Blessing

May you never lose the wondering spirit,
And the courage to wander
In and out of your comfort space;
The curiosity to see what lies behind 
The bravery to go explore through 
tiny windows showing the promise of light.
May you breath in invigorating cool air
And breath out warmth through each pore.
May you carry your body and soul swiftly
towards the future you want to inhabit, 
hand in hand, you and your friend.

Gift

I give you a mountain of peace

But you may need to climb to sit on the peak

I give you a magic wand radiating joy

But you have to learn and create it each day

I give you fresh air to energize you 

But you have to breath it

I give you a brain but you have to feed it

I give you a body but you have to work it

I give you hands to hold other hands,

To make gifts and keep giving. 

Green

Green, gray, blue and white

shine the changing colors of the midday sea

cycling with waves 

under and over me

i tumble and roll , i try to come on top

the sea comes back

to toy with me

there is no way i can resist

the force and the persistence

overwhelm me

and i am ready to get out and go

keeping some tiny sparks of hope

I will be welcome to return tomorrow

and then she changes mind

and kisses with her gentle foam

depositing white laces to my feet

she makes the babies playing on the shore

giggle at their superpowers

 to  find water under sand,

she feeds the skinny pipers 

that depend on her

for their survival

she makes me wonder if beyond her pride

she might repent for her mistakes

but no, she will not admit

instead she gives me one more push 

that sits me firmly on the sand

why  did i ever think

she might repent

have i not learned that in her glory 

she is the reigning queen of waves and sand

and master crafter of eternal stories

Crabtree falls

The water falls

With the intensity of a prayer

Asking persistently

For good luck and energy

from the streams feeding it;

For forgiveness

For crashing over stones 

and breaking thin branches

She promises 

I will sing your name

I will feed the forest

And have mercy for the tree

That chooses to stand in my way

Dear God

If you forgive me

And just let me be.

neighbors

Barbara's eyes light up with hundreds of fireflies

right around 8 o'clock

keeping watch over the neighborhood

long after she has moved out

driven by debt.

this is  little bit after the time 

that her young and dark neighbor 

who never greets lonely women

is done walking his dog.

this is long after the other neighbor 

has finished cleaning the garden,

the car or the boat, 

smiled to the little children passing by, 

all the meanwhile

keeping his grown up opinions 

vehemently quiet, yet heard.

thus summer goes by swinging between

day and night, 

hanging by 

the light of the moon,

the calm of the lake,

the pressure of heat,

and the dishes we bring

to the party with us, to share

for this potluck we have

in our neighborhood

longing for Barbara' s laugh

and sure stride.

Life (Omi)

she had no regrets

She made no judgments

And if she did

She  used her French 

To hide them

Trunk

 Love is a tree growing light

From its roots to its buds

The seve flowing up 

Through its trunk

Defying gravity

And all other odds

Every time it is called.

Love is found

In the firm grip of the grandmother

Protecting the child;

By holding her hands

On his shoulders,

To anchor him firmly

In reality with her life experience

And grit.

Love shines

On the soft side of the strong man

Seeing his child grow up.

Between scolding and rewards

Work and relaxed moments shared

During the time we are given

To walk a shared path.

Love is heard

In the laughter of the mother

Who know she may never 

Get out this song right

And yet it is always there 

To bind the tribe in the harmony

Of the canon.

Love tastes

Like sweet pancakes

And crepes

The children learned to cook

In a chaotic kitchen

Dusted with magic

Ginger, turmeric and canella.

She said all this is me

over a simple cup

Of black coffee

She then grabbed a bottle of water

And run to catch her train

The witch headed south

With my dreams on her shoulder

Giving her wings to fly

And I knew she did not care which train

Was going to take her

As long as she was promised wings 

To fly her through dreams

Rising from trunks

Of magic trees filled with love

Over centuries

Perception

I touch your skin

Wanting to feel 

The shape of your heart

Nothing more superficial than that;

I look at your eyes

Wanting to see

The hues that fuel your light;

Nothing invisible into that.

I listen to your mouth 

Wanting to hear

The undertones that mellow your heart

And I am caught in you key.

I sense who you are

From the rosemary scent

And led by it I smuggle out 

Tar colored shadows of past.

I pull hard at the roots

I extract and throw them out

To the deep space

Far, cold and appart.

Years pass and she comes 

From nowhere

A sweet ball

Of fire that can make you laugh.

In three moves

You make your songs come out

From her mouth 

Warm and light

And joyfully bright

As she dances around

A strange shape

That resembles a heart.

Red

She was born a  red angel

and learned to fly amongst them

Blue angles, but she sometimes had

strange behaviors like flying up and down

when all the blue angels were running from left to right

as they were rescuing souls 

ready to drown in a river of loss.

