afternoon fires
[from strange horizons poems]
there’s everything to love about a woman
and also plenty to fear
but let’s not get derailed
this is a love poem
where i try and find the word(s)
to describe the perfect
place
where i rest my head
on her chest
and breathe in
all that is woman
all that i can swallow
in gulps and gasps
but wait… that’s not it exactly
see… i’m taking a break
regrouping
reconfiguring myself
and still…
she walks in
sits at the counter of the coffee shop
and is magnificent
and
everything
even more arousing
than the potent brews being dispensed
that’s what i’m longing, pining, whining…
that’s what i’d like in my life again
just not now
some how neither of us are ready
and i’ve switched to water this afternoon
anyway
11-5-14
essential rumi
[from a second wave – poetry]
curl up around me
lover, brother, friend
my beloved
let us stay like this
in prayer
in communion
for what is love
but an expression of prayer
what is your beauty
but a gift
and affirmation
of human desire
and reverence
of all things
and breaths
and kisses
and breasts
beating
and aching
towards
one another
and
god
8-17-14
image: back, lucas cobb, creative commons usage
new entry
[from a second wave – poetry]
if i were to write you another love poem
starting with touch, taste, smell, and sound
or your sparkling eyes
and smile
i would need new words
of boundless joy
and easy laughter
and some extra ingredient
like chemistry
like an experiment
in mixing flammables with more stable liquids
fluid and frictionless
some new lubrication
of lost expectations
or misplaced and misdirected
at the angle of entry
between us
8-17-14
image: absinth ritual, danielle blue, creative commons usage
goddess in a little black dress
[from a second wave – poetry]
home is what remains after our youth has passed
your beauty shines beyond what i can see
i have hungered for your voice, your lips, your smell
as you wrap words around my mind
hands around my hands
hunger into my flames into a blaze
if i wanted a model i would need a lot more money
and after it’s all been stripped away
a pretty face is also a burden
it’s not what i’m after, this youthful body
but the lust is primal, real, raw, and awakened by you
this is what is important
energy to build on, hopes to fan the flames
a deep black nothingness that i fall into
without fear or clutching
let’s release the drug
that brings
everything
in
to
this
one
moment
it’s not what you look like, exactly
it’s what you feel like
how you playfully tear back the boundaries
aware of your power and unafraid
to sear us raw, blasted, exhausted, still
i know not what i ask for
it is the stuff of dreams
and magazine covers in checkout lines
and still
any breast will do, any heart beneath that is ready to open
any now
could be the time
you appear
6-13-14
image: moran atías, creative commons usage
the church of women
[from a second wave – poetry]
in this fantastic moment of beauty
i am in awe of god’s variety and joy
in the aisles of organic kale, bree, and beer
the women are in bloom
colors and scents and smiles on their faces
as they plunder the produce
i roam because i am dazed
i think i want ice cream
i know what i want is not for sale
i ache with the absence of beauty
and the loss of that dream once spoken
and i weave through the stream
in search of and not in search of
i have no immediate needs
only fascination
and reverence
there is beauty checking out chocolate
and another with messy-faced children in tow
it’s not the who or why or who-they-are
it is simply the church of women
seeking whole foods and whole lives
and no amount of Haagen Dazs is going to bring back
the spark
i wander a brief moment longer
lingering in the ebb of life
and the endless variety
endless possibility
of this life
and that one
and another one
picking out bubble bath
6-14-14
image: misty in the flow, hermetic hermit, creative commons usage
i am wrapping pillows
[from Making Love To Other Women – poetry]
this is the morning of love and hope and possibilities
when the cold is an offer of snuggles and warm drinks
where the fog seems to be lifting
even when there is no shore in sight
waking up with pets rather than lovers
or children to feed and hug
this is the hope i will never give up
and the longing i will always answer
and the chill i hope to rub red
and the song of my heart i continue to sing
the world is waking up
and so am i
somewhere
in this soupy and mysterious morning
she is waking up too
maybe she has the warmth
or maybe she has given up seeking
for light beyond the love of her children
maybe she’s on opposite weekends
well snuggled while i am wrapping pillows
no worry
this hope burns away the covering clouds
revealing hope again
and sun
joy in the chill
and the opportunity it brings
to love
and love again
fully
warmed again
from within this time
there is no need for her for me
we are autonomous and solid
there is not a repair that needs a man’s strength
she has found that alone again
becoming her whole parent
there is nothing missing
but me
and she may not believe
yet
she may not speak my name
yet
the chill is lifted today
and the fog is blown to the edges of our vision
if the hope remains
that is enough
and the memory
of what a joyful touch felt like
touch
and
joy
together
amazing
10-20-13
the slivered moon
[from Misconfigurations of Love – poetry]
there they go again
those coyotes
reminding me of your absence
i walk
i look
i better myself
and nothing
the slivered moon sees you
but i don’t
the howls remind me
the bed reminds me
the feeling beneath my chest
knows something is missing
a dark moment
full of promise
maybe they are talking to me
to her
i am not ready
i am not ready
i am not finished
completing myself
this perfecting loneliness
is honest work
if you can stomach the hours
perhaps the howling
is felt
by many
10-8-13
what can i tell you from here?
[from a coffee love letter – poetry]
if i told you… wait, what can i tell you from here?
these are not coded messages for anyone else but you
if you are listening you will hear my voice
and feel the pull of my incantations
i have laid down arms
i am lighting fires
i dance alone
hoping
for
u
9-26-13
fall arriving
[from Misconfigurations of Love – poetry]
and the weather changed and changed everything
i smile, imagining your smile
as the leaves swished down and past
rain smell and damp earth hunger
and memories, hopes, and dreams
of you
and
you called
9-21-13
calm cool purrs all around
[from Making Love To Other Women – poetry]
i will be another’s cat’s meow
stroking and petting and leisurely napping
we will know each other by instinct
it’s almost as if we had no choice
as we rub tails, whiskers, noses
the trick, as i imagine it
will be to remain aloof and adoring
while expressing and applying
a pressing desire
a nod a nudge a blink
and calm cool purrs all around
but not too her
near her
until she cannot resist
what we’ve both known
since the moment we met
8-25-13
