Orbital Mechanism

[David photo]

Where life forms under rolling
Wonder, our round earth turns
It to the sky --an openwork by
Which we always recognize
Ourselves with some surprise,
Our fluid span in time,
Mind and space-- our place.

My Stunt Double

Stars dissolve
Into her eyes.
Wild clouds fly
Across the moon.
Red ghosts
Scudding under
Dark crashes
Drive us indoors.
Thunder, her eyes flash,
She laughs and
Lightning goes
Suddenly sane.
Rain pours down
The window pane,
Stops by and by
But she remains.
So do I.

Avian Drinking Song

Between notes,
A flutter in air.
I hear music there
Before feathers.
Whatever I heard
Rises and does
Grow birds.

October

The ocean is always
In you, in me.
Fictitious forces swirl,
Marmoreal seams pitch
Into air where
Gravity dreams.
What is too far
And ancient to see
Can at least be
Heard there
By you, by me.

Probability Tips

[Norma photo]

Self absent can't
Be unselfish.
Trail is marked
Where our tails left
Arcs in sand, and
We began an endless
Search for what
We couldn't find
At all, or couldn't
Find all of.
We had to invent love,
It seems--
Self, unselfish.
Memories come true--
Different from wishes--
Oftener than dreams.

This Dance

I leaned down
Nearer your
Heart and
Heard singing.

Cosmos

Has it a name?
Bit of
Universe understood,
Not tamed; also
A flower rooted
In flame might slow
Time, measure
Combustion in a
Slow climb, life,
Fill the woods, thrive
Where each arrives and
All must go
Lonely, silent.
But tame? No.