For Who Might See

You – did you know me when

I fell into the ageless well within?

And you – did you watch me while

I lingered before the flame

Of my Beloved’s smile?

Perhaps you – you saw me dance.

Did you taste the kiss of who

I touched in trance?

Maybe you – in your eyes I recall

A fleeting light:

A moon between clouds

On a stillborn night.

1997

Contentment

The rock that sits
that waits in the corner
Behind the door
should it be needed
As a doorstop.

The picture of my guru
arms upraised in blessing
That never tire;
the fullness of that moment
As a constant reminder.

The tan underside
of the guitar strap
Turned to view.
No shoulder needs
To stretch its weight.

The droop of the lily
over the horizon of the pot.
My mind resting enough
to note its want of me
With a little water to revive.

Ditty

The only piece of hair on his face
Hung from his lower lip,
That it looked as if he'd left a trace
From eating an unskinned rabbit.

Six Passers-by

Middle-aged, papers clutched against her chest, fingers entwined.
As though her life were undelivered, although apparently sealed and signed.

Pear-shaped body, swaying hips, hands hooked inside long black sleeves.
Hair tied into ponytails, handbag swinging, to and fro she weaves.

Thin white shirt, rippling in the wind, pasting against bare skin.
Long unbuttoned cuffs signal the end of his business day, evening begins.

Small Asian face almost covered by wrap-around sunglasses.
Earrings flash in flaxen hair, flared jeans reveal high fashion shoes as she passes.

A double exposure, two dark-haried women, each holding a hoisted handbag.
In smiles and hair heads nod together, but one seems lighter, feet white sandalled.

Chinstraps frame a silvered beard, a cyclist in yellow windbreaker.
Speeding by, his smile is surprisingly permanent, the freedom in this cocooned caper.


27 - 11 - 07

Crickets

The crickets are singing.
Midnight cascading flumes of cadent water
slipping past shiny stones.

Face

the eyes looked with equal regard.
the smile knew to whom it belonged.
the nose loved to slope like the fresh-fallen snow.
the sinuses inside made a rorschach of light-filled cavities
filled with the aroma of rose.

the eyebrows pondered gentle distinctions.
the eyelashes surfed on the wind.
the teeth took their place in white ranks four apace.
the tongue breathed and swum under the palatial roof hung
with ribbons of rouge-coloured banners.

the cheekbones were hands holding clay.
the temple touched soft clouds within.
the brow fell like cotton-cloth hung for a movie.
the eyeballs now knew they were orphans and only-childs
but for each other adopted at birth.

the ears whispered secrets in shells.
the hairline drew a scribble of mane.
the jawline swooped down to the rock-rolling sea.
the windpipe was a sand-dune sculpted at the base of the edifice
face of a pharoah under the moon.


2006

Body

The shell of your toenail.
The delta of your toes.
The plinth of the wedge of your foot.
The Doric columns of your ankles.
The catamaran prows of your shins.
The gunstocks of the muscles of your calves.
The armourplate shields of your kneecaps.
The pipeline bridges of your lap.
The concrete jetties of your thighs.
The curving balustrades of your buttocks.
The scarab wingplates of your haunches.
The balcony edges of your hips.
The plunging neckline of your pubic hair.
The underground train of your penis.
The mountaintop meadow of your stomach.
The glowworm grotto of your ribcage.
The ceremonial blade of your sternum.
The dark-rimmed sunglasses of your chest.
The snow-capped ridges of your shoulders.
The melting icicles of your arms.
The rudders of your elbows.
The leather drinking bladders of your forearms.
The bookends of your wrists.
The dovewings of your fingers.
The hotplates of your palms.
The metronome of your clavicles.
The flowervase of your throat.
The treetrunk of your sturdy neck.
The footpedal of your jaw.
The double sofa of your mouth.
The handmower of your nose.
The roseblooms of your ears.
The thunderdome of your hair.
The prairie winds of your forehead.
The hedgerows of your eyebrows.
The surfacing air bubbles of your eyes.
The candlelight of your smile.


3 – 11 – 07