A candle, in loving memory

When life grows thin, its waxing fullness 

now burned away but not yet vanished, 

its embers remembering their past fire

its essence still lingering in the air, 

its light still brightening the room, 

its warmth still enlivening those 

whose paths crossed past it, 

when death visits at last 

wry hand beckoning 

into the unknown 

eyes wakening 

in its wake,

in loving

memory.

Embers

Restless in sleep, the dreams run
dark and dripping, light and floating
rodents slink between roots
falcons dive through city fog
as embers gleam their delicious memories

Moving Mountains

I do not want hawk wings.
I want levitation.

I do not want cheetah legs.
I want teleportation.

But spare me telepathy,
the burden of all minds and hearts-

let me ponder in wonder
the vast weight of memory,

the lifetime of experience
in every person around me.


#NaPoWriMo 29/30

Cruel Death

Death may be merciful, an end to long suffering,
but more often it seems cruel, or at least uncaring
while we are rendered mute and mindless:
“senseless tragedy”
                      “the unimaginable”
                                            “I don’t know what to say”

How much crueler is this death, then? This woman severed
from her sister by closed doors, pandemic precautions,
heartbeats abruptly silenced, breaths lost to sterile air
unresponsive
                       unrecoverable
                                                DNR, DNI

How cruel to be pronounced dead by a doctor
who has never seen her alive, for me to wake up
her sister to inform her of what little I know
to change her life
                                    with the loss of another.


#NaPoWriMo 28/30

Sun, Water, Growth

a leaf unfurling
to accept a ray of light
and share the sun’s gift

rain falls staccato
as rivers flow legato
vapor da capo


#NaPoWriMo 27/30

The Busy Bee

The busiest of bees
humming along to flower after flower
collecting nectar and pollen
of every type and color
building a home and feeding a family
while exploring the horizon
in every direction   - a miracle
- a wonder     - an inspiration


#NaPoWriMo 26/30

A Successful Calculation

The world wanders in search of success
wondering what it is, how to attain it.
Is a successful day achieved by average,
or perhaps its beginning or end?
What about a successful life -
by the height of its glorious acme
or by the sum of its worst moments?
And by whom will judgment be passed?
By you, by my neighbor,
by God, by my children?
Whoever, I hope not by me -
such a careful task it must be
to weigh smiles of sunflowers
and rolls of thunder, to ask
the wind and stars what
tales they’ve witnessed.


#NaPoWriMo 25/30