I Dream

I dream of walking in the ancient city
barefoot under the scorching moon
I collect the dark clay dust on my skirt
and walk heavy under its weight
I turn and see the brown women
that walk parallel to me, our paths never crossing
I see their burdens of carried children
and baskets of ripened rice
I am painfully aware that the burden I carry
is a ghost of the past and the ache of loneliness
I come to your temple that rises high
in supplication to the silent sky
I kneel and crawl like a dog on his belly before it
eager to pay homage to the soul that’s housed within
I have brought pitiful offerings to leave on your alter
everything I have of my own to give
I have brought my blue eyes that dance like Christmas
and a heart full of mystery that draws me to places like this
I pray and wait and watch and need for you,
God of this temple to come and give me purpose
I mouth my prayer with myriad subtleties and
feel the wind snatch my breath and carry it away
I leave and wake and feel alive, renewed
my nightly pilgrimage complete

She laughed!

She laughed! as she stretched her arms to take him in.
Scrunched against his earthen eyes,
she opened her heart to swallow him whole.
Get ready, here I come... she whispered.
He laughed! Come and get me!
Earth eyes leaping across the gap
ready to touch the sky.

They came again

They came again last night in my dreams.
The men in red with their white X's blazoned across their chests.
Muskets held close, the smell of powder strong in the air.
They came as a warning, whispering in my ear their fears of betrayel.
Loose lips sink ships they say, reminding me how slack jaws loose wars.
The men in blue with their dark eyes and dark hair will steal your soul.
Crush it in their powerful fingers.
Be careful what you say, be careful what you share...
Retreat! Retreat!

She held the clear glass vase

She held the clear glass vase in the palm of her hand.
She loved the weight of it, the smooth curves and straight lines.
She wanted it. She wanted to put it on a window ledge and watch the light reflect through it.
But she was afraid, and selfish, and she wouldn't let go.
She had to have it in her hand to control it.
So she wrapped her poisonous, venomous, calloused fingers around the neck of the delicate jar
and squeezed.
She held it so tightly, so controllingly.
It cracked. It shattered.
Tighter still she squeezed the shards in to her now broken flesh.
Sure she could resurrect it if she just held tight enough.
Living water, Life Blood dripping through her clenched fist.
Big red peonies on white vinyl flooring.

Desert Clay

Desert clay, dried out,
Sun sapped, wind burnt.
Shades of red and orange. The aching of yellow,
the absence of green.
Consumed by the cliche of fire
and setting desert suns.
The weight of earth and sky filling me
to capacity with their own absolute
emptyness.
Self exiled to a land that isn't mine.
The ultimate intrusion.