I put my arms around you, your heart melts into mine;
the borders of your anguish I can easily define.
There is no need for language explaining agony,
I perceive a griever’s heartache in black telepathy.
Your landscape is familiar, I know one similar
in the trackless barren places, in the lonely city spaces
where people neither know nor care.
I gleaned shriveled fruit from withered vines,
crushed, distilled, and drank the acrid wine.
I climbed the treeless summit, trekked the tundra of despair,
heard the mountain winds dark harmony
to a mourning mother’s keening prayer.
I know because my heart has heard
within its depths your soundless words.
Copyright, July 11, 2026
Darting here, there, and about
Dash, too, young footed;
Whilst there above, through whose lines
Sleek, swift, a winger's
Is gleaned, too, too obvious
What, envy, attracts!
The outcome? Flocks as playful;
Who act as mimers.
BITTERSWEET (A PARADELLE FOR AUTUMN)
Gone is the bird song that once filled the sky
Gone is the bird song that once filled the sky
Now the wind moans low like lovers in need
Now the wind moans low like lovers in need
In need like a lover, that once filled the sky
Gone is the bird now like a low moan of wind
We have gleaned from the earth its bountiful fruit
We have gleaned from the earth its bountiful fruit
The fields are empty, the harvest is in
The fields are empty, the harvest is in
In the harvest gleaned of its bountiful fruit
From the earth we have empty fields
The leaves are beautiful in their dying
The leaves are beautiful in their dying
This is the swan song of earth
This is the swan song of earth
In their swan song dying
the leaves of earth are beautiful
The sky we have gleaned, empty as bird song
fields the leaves beautifully, in the harvest
dying, bountiful fruit gone, once
of earth in need like a lover’s swan song
filled by the low moans of wind
Your wrists smell of fig sap and October rain
your shoulder blades two furrows turned for seed
your spine the long fence-row the sparrows read
at dusk, each vertebra a sheaf of grain
The vineyard heaves into your windowpane
as roots cleave—slow, below, agreed
and where your collarbone dips, the ripe world feeds
its split apricot, moth-wing, what my palms have gleaned
I turn toward you at the sink, your hair still wet
and lay my ring along the small of your back
the pear boughs laden, the foxes at the run
the creek gone sloe at the farthest bend
what forty years of kneeling cleaves in earnest
one body known, the soul brought into harvest.
======
A teen aesthete
wanders to the soul bartering crossroads
down from where the bus let off.
Gathering weeds and stray flowers
of windblown cemetery seeds.
To make a shrine, self inspired,
at the wayside of God.
To lend by ritual, and evocation
the passage of their development
lonely and gifted.
Shrugging off the ubiquitous pack
and taking from within; magical finds
discovered during cherished playtimes.
Collected in a self-adorned shoe box.
Things gleaned from treasure hunts
and fantastic pursuits.
A cache of light:
cat's eye marbles, chandelier crystals,
blue, clear, and green, sea glass
rolled and shaped by cousin sands.
Dull till spit wetted, salt licked.
By wave defying bravery
a pluck of pebble or sunny glimmer.
Run to Mom for her glamor, and approval.
Brought home in playful pockets
from beaches and picnics.
Now artfully laid in tearful grief.
Creating a mosaic of introspection.
The last to set in place
a paint chipped, wooden, geometric
puzzle piece.
An icon of fractured lullabies.
A dream ending; bare feet,
wet pajamas, and a long car ride.
Age, baby steps across the icy pond
scorpions tap-tap-tap the flesh
the sun hovers brittle and honest.
An unknown selects the spot
passages are drilled then gleaned
seasons tangle-miracles are imminent.
The line quivers, age dons a child's heart
silver thrash is coaxed into silence-
as memories flaunt their fractured crowns
...a wall, a vow, a flag encased in glass
the birth of birdsong-whispers of loves long dead.
A bird bleeds color along the shore
age thinks the truest smile
is the one performed alone.
Evening's grand candles commence
crooning a miracle's lament.
Only then does age re-enter the ice forest
leaving the pond alone but unforgotten.
"Ravaged by Ravenous Rapture"
Beneath the cold, unblinking gaze of Luna's silver light,
A lovers' tryst unfolds in shadows of the night..."
What will the nights gaze bestow us tonight as eyes wide open,
"What mysteries lie veiled in darkness profound?
What whispered secrets on zephyrs' breath carried?
