and know
Welcome --hello. 

It Is Us

Force transferred, warmed
Into wind, sun,
Into waves, surf,
Is a voice of stars, formed
As ours --a chorus.
By this calculus, if
An echo hears an echo,
It is us, it is us.

Garcia Bend 1949

I could hear the
Heavy bray of
Barges --sound
Delivered to
A child whose
World enlarged
Along a river.
The other side
Is still wild.