What's in a Name?

Every so often, 

I whisper your name, 

I let it dance on my tongue. 

It dissolves slowly, 

like peppermint candy, 

recalling the times we were young. 

Once in a while, 

I murmur your name, 

nestle it close between cheeks. 

I know it's safe there, 

where no one can find it, 

I'm the only one left now to peek. 

Some time or other, 

I hear your name, 

hear it called out in a crowd.

It draws a smile,

my eyes search in vain,

I'd be better off searching the clouds. 

Benediction for the Weary

Bone weary traveler,

(every part aching)

come ease your burdens,

there's rest for the taking.

There's peace for the anxious, 

and hope for the hopeless- 

here take my hand, Love, 

we'll anchor the ropeless.

Sweet dreamless dreamer, 

(your visions now faded)

come picture pastures 

that never grow dated.

There's happier meadows,

there's grass that grows green,

come with me, Darling,

don't leave it unseen.

World Poetry Day

You have always been

the poem I dreamt of writing:

masterpiece undone.

The Luckiest

I am not Irish,

I have no four leaf clover,

But I DO have you. 

Life is (Not) a Highway

Life's is not 

a highway, 

beloved.

At best, 

it is a 

dirt road:

rough,

dirty,

full of unexpected 

dips and 

rocks-

chipping away 

at your shiny exterior. 

Life is not a highway,

beloved,

but I have 

always preferred 

the back roads 

anyhow.

Beware the Ides of Hope

Perhaps 

it is 

stubbornness, 

or maybe 

I have gone 

mad, 

but 

I cannot 

convince 

my heart 

to stop 

hoping. 

I have 

not yet

learned 

how 

to give up 

on 

love. 

Haiku for Two

Where did you come from?
How did you find me, my love?
Where will we go now?

Heartbreak is not a Metaphor

I have known heartbreak- 

not just as metaphor.

I have seen pain, learned 

what we have these tear ducts for. 

I have known loss, I 

have mourned those now gone, 

I have keened quiet-

sung eulogy's song.

I have known loneliness,

coldest companion,

I have found emptiness,

none to take comfort in. 

Black night has swallowed me,

sun rose despite it-

I have known wrong, 

but I live now to write it. 

The Sisters' Song

Dear ones, come dance in the darkness,

life demands no more from all-

Come paint the floor with your footsteps, 

don't waste your time in the hall. 

Sisters, come sing in the silence,

life compels music be heard-

Come lift your voice to the heavens,

don't waste your song on the birds. 

Beloveds, join me on this journey,

for love's solitary no more, 

we will get to the mountain together, 

Our hull will find many a shore. 

Bunny Love

Love is 

small and 

gray and 

soft. 

It has 

large ears and 

a minuscule mouth- 

Love knows listening 

is so much more important 

than any words we utter. 

And anything important 

must be said without 

making a sound. 

Love comes quickly, 

or springtime slow, 

and it hides from us 

far more often 

than we wish. 

Love multiples, 

it never divides, 

and it will not stop 

until it overruns the earth. 

Love is messy, 

and destructive, 

and leaves everything 

irreversibly changed. 

Love is hunted and 

forged and 

used as a talisman 

against evil, 

but Love cannot always win. 

And when it cannot, 

Love is the willing sacrifice- 

a pawn 

in the shadow 

of a greater king.