rising into silence

i came upon God accidentally
like learning a new language
upon connection, i came

into the unknown and stayed
without knowing, rising
beyond the science of silence
i did not know where

the door was to leave or enter
this brilliant house
it’s a perfect realm of calm

and a deepest release into solitude
that is a peace, a stunned
and stammering quietude
i was given a narrow way

to enter fields of light
rising beyond all science
i carried my evolution

for inside the confines of experience
until I was dazed and liberated
revealing my own intimacy with God
in splendor of my five senses

my mind found a potter’s home
a carpentry of my soul’s workshop
to work with my hands

for something divine
and know creation intimately
like a poet who never sleeps
holiness is not a place or a person

it is a language, the unity
behind all thought, all will, all hope
this is knowledge, by unknowing

and solace, without fighting
this is a blazing height of all remedies
when knowing and doing is insufficient
and feeling surrenders in the dark

to the most holy Being and freedom
which can only be translated into
ecstatic feeling, that is God to me.

echoes from Assisi

heavenly spouse, that blesses all things
how you have loved me, that I am chaste
how you have touched me

that I am now pure
your power whose miracles
worked gratitude and forgiveness in me
Until your abundance became

fortified compassion in all my words
how your appearance in the world
jumps out at me now

in whose embrace I am caught
like a rapture from a divinity
leaning on me with strange music
arriving to my eyes like sparkling gems

in the blossoms of springtime
I see new lives and recognize their holiness
a sign of your holiness, everywhere

sacred in the bright humility
of a saint’s tongue or an angel’s smile
on a path of simple happiness
I have forgotten what I once sought

that was not you, most high
the pursuit of perfection is now
the seduction of Lords and Goddesses

each laughs to dissuade me from believing
that the secret of existence
could be so simple
I who once ran after you

hoping for but one whiff
of your fragrance of treasured bliss
now it is with me every day.

i held my breath for summers

Light chooses blue surf, pigeon-songs
we sailed until we found ourselves
far away in boats, sailing to nowhere

the ocean’s breeze had a lot to tell us
stabbing the pale skies for forever-afters
we lit our soul with ginger-tea
beneath canopies of star-lit nights
bare legs for the ends of July

beaches for the color of swelling tangerines
with kisses goodbye, but never enough
you were there too, those wispy weekends

full of melodies and cooper sunrise
Light chooses white sails, fragrances
curving like the shorelines, memories
of timelessness, or something beyond
the currents, after the blues, behind

veils, and the taste of your salts
my emotional body was left there
and my cheeks grow weary of so much light

as if sunburns could puncture through
soul mates that amounted to the memory
of women on the beach, bikinis of offering
the dusk hips and wet lips of another time…

Flutes of Light

we’ve retold the stories
of our lives like prehistory
so many times we forgot the white morning

or the gulls that drove us
to listen to traces of infinity
we become our own museums
sort of broken accounts of what

happened to us, a thousand photos later
we still can’t tell you the truth
about ourselves, that’s second-guessing

or the lack of objectivity with self
the sun leans low on the trees
of our youth, it passes faster
than you can name your old favorite songs

driving home, the moon draws close
we left our city lights, hoping
to become somebody we could respect

i love’ed you all day, all days
and felt the intimate street lights
bathe me against all my worries
which seem in retrospect, a bit petty

heat won’t leave the pavement
until night is almost over
and we’ll do it over all again

for the last freeway of summer
for leaving all the lights on
just to see you from the corner of my eyes.

Be Realistic, plan for Miracles

if you are feeling stuck
abandon what you do, be somebody else
embrace uncertainty for experience

pure experience without judgement
where Life again becomes
possible, freedom of will
self-determined, bitter-sweet

youthful, exuberant, spring-autumn
with the taste of rosebuds
dual, frankly crazy, appreciated

spin wildly into your next months
with both heart and exercise of choice
bravely, without regret or sentimental lingering
if you are feeling frightened

by who you have become, change
dare to enjoy the present like never before
retrace your steps, rediscover who you are

it’s never too late, you’ll find your
way again, where hopes lead you
challenge yourself to find bliss
don’t be afraid to experience, say “yes”

for experience is the heart of necessity
if you don’t rush after it
life will force you to meet her

life is not about possession
life is about tasting, doing, being, watching
moving, travelling, loving, thinking
dangerously even, for life passes you by

a place where happiness and sadness collide
forcefully, creatively, passionately
be the hero of your own story

find friendships that intrigue you
fall in love with hobbies that move you
read philosophers that challenge you
make music that haunts you

have sex like your mean it
listen to your being without judgement
that small voice who enjoys giving

live without condition, for destiny
always intended to work with you
not through you, fate completes you
your journey needs your enthusiasm.

whispering the unsung sex

the wild flowers know where it begins
a sweet resistance of eyes
that melts where love drips

behind the petals of hushed uncertainties
where our bodies flower for a while
intoxicated spirits meet like
dragonflies, with no hiding places

not found out by our passion’s wick
where burns a slow peace to drink
pleasure on the burning stove

of youth’s dripping with ecstasy
our hot and quickening breaths not meek
with heated tongues for blessing’s approval
where destiny might mesh

softness and hardness, begging for
a chance to be loved again
and kisses that stray from the lips

slow rhythms that mount for comfort
the comfort of the moment, in the dark
full of an insistent guide to gasp
the smiling of our bodies in a stroke

to dance in erotic foreign substance
this first time, to climax together and release
with an ease of laughter and the heart’s reply

that’s the taste of beloved skin
a secret reinforcement that started
when your dress came off like the crescent moon
only to sigh for and listen for signs of entry

to the perfect palace where all secrets
come and go, that first press of the star
of our sex, whispering a song so ancient

it stings, with thin resistance weak
too tired to ache, to loving to ignore
our bodies border fingertips of young love
the union of our spirits the fruit we make.