afterward...
back is new aloneness
this morning
without you near to me
suffice the thrill of night
about our loVe
as if it all has been
choreographed
foreVer in dance mode
are we but courting grebes
at rest from flight
a swallowtail's wings touch
together tight
as if this space between us
neVer before existed
myriad moons
of barnacles stuck
on dock pilings
the bond they create
there for a lifetime
frosty cold
on an ocean boardwalk
at first blush
a sandhill crane afoot
in the tepid mudflats
dropping out
of neptune's fog to skim
the ocean
under a skein of geese
so gurgles its surface
today we
memorized the sad news
you were gone
so in a sea dove’s beak
we send this flora wreath
(for Johnny Baranski)
safe harbor
in eVery sea squall
you are here
loVe is a fender
between boat and dock
petrels abound
oVer the seaport
a pearl gray sky
an ultimate perk
for loVers of rain
there's another
world exists for dewdrops
that to leaVes cling
and yet being in loVe
were we but this adept
'twas an eVening
in winter we embraced
a neptune's wind
that made seagulls fly low
the flag on its pole stand high
rain or shine
you wait for me
eVery time
a flower bursts
into full bloom
and you are mine
the sweetest sensation
time after time
a swallowtail curling
nectar into its mouth
abandoned
to walk a rainy beach
of loVe lost
just follow each pockmark
in the sand that leads home
wintertide
painting the skyline
a hot pink
sunset to die for
this seaport eVening
spring wind
blows a nodding blue
lily
you’ll find me at home
in the wilderness
twilit eVening
the undulation
of a seine net
how long it stretches
and deep it plunges
clouds aboVe
the breadth of combined
swallow wings
tilting and turning
a single shadow
waiting for
the whistle of our
old bamboo chime
windless nights without you
still leaVe me woebegone
dewpoint
in this arid desert
sparkles
on eVery cacti spine
and each showy flower
reminiscent
of rainy eVenings spent
with an old flame
between thunder we count
our seconds together
O ocean storm
one sure sign that tells me
you are coming
in squalls and gusts until
gulls wing on high again
a tempest
animating our world
with gusto
we loVe like the proVerb
there is no tomorrow
skyward ribbons
in watercolors rose
after the rain
a fan-tailed raVen wore
iridescent feathers
hard winter rain
falling with such Vigor
the night erased
a great blue heron’s prints
but brought yours back at dawn
helicopters
from their maple parted
in early fall
on a long road cut short
came loVe out of the fog
pumpkin seeds
for next year's garden
spread to dry
until a dark cloud
burst without mercy
nary a sound
in this sleepy harbor
instead came smell
the windy day perfume
of spring phytoplankton
white on the beak
of baby swallows
giVes them away
each time loVe returns
are we young again too