Brooklyn Poem #1

I write poems as I walk.

I speak with you on the streets of Brooklyn.

The wind carries me; the sun guides me.

The moon is my companion in the night

Birds inform me of the correct direction

I don't always listen

Johanna is the light, as am I.

We walk together in life and death, a continuum.

We must not understand the most important things.

Wonderful things occur when least expected.

I took your test;

Of the never ending light; all-encompassing darkness

And scored low.

You said, "expect nothing."

I said "OK" and changed like barometric pressure before a hurricaneAnd expected everything.

I fell in-love as I should have upon discovering truth and beauty.

But I grasped you like a cloud and you vanished.

Should I search for you in the granuals of sand upon the beach

Or should I await your return

As one awaits a shooting star in the night?

All directions of anticipation and expectation miss the point.

The most wonderful things occur when least expected.

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I live life with the changing of the seasons

With the cycles of the moon

With the blooming of wild flowers in fields of long grass and cypress trees.

I move with the deer and the bats at dusk.

I float in the air with Autumn's leaves and milkweed.

______________________________

People come and go

Thunderstorms, rainshowers, rainbows, clouds

Late May

July

Indian Summers

October

You have come

Will you go?

I look at the horizon where once was a sun setting

Clouds lavender

Peach

Rose

And I wonder

Where is that smile I saw in your eyes?

That moment I let slip away

Passing towards eternity

A mind active becomes shy

Lips

My lips

Your lips

So close

Yet the distance between us increases precipitously every second

I procrastinate

Afraid of mistakes

Illusions

Delusions

False conclusions and assumptions

And you are not a figment of my imagination

But you can disappear like water vapor in the Stratosphere

And I am the wind that passed through my hair on East Houston

And I am a leaf that floats on that wind

And you... are so sparce with words

The sun is obscured by clouds

Yet we have entered a moment of truth in Autumn

Peacefulness, tranquility and leaves changing color

Leaves

A quilt upon the ground

November and no fears of death

or anxiety about entropy

Just movements forward

Every day

one day closer to Spring

Rebirth

Growth

I have come

Will I go?

Does it matter?

I don't know

I looked upon the horizon

The sun rises and sets simultaneously

I see my reflection of the moon upon the water

I see memories of you in the waves

If I look closely enough I see your eyes in the stars

I read the language communicated by wind passing through trees

I read the movement of limbs, branches, leaves

Yet I cannot control the wind

Or predict changes in direction or velocity

And I must not worry

For I know the wind will return

Gusting,

Warming me

Cooling me

Chilling me

Soothing me

Becoming a gentle breeze

Rocking me to sleep

Whispering incantations in my ear

Reminding me

Everything afar, near

Exists as elusive objects;

Tangible aparitions

A paradox within life and creation

The endless flow of rivers to the sea

tears cleansing eyes

Soul

Concrete material world

Bound inextricable to the ephemeral, spiritual

By sunlight, wind, clouds,

Motion, emotion, devotion, faith

Space

We held hands briefly

Signifying both the beginning and the end of a moment

You have come

Will I go?

Or are we bound inextricably

Regardless of perceptions?

_________________________

People come and go

Thunderstorms passing during humid summer eves

Rain drops heavy and cool

Each drop distinct against my skin

Pressing my shirt against shoulders, back, and chest

Shivering drenched

You have come

Will you go?

I look towards the clouds on the horizon

Where once was a sun setting

And all I can say is

"I don't know"

"I don't know"

I no longer question these things. It's just what happens.

Friendships vanish suddenly

Love and passion fades

People come and go

And I can't ask why

For such a concern warrants the greater question,

"What about I?

As the man whom senses you as the person

And says suddenly

'Good-bye'"

Please don't ask me "why?"

It's something like that time I caught your gaze

And then you caught mine and looked away

Leaving me with steam rising from a heated sidewalk in July

After a late day's rain

Never to look my direction again

I should have demanded an explanation?

But if our fingers slipped into knots

More than once entwined unplanned

And more than twice my lips caressed yours

And your lips caressed mine

Too tongue tied for words

The palpitation of our hearts and limbs

Suggesting a reality greater than fantasy

And a fantasy lived if momentary

now and now and now and then and later

Conversation unspoken and flowing

In streams of blood pulsing from our hearts through veins

Flushing capillaries in our cheeks

Our eyes burning and tears

As we risk vulnerability

Shedding the layers of steel netting protecting our souls

From a loss of a love felt unseen

Not understood

Never known

Graspable as mercury or warm Jell-O

Could we just walk away?

No

Never

___________________________________

Silence

The Raindrops

Walking though the park

I thought of Amherst woods

October

Fall foliage

Dimming of the light

Leaves

A blanket upon the ground

Damp, multiples of colors

Autumn

Red

Ocher

Yellow

Gold

orange

brown

A quilt knit by a friend

For lovers appreciative of time spent

Together

Winter, hibernation

Warm breath

And a flashlight under covers

Like a tent in the Berkshires

A cocoon

Peace

Preparation of Spring births

Regeneration

November through March

Autumn and Winter nights

Laying amongst the twigs, leaves

Caps of acorns discarded by squirrels

Preparing for a rest long awaited

Illusions of death

Everything returning home

Conservation

Seeds germanating

In Earth wombs

Never truly alone

I listen to music softly sung

In drops of rain penetrating the ground

A lulliby

Relax

Sleep