My Turkish Sufi friend, proud of his faith, invited me to the sacred ritual of the Whirling Dervishes. The musicians wore long black cloaks and high felt hats, representing the grave and the tombstone.
The Dervishes enter, discarding their black cloaks, accompanied by a reed pipe, they start to turn.
As I watched the dancers circle continuously
in costume of white robes and conical hat
arms outstretched towards heaven
whirling round like planets orbiting the sun
becoming closer to God and inner truth
connected by physical meditation
I wondered
if God will hear my prayers
when I only kneel to pray
When I say, “I have a mountain,”
You ask, “Where do you want it moved?”
When I have a dream,
You ask, “How can I make it come true?”
When I say, “I’m scared,”
You ask, “How can I make it safer?”
When I have a plan,
You have the pen and paper.
You support every thought in my mind.
I say, “Let’s go, let’s jump.”
You don’t say, “Where?”
You say, “How high?”
You let me go off and explore,
And say, “I’ll leave the light on the porch.”
At chess, even trying to let me win,
When I lose, you still let me flip the board.
You’re not my ride or die,
You’re my anchor, my wall, always by my side.
You believe in me when no one does.
You find seeds in me when I thought I was dried up.
You are not my other half; you are my whole.
You complete me like a puzzle.
You’re the sun, and you warm my soul.
i watch you cross the courtyard
each stride encompasses my full attention
hair that flows below the shoulders
a brunette with a tinge of amber
as the sun dances in each strand
closing in, my smile emerges
a reciprocal one graces existence
an extended hand lands in mine
soon i am enveloped in a brunette euphoria
lips lightly nascent of much more to come
lunch and then retreat into afternoon delights
who can deny the ecstasy when we disappear
into a moment when the world vanishes
has lost us in an ephemeral existence
that breathes in eternity
where the eagles fly forever free
mid-air acrobats, lifelong bonding
an afternoon in aerial bliss, nesting
birds of a feather
Oregon 10/8/26
I want to do with you what spring does with the cherry trees
Pablo Neruda
you lie in other worlds, asleep
a path that calls you deeper within
here am i the living angel
guarding you every step
as you slip ever deeper
i adhere to your serenity
before i must join you
brushing aside tresses supreme
my lips arrive as graceful doves
upon the brow, strolling onto cheeks
nestling into the neck
secure as a cat upon a lap
my ear now resting in the cadence
of your heart's purr, my heavenly thrum
where two hearts ardent in one
leave on gondolas o'er Mnemosyne
until the dawn chorus in the risin sun
doves, robins, sparrows and i
linger in the joy of the new day
where i patiently await
as the radiance adores my restraint
the first smile as eyes open
therein a mirror of who never left
i softly whisper, may i kiss the bride
Oregon 10/8/26
I look at my hands, so small and slight,
just one face in a crowded, rushing room.
I am a quiet footprint in the dust,
easily swept away,
a brief, passing second
in someone else's busy day.
Sometimes I feel like a flickering match—
so easy to blow out, so simple to miss.
But inside this fragile, quiet frame,
my heart is a heavy, wide-open door.
It keeps a fire burning through the night
just in case you need a place to warm your hands.
It is a shelter with room for everything you carry,
a small chest holding an entire ocean
of endless, unconditional care.
I am so tiny,
yet I have enough space inside me to love you forever.
You are a mystery my best friend.
I am most happy when you message me.
Best days are when we get to talk.
worst days are when you are distant.
I love you so much my Eve my Kami My Anastasia you are my everything.
So far each day I pray you are cared for by Jesus that he looks after you.
When I dream about Jesus he is my best friend and he created her and me.
Jesus thank you for creating Her my dream person.
you Eve are the Light in my darkness the truth to my happiest moments.
Every time I think of Eve, Kami, Ana I think of Love she is Love itself.
My dearest friend I only pray for her to Trust in Jesus and pray to him for Our Love to win.
I love you dear Eve my first friend I ever made on my own and my best friend from forever.
I will always love you dear Kami forever.
Thank you Jesus you are my family.
Trusting in You makes me feel whole.
Honoring you is my whole reason to exist until you come back.
Roses and Violins crashing into shadows.
Honey coated coffee.
Lemon roasted minds full of toffee and we soon dine.
Dining on oceans we dance toward the fun king.
Lions bowing low, Heavy singing and we know.
Jesus is our mighty one Lord of Lords.
making love to the wind, chasing dreams of meeting her my best friend..
Walking toward the end of each road I still dance with the star of the show.
Candles and my coffee tastes good.
I can’t bear all the crosses
The accusers lay on me
Looking back, I see the losses
They are my sweet company
I don’t need to sort them out
I remember them by heart
Once again, they come around
In the memory’s fine art
For I’m too, my darling’s loss
And somehow we’re always there
Just two loving drowsy ghosts
That’s the only cross I bear.