While the blues were carrying them 

from the river to the edge of the forest

to breath renewed in the shade

she liked to place them closer to the sun

in hawks's next and high branches

exposed to light, hope and dreaming

and only the vague memory 

about what was happening down on the ground.

As i sat and sung on the banks,

i had a vision of souls that were turning like balls

of red fires and fly from the trees

into the summer air , amongst

blue angels marveling at their need 

to be saved by beauty, 

in vision, music, or dance. 

Portrait

She looked at me from her painting

With her candid smile 

As she danced half steps in the air

And half foot on the ground

And she begged understanding 

For trading her long memories of pain

For fluttering moments of joy.

Yet, as it happened the skilled painter

Was there to capture those moments

To serve as example to those who are 

Contemplating half bravely 

A similar trade

I looked back at her warmed by her smile

As she stood lonely out from the circle 

Of  dancers-  the one contemplating

the past and still dancing forwards 

With grace.

Jack

 Call me Jack

The wanderer the wonderinger 

The doer and sometimes undoer

The impatient builder

The singer and the gardener

The wanna be repairer 

Just call me cause I badly need

A word to push me forwards through the day

Towards tomorrow

And fixing your roof to shield you from rain

Is the project I have always had in the back of my mind 

I was just waiting for you to call and let me know 

You want this done and trust me 

Before I leave you will have a happy and fresh 

Coat of paint 

The jealousy of all cardinals in the neighborhood 

And only the woodpecker will dare knock on wood

To wake you up and wish you good luck

Because I have trained her to do so

In the morning to give you a start

Love storm

He is like a storm in my arms

Rewriting the rules of love and hugs

He twists and turns and rolls

From one cheek to the other 

Butterfly kisses fly in the air

Around this child of mine 

In an effervescence of spirit 

Purpose statement

Chanel your energy to create the future you will want to explore tomorrow.

Olive

My olive girl has dark skin

Made from chocolate 

Softened with milk

From the whitest sheep.

She is strong in spirit 

And the symbol of peace

She has grown gracefully

In a hard land for survival 

Amongst rocks and clay

Under the bright sun

she laughs with arms stretched high

Towards the perturbable sky

As she breaths in the strength of the sea

The hero

 He is but one the hero

And there is only one quest

We each get our chance

If being him and then along the journey 

And the chance comes back

To the lucky ones

Once a day

Everyday of our lives.

There are two sides of one coin

And they can  flip 

Any minute

There are two faces to time

You can call the god

Good or bad

As he sends every moment

To us and asks us

To seek our balance.

The bridge, the trip,

The road and the river

The blue sky and the storm 

And us are asked

To share the path

To coexist.

Be the hero

soak in and drink 

The essence of time 

Fluttering by

While we can

Let’s face the currents

And swim in and drink

The water of life

Fruits

We are all fruits

Of the tree of life

Either soft on the inside 

But hiding beneath

A hard shell ;

Or soft on the outside 

Like peaches 

But hiding a hardcore pit

Protecting our heart.

So many fruits

In this world 

So much sweetness

But handle us with care

Before anybody gets hurt

At harvest

sword in stone

if you are tired of fighting daily battles

do you pick and choose

those for which you show up?

do you drop your guns

to you extract the sword from the stone

or you sit and recharge?

Naked

I stand here naked, 

not of clothes

But of all defenses

Because I have decided 

To let words rings true to their value.

You were listening for a while

And then your voice rang like a bell

In resonance with the loudest timpani

Till the walls let the sound sink into them

And the floor, and there was no ceiling

( anymore).

But then what happened to us?

Have we dissolved in fear or indifference,

Have we become transparent to lies

Allowing them to pass through?

Untouched are our bodies you think

Wrapped in protective feathers of faith?

Will we stand naked all over again?

This time in shame, because

The emperor’s clothes, as it turns out,

were too thin to be true .

bridges

With long strong arms powered by longing 

the very distance between us 

pulls us closer;

to void fills with voices like the sky fills with stars

when the night covers the earth 

in darkness.

the music rises and each voice harmonizes,

the chorus is disorganized, organic, 

exhausting

and yet the music persists in breaking the silence.

we are free to be friends, when we remember

our core;

who we truly are, what we stand for, 

and what do we want from this blessed day 

we were granted.

today is the day, the only today that will ever be

should we choose distance over love

or love over distance ; what kind of bridge

will you and I be?

Sandwiched

Sandwiched between

The soil and the sky

I count the clouds

Waiting for clarity

Soaking it in.

And when the sky

Clears the ways 

Of my thoughts

I start the day

Anew with light