Anima

I am made, as
You are, from
The stuff of stars,
Am more, as 
You are more,
Than an echo 
Of predators,
History --you
Are evolving
A mystery well
Worth solving.

Peace Garden

Under a sign routed
By a younger man,
Children nailed dreams,
Strung wooden beads
And wired hope on
Dawn-bleached palings.
Plantings came and went
But, despite failings,
Successes ensued:
Volunteers, years of
Oddments, seed-bearing
Birds made old
Dreams come true.

What A Beautiful Flower

Where love evolves a code
Displayed in daylilies, seasons
Solve equations under trees.
On her blackboard, results
Appear, these --my relation
To this scheme is here:

Beans, I Think

Winding higher on
Trellis or mind, all
Lives inquire, climb,
Bend and send 
Tendrils into time.

(1915-2001)

                                                                   {With love and admiration to mothers on Mothers' Day}

When her hearing went
She often said,"I can hear you
But I can't tell what you're saying."
At her kitchen table
We watched a storm pound over
The olive orchard--
Sunlight fled the field
Crossed the creek and
Dark filled the window,
Then flashed blinding blue
With thunder to the bone.
When the room unrattled
She laughed, "I heard that.
I just couldn't tell what it said."
I wish again that her hearing
had been better because
I'd love to know.

States Uncertain And Certain

Subatomic particles
Exist outside defined
Gates like thoughts that
Come to those who wait,
Step outside the moment
And remember what
They are made of.

43-Year-Old Crack Up

When Dianne and Veronica saw me
On the front stoop with suddenly no
Mustache, they ran over from their
House in socks and cracked up,
Which caused our own son to crack up,
Which made Norma crack up too.
It was 1971 and we cracked up
Easy, but I grew my mustache
Back so people would take me
Seriously --not sure it worked.