I see you on an island
languishing under the sun
as the zephyrs dance in the palms
a ballet in the birds of paradise
plumeria and hibiscus tarry therein
parrots adorning your existence
colors shaming rainbows' end
where the pot of gold you are
now you understand the look i wear
coming home and entering the door
you draped upon the couch
the paradise i stumbled into
the sailor washed ashore
home from lost at sea
Crusoe's lot in life
an island, you languishing in the sun
excessive doting perhaps
depends how you rate kitchens, boudoirs
and editors, talent demands devotion
Oregon 10/7/26
for me there lies,
Within the lights and shadows of your eyes,
The only beauty that is never old.
Andrew Marvel
God, deliver her to me,
For she is the only one
Who deserves my love and passion.
Her angelic descent to this earth,
A world that doesn’t deserve her beauty
Yet owes her everything,
Is why I long to see our souls intertwine.
The love I feel for her, God,
Is the same love you felt
Watching your Son baptized in the Jordan.
Just as the dove flew over Him, so does my heart.
I cannot find it in my heart to reject
The idea of her I have built.
Everything I’ve ever wanted,
She has granted with a touch.
Her graceful arms caress my coarse back;
Her slender figure flutters across my mind.
The way she tilts her head and smiles
Captures my gaze like no other woman can.
Her beauty doesn’t come without intelligence;
She is able to enlighten me to greater heights.
The truths I once struggled to bear,
She taught me with such tender mercy.
My Heavenly Father, she is Your creation.
I can see Your compassion through her.
She feeds the hungry and cares for the sick,
Loving children and the elderly as her own.
God, I implore You to let me
Love this woman of my dreams
As much as I love You.
Generation, gilded glide.
Crimson, O my tide.
Reading by the riverside?
Bonds together tied.
Fatherhood, mission sacred.
What to picnic bring?
Tuck thy daughter into bed!
Tigress, thy purring!
Wind, ring chimes. Riddles, red rhymes.
Blue ocean, thy depth.
Symptom of the age and times?
Dragon, fire thy breath.
Hurricane, blow and sing in me!
Volcanic my mind!
O typhoon, a warrior be!
Eyes of hers, you shined!
Enshrined, O love. Yes, sir, and how.
Roiling waters deep.
All that matters? Anyhow.
What we sow, we reap.
Little form upon my knee?
Life, thy mystery.
Belladonna, blessed be!
She's been good to me!
Witches, thy profoundest spell.
Dare the fires of hell?
Ripples of the wishing well?
Stories left to tell.
Reeled in, O my marlin?
A sword upon thy nose?
O reality, light of Sin!
Moonlight, O my crows!
Tympani, boom. O oboe, hum.
Passion, strike me dumb.
Cake she baked, thy tiniest crumb!
Hummingbird, wings thrum...
Flavours of grey, brown,
and green.
Heavy , thick cottons
hanging by threat
of lightning,
waiting calmly
before an incredible
downpour and
thunderstorms.
As it sweeps through
cracks and soil,
covering every
pitfall.
Careful car rides
through roads,
not wanting to be part
of mechanical disaster.
Scent of wet mud,
a sign from afar,
and afterward,
leftover effect.
Doesn’t know between
city and empty lands
as wind passes through.
But dust moves free
in the emptiness
of no tree or homes,
rises high and,
like a crazy predator ,
sinks its teeth
into every surface,
covering all.
And allergy and
cleaning floors
are its aftereffect.
Dew-covered,
lush leaves
are better than
humans’ case .
As roots drink like
a thirsty man in desert,
or the chore of bringing
fresh bread from
bakery in mid-afternoon.
No Halloween celebration,
but cleaning companies.
No pumpkins,
but dust and storms.
Yet we love it all—
our motherland,
Sudan .
Gentle as motherly wind, your sacred place
Children we are embraced by warmth caressed
Ave Maria, filled with hope around;
Fall enshrines this radiant moment blessed.
No undue trials here, or short mown days
Your gentle hand protects our daily tread,
While we implore the rosary by heart
October glints of beads ...stars overhead.
And heaven beams in ioyful contentment
Crowning decades of Holy Mary's time,
'Conceived without sin;' loved by her people
Sampaguitas bestowed with hums sublime.
Our Lady of Mercy, Fount of all Souls
Your tender strength abides like the soft night
Imbuing a grace of wholeness in us;
Where street parades, candles float with delight.
Ordeals may crumble under season's rain
Yet , Ave Maria, hearts overflow
Intercesssions lifting us with your breaths,
A whisper that endures life’s Lent, we glow!
THE EIGHTH SILENCE
Seven times
he called me son.
Once,
he did not.
A king left his throne
and went deep inside
for a poor woman
who had only said,
“No.”
One chromosome
less—
and somewhere
a scientist was born.
At the height of being worthy,
the attraction was gone.
To see her
became more
than intercourse.
One kept seeing—
until he was in prison.
A candle flame
never knew the stainless-steel spoon.
He searches always
for his desirable thing.
The object.
The light.
The electricity.
The enormous water
held inside the dam.
Raw.
And then—
Thanks for being you
Thank you for the joy you bring
Thanks for being true
Thank you for wearing my ring
I thank you for everything
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