Two hearts aflame with passions newly crowned,
Bound by fate's cruel whims, by Cupid's arrow scarred."
Shall this fate not be hearts tore and lay wake with pain
A love forged in the fires of forbidden fruit,
Must reap the bitter harvest of its sin.
Yet still, like moths to flame, we pursue our suit,
Drawn inexplicably to that dangerous brink again."
Thus my eyes lie to my heart
"A siren call echoes from realms unseen,
Beckoning to shores where dreams take wing.
Yet duty-bound to paths already gleaned,
He wars within, as angels wage war with sting."
But lo! A revelation pierces the shroud!
Fantasy and Fate are one, entwined eternally!
Each path chosen leads to the same avowed
Destination: Love, absolute, decree'd by destiny!"
Before dawn’s hush you stood beside me,
I gleaned your shape from night’s dim ashes.
In dew-draped gardens I traced your scent,
believing you awaited just ahead.
But love is earth beneath my feet,
your breath entwined in mine unseen.
We need no meeting on distant roads —
you are I, and I you, always.
Your words echo in my silent ears,
in every breath, in every unspoken song.
Your image lies in each shadow I cast,
and when sunlight falls, your touch I feel.
That day of meeting bloomed within,
a door opened inside before any path.
Bells of your laughter ring on my tower,
for you were first, and now I am you.
Give me the colors of a rainbow and I'll be your heart's extol
or a petal from your favorite rose so I can place it in my soul;
Send me the pillow the fairies have gleaned with watermark
I'll hold it to my chest until I hear the melodious coo of a lark!
Be a Spiritual Gem inside me, I will polish and make you shine
like a soaring star I'll glitter so you know "I'm truly~truly thine."
Elders once had wisdom,
Which is what was always taught,
So they were treated with respect;
Advice from them was sought.
Their years of life provided
The experience they’d learned
And there was satisfaction
When that knowledge was returned.
Yet that’s no longer valid,
For intelligence is gleaned
Artificially and so
The human aspect’s been demeaned.
Nowadays, to be an elder
Is to realize no one cares,
For our input isn’t valued
By our progeny or heirs.
As a consolation, maybe,
For so many years alive,
Elders get a senior discount
Once they’ve aged to sixty-five.
I do not live in Missouri
But I want to be shown
Those who are in a hurry
Often give facts overblown
I cannot be told to believe in this or that
My experiences are vast, decidedly phat
I will make up my own mind if you please
Some of the stuff I read is gleaned out of cottage cheese
thoughts
feelings
fantasies
boundaries
in space
&
time
hazy
touching
embolden
upbeat
coherent
organic
notions
oftimes
unpredictable
endeavours
unmediated
unmeasured
deepest
urges
of
the
unimaginable
yet
gratefully
gleaned
AN OPEN FORM uses spaces&breaks without grammatical symbols ,& relies upon 'the one breath limitation' & requires the 'reader' (reciter) to input &respond in a two way interplay & interpretatIon unique to the moment& changing according to mood thus is inherently variable.
I've seen the endless waves
approach a sun-dried shore,
unfolding what remains
of legends and of lore.
Like soldiers off to war,
they follow on command,
relentless in their quest,
yet slowing in the sand.
The oceans draw them back
undaunted and unseen,
preparing their refrain,
beneath a rippled sheen.
I've seen the endless waves,
arise on Moon's behest,
and gleaned the silent tales,
revealed on each new crest.
I've seen the endless waves
approach a sun-dried shore,
unfolding what remains
of legends and of lore.
Like soldiers off to war,
they follow on command,
relentless in their quest,
yet slowing in the sand.
The oceans draw them back
undaunted and unseen,
preparing their refrain,
beneath a rippled sheen.
I've seen the endless waves,
arise on Moon's behest,
and gleaned the silent tales,
revealed on each new crest.
This tree
Her man
Where sowed thy seed today?
Loving yet hating
A Vail of wall
Shields of a deceiver
Transparent filtering glass
This blot
Her world
Why gleaned thy loins on a bay?
I so faithful and just
Clearer as the lilly
Breathing for you alone
living to die with you
This mirror
Her reflex
Why trusted you this ale?
A reflect of shameful deeds
He sows and all will bear
This fruit unhidden
The breed of sin
This plant
Her flower
Why brew away your time detail?
His leaves are dropping
All sweetness gone
Sickened by his semen
Thorns of his deceit
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