I can smell Spring

today, all grassing

green, as tulip’s sway

in misty dawn

& here we are

still planted firm

although the earth

has turned another

revolution.

I can smell Spring

today, joints aching

from deep winter chill

warmth stretches

out a hand in promise:

I’ve Iris in my hair

Magnolia shouts

from every cottage

corner

& here we are

face to face

n’ cheek to cheek

another year of

unlived mystery

Spring tide will turn

leave shattered glass

on tales of make believe,

how many lifetimes lived:

in fleeting moments

strangers kiss

I turn & turn

I genuflect

each place that

I have known

opens wide its arms

to hold me.

& here we are

still planted firm

although the earth

has turned another

silver revolution.

They think

we are

lesser than this,

‘as if the night

blew our souls

away.’

I believe their

smiles are laced

with poison

‘perfume from

Oleander

the eagles flight,

this moment is

silence.’

They ask for

omnipotence

& we gladly

give away

our children:

‘nurtured &

hard won

their small faces

open to the light.’

Days evolve

into century,

I sit at the

corner of

nowhere,

stretch out

to search

the small

path home.

I gave away

everything

handed it over

gladly,

 & you

return to me

unseen

‘a whisper

of slender’

smiling from

berry lips

stained with

the kisses

of another.

I was not asking

for an easy ride,

like you I know

the road to Calvary

is paved with brine:

Now there’s sea salt

in my hair, my lungs

a spider’s web of

‘left behind’

they rattle like a vintage tram,

all slickness burnt away.

I broke the day

you turned aside;

pursued the distant summit

I can’t climb, turned just once

& winked that eye,

or was it shadow in the light?

The sun went in & darkness

filled the land,

you left us blind.

I was not hoping for

a helping hand;

though many have tried

the years fly by in

supersonic mode,

& turbulence has

taken toll

all futures set aside

for this soul road.

I will not promise

not to cry

my tears run through

a crack in memory

create a peaceful pool

where I can bathe secure,

this life, a stepping stone

to freedom.