red blossoms upon her cheeks
as she exclaims in tones of ecstasy
see here i left only a few hours ago
and now the kitchen sparkles
but more than that
a pot of sauce on the stove
and i see a freshly baked loaf of bread
and some garlic butter
and a wedge of cheese and is that wine
well i do declare
i suppose it just may be dinner time

maybe tonight the cafe won’t be empty
for she might walk in that door and make
my day
but perhaps not
i suppose i might make it to the end of my book without being
interrupted
at least i’ll know the ending

I compare my stanzas to that woman’s prose and instinctively feel the gap between
Us that stretches and towers over like a giant sunflower mocking me
Maybe yes it is true that her wells go deeper but that doesn’t assuage my sense of supreme
Inadequacy that simply weighs upon me as a hand upon my shoulder a finger
Scrawling that I am found wanting but perhaps that is ok if my emptiness is filled by the divine
Everlasting water even if she writes lines of such exquisite beauty and did when she was only eighteen so what good am I
Scribbling stories still to be told I suppose and so for now I’ll just turn the page and read another few sentences that play the ivoried keys ever so
Sweetly reminding me of the open door to home at which the candle
Flickers

request one more time
kiss upon the brow
see how the stripe splits
the asphalt
blue blinks to green
foreordained
sprinkles of cinnamon

he swirls the spoon around the cup
in counterclockwise circles
as he gazes blankly down
at the countertop
blackness formless may be
but light spoken forth
sparks revelation
a child’s heart turned
a place prepared
he takes another sip of coffee
mind spiraling in clockwise
meditations on eternity

on the rooftop she sits
gazing wearily at the stars
they’re cold she says
just like me
yet a spark of fire
just like me
as she lets drop her hand
brushing the slate
and breathing deep
smoke and fire on the nighttime breeze

What do you say when a certain someone asks you
to walk down this forest path side by side
for me I look at her and simply smile
and hold out my hand one more time
for in this moment that the sun trickles down
through the springtime fervor
of the trees that mighty roar with life
I cannot hide it
nor deny it
but simply in this moment drink deep and
in the arms of love abide
for i still yet cannot stop shivering
in breathless anticipation
clad in white robes breathing deep of pine

he leaps down the embankment slipping
on the rain soaked grass
oh well the flowers catch him softly
and then up he springs and off again
for if he has a chance of being on time
he must across country run
if he doesn’t want to keep her waiting
and shamefacedly arrive ten past one
so up the other side and across the
train tracks and down the cobbled street
and then he spies the cafe and through the window
she sits and raises to her lips a cup of tea!
and underneath awning he slips through the heavy door
sits across from her in that antique upholstered chair
and though he’s out of breath
she’s smiling red cheeked herself
brown sparkling eyes laughing
face framed by windblown hair

to dwell on dreams of heaven
doesn’t mean that i don’t
care about the air of earth
i do i swear
yet these chains
chafe fiercely

i cry out for a little more water
and shade my eyes
light light unyielding
i submit to that which i confess
in flowering agony
take the cup and plumb its depths
i will drink it!

tip tap the bird sits upon
the window ledge
and see how the oak leaves
flutter down
upon the yellowed grass
oh has it come to this
though the newspapers weep
i now see that the season
has come
autumn at long last
summer falls streaming on
my uplifted face
for even now my heart races
in the grand consummation
of even the dance of ages
for it has now come to past
that the invitation upon the table
has not been for nothing
no no says she look at the signature
and the wax still dripping
and see out the window the carriage
it is here it is here
far sooner than i could have imagined
far later than i long have wished
these groaning bones have no complaint
no longer
the grass so green under my feet offers a lullaby
and i see the vines leap upwards the strong wrought seaside tower
tick tock sea spray falls