1.  a dilettante writes poetry while people die all over the world
2.  a visionary writes poetry while people are born all over the world
3.  at moments of solitude poets awake crying for no reason
4.  night after night an endless dream leaves a circle forever incomplete
5.  the dust of time has clouded my heart
6.  in my world, love between people is more important than the debts they have incurred
7.  loneliness is as tall as i am
8.  love is always in the metaphor
9. wild grass is taking root where your footsteps fell
10. a romantic life is love written on the water,
11. stirring up undercurrents of pain
12. those who do not love will never understand this
13. the oak is reluctant to let go of its leaves
14. but its luminous reflection in the ripples is waving goodbye
15. in my heart
16.i want your most tender love to wrap around me like a banana peel
17.what we know is just a dream,
18. reality is what we cannot imagine.
19. the scars from a knife and a kiss are the same
20. you must forgive both
21. in the depths of a mountain shrouded in mist
22. love and hurt spring from the same source

the truth is:  that inspirational light went out
when you left. has it really been that long?
the thought saddens me beyond measure.

my brainage sump pump is backed up and
inside my head is a flood that
cant make sense out of nothing.

still standing at the window, i wave, sigh,
whisper, "see you in paradise..."

i have traced your name in the constellations,
falling leaves, shower of sparks from the stove, and in
the chinese ink bleeding on mulberry paper
as if in perpetual rain

at night, my naked body is pale in the moonlight
and wakeful with promises
i cant stop believing

you, in dreams, move quietly into me
like the sea, the altar of my hair taken down,
strands spread like seaweed--
the rest of the house, silent,
afraid to breathe
below the waterline of sleep,

and i imagine your pillowing arms
around me as i drown...
no more thoughts of death,
no more crying without reason,
no more disappointment to come when
the light has gone out and dreams are
all that remain.

nothing is taken from the moment.
life is perfect.
outside an owl screeches above the shadows
that reach into the house
and touch the glow of our faces
that are sad and stubborn with hope