Salvaged from the gray

She tells me, “You are nothing”
And in this place, I am not,
But I am.

Where transparent I have existed
Where bodiless I have form

You tell me, “You will wander,
but will not find.”

I have wandered and have not found.

But in seeking I have seen
I have heard
And come to know the Earth
And all her kindred souls

She is wise
and I have been made wiser

Through forests I may run to bend the pines
Through deserts I may carve the sands
Through oceans I may ripple the seas
Through canyons I may ricochet off rock and roost
Through leaves and grass I may rise and fall
And through day and night I will never give pause

Perhaps I have become more than ‘nothing’
Even if my appearance is deceiving
Even if I am as clear as glass

We are all at one time lost
but we are certainly not nothing

Nature knows

I am set among a thousand facing houses where a thousand trees should be facing, but there isn't. Instead there run streets and sidewalks, byways and highways. They are sandwiched between. What honest living is that? Nature should be our companion, not our slave.

--

Nature knows
I am a lie
She has left me with only
Memory

Yeah, there is green
Beneath my feet
I know it
But it does not know me

Yeah, there is green
Above my head
I know it
But it does not know me

Where did honesty wreck
Where did I disembark from her green decks
How did I end up contrived and lost in my own home

Nature knows
I am a lie
She has left me with only
Memory

Going Astray

When you are in the high country, you look out upon the forest and see those countless green miles spread out before you. And, yet, once among those many trees, there is no looking out. There is no seeing beyond that green veil. You are concealed and hidden from the world. For humans there is an instinct still desiring the security provided in those mossy isles of fir and cedar.

--

To where shall
I amble through forest?
Shall I Levitate
Over canopy
Or sink into fecund mud?
Shall I plainly stab forwardly
Through brambles
Mossy isles
And lose my way
Hopelessly
To nowhere

Burn Ban - A lyric

You gave me a gun
Little bird tucked his wings in to dive
Pull the trigger man
Can’t leave him here to stay alive

Disposable nation pillage and plunder, wreck havoc on
Can’t live without it, gotta have it all
Commercialization on the TV, the world for profit
Trade in your life; give the man your balls

You sold the rights God
Gave man the credit to buy the earth
Call in the debt man
Can’t sell a shithole for half it’s worth

Magnificent nation divide and conquer, give it your all
America the beautiful, America the great
Devastation on the news, nowhere else I’d rather be
Sell your soul; let it pay for your hate

You taught me to win
Don’t plead with those lower than
Start a fire man
Can’t light the world with a burn ban

Total destruction awaiting orders from new management
Corruption eats from the inside, vote for me
Pandemonium on the stage of life, total chaos
Tear me from my addiction, set me free

You ran out of bullets
Give the little bird his liberty and justice
Distill the hate man
There’s free will, no need to be an accomplice

Disposable nation pillage and plunder, wreck havoc on
Can’t live without it, gotta have it all
Commercialization on the TV, the world for profit
Trade in your life; give the man your balls

You sold the rights God
Gave man the credit to buy the earth
Call in the debt man
Can’t sell a shithole for half it’s worth

A gathering place

White snow spirit;

sky blue, leafy green, black dirt,

placid lake, rosy sunset spirits,

swill my soul in your eyes,

and reveal to me your wisps of vivacious energies

vigorously gathering deftly

to sparkle, shimmer, animate,

bubbly, boisterously, bravely fascinate

every yarn, filament, grain

of my being.



Wise old withered Maple, Fir, and Cedar tree spirits

sweeping windy, slapping grassy, singing sun spirits

slide into my meandering thoughts,

twirl downward into my rot

throbbing, aching, yearning

for your calm, collective, peace giving

biting, blazing, breathing, thunder booming bravely

into and out of my soul

like the bloom of spring

blossoms from winter

and the quivering marsh, lumbering lake, shivering snow spirits

gather among all the others

for a celebration of everyday life

that ceaselessly rides forward

clutching, grasping, clenching

the futures theater

tirelessly acting

the scenes to come...

Seasons of me

I learned long ago that Mother Nature is a powerful force. It is with this in mind that I write this poem.

---

I am not a man or beast
I am not alive at all
I am the wind on the coattails of dusk and dawn

I am fury
I am happiness

I am every emotion

the soft rain on spring grass
the heavy snows on mountain pass
the old man, gray beard to his knees
the breeze that blows those falling leaves

I am, I am so many things I am

Hear my roar and you will know me
I am storm clouds boiling
Hear my echoes and you will know me
I am dark canyon falls splashing
Hear my whispers and you will know me
I am Winds afternoon hustle

Look for me on horizon, I am there
see me from mountaintop, I am there
know me at your toes, I am there
listen to me in your heart, I am there

And know the shifting colors of meadow at dawn
know the hungry fish feeding at dusk
know the rolling ocean deep at sea and its dangerous hush
know the rumbling Earth that groans and crushes
know all of me that yearns to be
heartbeats in your chest
breath caught in your throat
thoughts froze in your skull

Know also the seasons of me
the summer-fall-winter-spring
Listen to my children’s
cackling, cheering and chanting
Listen to their calling
hoping, dreaming, laughing
hurt, hunger, suffering

they know me

no name is needed
but if you must call me something
You may call me 'Mother'