Were I to Scoop Out a Star...

Were I to scoop out a star
from an isolated sky
and place it in your hands...
Were I to feed you its brilliance
spoonful by spoonful...


Were I to feed you Polaris
or the gem in Orion's Belt...
Were I to feed you the Lion's tail
or the entire milky way...


Were I to wait
until the glowing bits
went down inside your slender neck
and gathered in your stomach...
Were I to wait
until your body absorbed all the sparkling pieces
and your heart pumped the light through your veins...
Were I to wait
'till your eyelashes sparkled
and every strand of your hair shone
you would not be more beautiful than you are in this moment:


In the blanket of sunlight that embraces you
with your hair down
with your eyes lit by laughter
with your laugh lines tickling your temples
and your smile breaking my heart


(You shatter me so gently
See the pieces sparkle)

At the End of Their Conquest

The conquerors looked around
At all their ashen mess
They stood there all quite silently
Not one to call them blessed

And from the ashes came the wail:
"We conquered our brothers, our sisters, our selves
We conquered our conscience and in our hearts delved
A dark little ship without oar or sail

For Acheron, Phlegethon, Cocytus and Styx
And most of all Lethe!
To memories nix."

When Your Eyes Are Green

In the dim light

Or the rain

Or when you’re looking away from me

And I gaze aslant into your eyes

They appear to be green...

Not the bright green of sun kissed grass

Or the dark green of alpine forests

But the green at the surface of deep waters

I want to lose myself in those waters

I want to dive into those eyes and never come up for air

I want to explore the deeps that the surface hints at

I want to find all there is of you, there, in your eyes

Find it

And embrace it as my own

But who can own the sea?

What man can claim the waters he treads as his?

No,

The more he watches the sea

The more he pursues her

The more he dives in

The more he finds

That it is the sea that owns him...

The sea embraces him

The sea holds him up

The sea threatens to drown him

And the storms of the sea can always cast him on some deserted shore

Never to find home again...

No,

Man does not own the sea

Though he may claim her

Though he may sail across the surface

And gaze at the shores

Though he may hunt the deeps

And find the hidden places

Though he may declare his love for her

He may never own her.

For the sea is free

And fair

And unfathomable.

So it is better not to quest for ownership

It is better to make no claim

Or conquest

But to remain in awe

And wonder

Swimming

And hoping that the inexplicable may be:

That when that dive is taken

That dangerous dive down deep

You find yourself in the fathoms

Not needing to breathe

I Stayed My Eyes

I stayed my eyes from closing down

I stayed my head from rest

I stayed my mind from thinking till

I could cope with all this mess...

But all I do is wait and watch

And all I do is waste

While all I do is passing time

To seek a little taste...

The mess it stays upon my eyes

And it stays upon my head

It stays when I go down to rest

It will stay here till I’m dead

But when I’ve left a question hangs

Above my final peace:

Did this one, just like the rest,

Make this mess of man increase?

The Rooster and the Race

The rooster crowed thrice
and I remembered...

I should have run
I should have run the race
I should have run to win
I knew about the race
I knew I was in it
I knew about the prize
But somewhere
Between

Ready...

Set...

And go.

I forgot the finish

I forgot the line
Between racing and ran
Between the race and what's after
I somehow forgot the purpose of it all

And the rooster crowed thrice.