beyond the pines, i believe
i hear the sun weeping
in the east. at this hour,
he has already crossed the tides
and is not yet brave enough
to push aside the morning clouds.

only a diffuse and grey light
shines on my pure feelings
and my voice is lost
in the sodden valley below
the moist boards of the balcony.

i wonder how many more seasons
we will have--how much time to get it right,
how many chances to realize
that things are perfect as they are..

i can hear the birds. they have finally
decided that it's safe to herald dawn.
i try to decipher their songs and the rhythm
of the rain on my kitchen skylight
so i can make a poem of it.

when you hesitate, not knowing what to do,
i want to turn myself into a wave
to carry you to whatever shore
you would find most beautiful.
i want to lead you safely across
with my shoes in my hands
like a tiptoeing star
treading lightly through your heart.

think of me as that star, rushing in the wind
passing through the clotted fortress
of your bubbling veins
like a pilgrim's incense
flickering on running water;
a wordless prayer

that can let your tears fall freely,
like rain in a realm once known to me
if you can learn to smile, then
i would have you smile,
but if you prefer tears, then
i will simply love the rain

open this book to any page
and you can see the sun, salty-lipped,
standing with its feet in the watery foam,
stroking the water's skin.
i am waiting for time and tide
but it isn't waiting for me--
i want to taste the sweetness of salt.

turn the page and you will hear
the whispered coolness
through the fragrance of mist
and morning grass.
beyond the boundaries
of these ink-splash hills
there's an unconscious hope
and a tryst with lost love....

our bee-ridden paradise has become
a smug repository of worldly wisdom
and ancient darkness; a candle stranded
on the windowsill taking over
the stack of sunlight rushing through
the day's cracks, amassing transience.

i wish you had stayed.

i would be writing a poem to you now
instead of to the emptiness
strewn by the hours on the sun-bright ground