Megan

Today i want to tell you that i'm thinking of you

I want to do it in some way

that will surprise a smile into your eyes

write it in the sky

spilling smoke behind me like a cloud of ink

against the deep blue waves

or drop it in small notes like a trail

all over the streets

that you'll follow like a mystery

till you get to the twist the end

and there i'll be

thinking as hard as I can about you

who and what you are

with your tendrils of thought

curling around your hair and shooting

like stars from your mouth

directed by your hands into these detailed explosions

dreams that grow like mist on paper

and reach out to tangle my eyes

in their ideas and feelings and screams

and I can't get enough of them

so here I am with my fingers stretching far

trying to tell you

I am thinking of you

and how wonderful you are

I am thinking of you

and how much I love you

Happy Birthday.

and she's dark chocolate

addictive but bitter

sweeps me off my feet 

in the rush of her words

and i would listen

but i'm too busy remembering

how to swim

roll on, roll on baby,

you're the one i'll hold on to

ride through, ride on baby,

the knights are chasing you

all those silver skinned saviours

are looking for your golden hair

and i just woke up

and you were there

sitting there laughing that my tongue

tying it up in knots

and walking away

I won't follow, you're too far ahead

just wait for you watching in my head

as you turn around with your shining smile

with the sky silver behind you

they're running to your rescue

one more addition to their petting zoo

i'll stay here until you're through

taking their shield and dulling their swords

to cage you they'd need to build worlds

for you to rage to

so i'll go back to sleep and wait for the girl

hangups

i have written script after script

in which you

in many names and faces

appear under my window

(or at my door

or to pluck me from the sea)

and throw pebbles

(knocking and rescuing are also acceptable)

to catch my attention.

When i appear

you always smile

and say.....

i never know what you would say.

i suppose you could improvise.

Bless me brother for I have sinned

you sit down beside me

and i have nothing to say

the thousand strands of each day before

have become tangled in my dreams

are twisting in their decay

and the mold of memory is tying them together

turning them upside down 

i have nothing to say

because maybe it has been said before

perhaps you cried or it could have been me

but all i know is this

i've got nothing to say.

just.

please-

don't walk away.

again.

the blessing of the blurs

with the mist so deep

i can barely see the ridge of trees

that blur like columns of smoke

another intangible thing

in this imaginary world

so i stretch my eyes wide

seaching amidst the grey

for a darker shape

i can't see a thing

so i pretend

that the thing i can't see

is a mountain standing there

behind the trees

with its wide arms stretched

and my home nestled in the crook of it

like a child on the point of sleep

i close my eyes through the rain

pretending i am home

codes in plain sight.

you know in the films

when the detective or the spy

tapss three times on one brick

and then in a secret pattern 

follows up with soft strikes

to four others and then

to the amazement of all

a door creaks open where there was clearly

nothing

before

when i am talking

and you look at me like that

with your head tilted 

and that one strand of hair left loose

to hang over your eyes

normally you brush it away

but at these times your hands are still

and your eyes merely widen

as if to see around it

I can feel your eyes pushing against the sounds on my tongue

trying and trying again

to unlock the door

creating a secret code to my vulnerability

one day i might let you in on the secret

when i say i'm fine.

that's exactly what i mean.

A Handful of Haiku

Old Teachings

the turn of voice falls

an autumn load of leaves

who is listening?

Tension Builds

the pause between words

pulls my ears like children who

watch the candy jar

Transit

The stream talks loudly

wondering from where he came

carrying my boat

Winter Worries

The mirror ages me

writing thin wrinkles on skin

with the thread of frost

The Secret Garden

stories grow like weeds

wild over the level flagstones

building a garden

Camouflaged reincarnation

Two thousand scales

lie against each other in wait

flash into a fish

Regret for a wedding

late for your rebirth

I was caught in the fall rains

my feet in debris