one

Once Upon a Time

There was a symbol of your love
Who woke me up in the trees
Just a few hours after you left me
I heard the birds
Outside, they called so many

I went to see what was going on
Sound and agitation
Unbelievably birds and more birds I lost count
In the bamboo and garden
Where we have spent so much time
With others

I feel it sincerely as a lighthouse
Or a notice to be confirmed
A phone call from you
By natures will
You know I miss you and
You’re here even if
You can’t be physically

I have stayed long in counting
One by one, I looked around to see
If something would attract traffic
Were there any seeds or bread or
Food scattered but nothing
They had all come of their own accord
With nothing to magnetize them

Except you

Incredibly, there must be
Sixty to a hundred, all different
Kinds of birds, blue jays and sparrows
Other voices I have not heard
I can’t distinguish exactly each
All together in a choir, I feel you

We have been living here
Almost fourteen years
On this property and we built
This garden and this space together
It was a reason to make it nice
Because of you and the purpose
That you gave me all the meaning
To wake up and go to work
At the grocery store, I experience
It here now; how did they know to come
On Christmas Day
A garden full of wild birds

As I walked away for an hour or two
Now later, they’re still there
The inexplicable, I turn off the TV
And I listen to their collective singing
To know that it’s you and that it’s true
You’re always with me while they
Continue to carry each voice
No matter the type, they all sing together

Inlay my body on the floor
Listen to the sound near the back door
The cold air flows over me in a bath of
Music that I will always remember
A moment as a visit and a miracle
I became aware
Forcing my body to be present
When I want to detach

We may not be available for our
Supernatural miraculous moments
Superstitious or others
If we do not listen and descale
I remember if the heart is closed
We are not open

It’s only one time
We only get one chance

Just going through the motions
Sometimes that’s all you need
Maybe we do it and don’t know it
When he was particularly aware of it
He felt strange realizing that he
Was always doing it naturally before
But now it felt forced necessarily
Waiting for the light to change
Sometimes just running through it
Do we follow every rule and fail
Or are these simply guidelines
Oak trees and moss continue on
Creeping in rain like patterns
Mystical fens flowing on trees
And the random birds chirping
In the air relief from the cold hard
Winter that was approaching briefly
Before it arrived we all stood around
A fire and laughed about the
Doldrums of the past year
A Native American song was
Shaking the background and
He recalled how to be strong
Again but it was for himself this time
He was out of practice because
He was always doing it for others
Going through the motions
Reiterating structure
Humming in the us factor
Problematically difficult
When he was humming again
For one yet both sides of him
Stood ready for two of what becomes

Having One

Do you ache for me
The way my love aches
To be held by you
Wrapped up in
A teenage dream
Crying now would
Just be silly
Waiting for you
Practically abysmal
A bottomless pit
Of sorrowful sniveling
Would ruin our dessert
I’m incapable of false
Promises or
An illusive semblant
A tall hat to throw you off
My actual height
Is probably the best
That I can do
And this frosting… please
Have a bite of my cake

Broken Phone

No one calls
To check on me
No carriage
Comes to ride
How long before
They find me
What if I have died
I almost got
Shot once
Tending
To a rose
What happens
If I end up
Face down
And no one knows
(In a flowerbed)
No one calls
To hear
The sound
Of my voice talking
Maybe it’s a choice
Maybe they think
It’s stalking
Maybe I’m in Italy
Maybe I’m in Spain
On a colline
In the French country
Stuck in a window pane
Just to look at
Online posts
Nobody really knows
No one calls
To check on me
Existence is a joke
An image is a picture
A heart a
Human life
Pick up the phone
And call me
Or find a pen
To write

One Breath

We cannot carry
Darkness and bitterness
In our hearts and be
Completely happy
Backing down
Resting our misunderstandings
On the ground
We bury the shame and guilt
Open the parkways to
Great roads of silk
I promise you no expectations
I promise you many elations
Between the both of us
All our baggage
Can be left at the roadside
Contoured warmth
Of being with you
Even as the sky
Could be our afghan
And the grass
Our hammocked bed
Promises held in seasons
Yet to be uncovered
Another reason
To love more deeply
And succinctly
As true lovers
Sunrise sunset
Sunrise sunset
Capable beauty
Enveloped and yoked
As one shared breath

One of Them

I have a tiny heart
With giant feelings
In a big sky
With little clouds
Filled with
Enormous beats
Vibrating in
Miniature pulses
Red lights everywhere
I lookout for the green
Bright yeses
When the man
Says no
Who’s behind the decks
Anyway
Who controls the
Motherboard?
Anybody
Anyone with the
Check of approval
To check your box
With a big fat no
Be on the other side
Of yes
Find a way around
If the ship feels like
It’s sinking
Perhaps we’re swimming
In different directions
Destiny is a funny character
And the universe
Has many different plans
The earth is only
One of them
My friend

One Letter

Where do you go
When you go?
Meet me here at 17:00h
Climb through the fence
Underneath the wall if
You want to see
The seeds I’ve planted
For you
It’s lonely in the tunnel
Without you
Did you ever notice
How close the word lonely
Is to lovely?
One letter away

Could we be one
Letter away
From the possibility
Of holding hands
Resting my leg
On top of yours
Some small touch

Do you have a friend
You like a lot
Or perhaps is there
A spot
For someone like me
One letter away
One tiny kaleidoscopic exchange
Maybe a spoon shape
We could lay in

Anywhere, any way

When the mirrors in the
Pond fall apart
And back together again
I think maybe I could be
That friend
For you

One letter away
From lovely

One at a Time

The unfolding of your words
From the deepest wellspring
Giveth light to the faraway
Understanding this has
Always been paradoxical
And ever will continue

Always previously given
With an undying
Debt to attachment
Something one can’t shake
Like a feeling that takes over you
My unrelenting crush

Call to me and I will answer you
Though the downtime feels a bit
Like a straitjacket for love

About such an appeal
There is only one way to deal
The cards out between you and I

One at a time

Love One Another

A little full on the outside
Of statistics grumbling over
To start I found myself fumbling
Into piles of nothing
But discovered upside down
Numbers that bear light
Streamlined to shine
Their prominence
Proven distrustful
Interesting
As any human story
Can be when soon reduced
To just a number

Bring out the tools
Grab your box
Swing open wide
The locked french doors
Even a garage
Stocked full of
Every nut and bolt
Has no true story
Left to tell
Without a drill
For there are
Two very definite sides
To every persons tale
In our community
This is us

Love one another
Isn’t just a phrase
We settle on to raise
Awareness for the
Tall boxed city lights
Made up of skylines
What’s the use for
Electric blankets we can’t
Plug in to keep us warm
What’s the point
If all we fight for
Is just for fighting
Left and right

There will be nothing
Left to hold