Long Lantana Poems

"As other spirits sail on music, mine, oh my love, swim on your perfume." Charles Baudelaire

"Sometimes you find an old bottle from which the soul returns." 
Charles Baudelaire

"Smell is a Word. Perfume is Literature."

"There are...

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“The True Mother”

What part of a heart
in another could one trust
when betrayal comes
like a silver bullet, words and deeds
sharp piercing to burrow 
bleed out Life’s dreams 
rust crumbles to dust

Virulent apathy spreads 
Betrayal’s destruction 
hand...

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"The Pages"

Missing all those years
like a page you could turn, 
a book you could throw casually aside, 
to be eternally forgotten in electric shady libraries;
at some point you turned around, 
and remembered, what you long...

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The True Story

A Poem of the time, when as a 16 year old young fellow, and fresh from Blighty I spent 7 years as a Ringer in North Queensland, Australia. A Ringer is the Queensland...

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“Ten Years, Somewhere in their Lost Neighbourhood”

Of course,
he said, like a god,
there is no course,
one must simply go with the flow
the penumbra stands waivering its existence,
a kind of deactivation, fuzzy borderline hanging, 
backing the art...

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"Burnt Aqua"



I can taste the sun
on my tongue
it spills down 
my throat
like burnt aqua
healing the beating frisson

I am ebony inside
shading in my shadow world
some somnolent soul
waking from slumber’s dream dance 
a small death in life...

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"The Begin Again Beings"

A family of swords
the world under their feet
to all that is fallen in the 
darkened passages beneath,
slipped on crushed pearls of tears
rivulets running down 
a body of work pierced,
the milky powder swallowed
from...

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O, 
how I swoon
in the ruby bliss of your sunset kiss -
your vibrant rays of maturity arouses my fire; 
touching me with urgent rapture,
saturating me 
in sparkles of champagne light - then,
streaming through me in...

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WIZARD

     Me being the host arranged party 
              in haunted log house.
    Crystal -eyed crooked...

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When blossoms fall
From the tree of life
Their ash will feed its roots
And bloom away the strife 
These ambassadors of hearts and smiles 
And handshakes
These caretakers of souls 
Theses brothers and sisters 
And mothers and fathers
And...

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I rue chances missed and days spent
Prevaricating whether to break the ice
Hold back, keep a low profile with my back bent
In a vow to sprinkle no more spice

In moves and grooves meant to cosset pride
Keeping...

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A few of the famous had their preferences.  Jack
Kerouac went on the road with his Underwood early thirties
portable Royal Standard.  Isak Dinesen, the Danish Dinosaur, 
(said with love, she was my hero) used...

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Delta breeze brought relief from scorching summer temperatures 
Night’s cool vapors dropped morning dew on the terrace furniture
Refreshing nippiness embraced me when I opened the patio entrance
Brought a big smile to my lips when I...

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Caren, whose poetry sings with grand plumage,
swims with bouquets of flowers and such. You
inspire me! And aloha to William :)

HAWAII

Bird of paradise, plumeria, jasmine,
orchids, gardenia, hibiscus, primrose.
Aloha sea — paradise welcomes thee.
Cup of gold, elephant’s...

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"Lantana"



Beans grown 
in a belly
planted they bloom
through crimson
they arrive 
trying to weed
the prickly parent purple 
Lantana out

The future is 
bright and shiny 
just like a new penny
that was held in the hands
of pappy and mammy

But...

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Wafting on winds many miles from home.
Hovering together splashes of black and white.
A Zebra Longwing colony home from the day’s roam,
Oh, how happy I was to see that old familiar sight.

Monarchs and Viceroys dash back...

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Hibiscus sunrise


Summer breezes surround me,  
sifting on the glowing rays 
beyond the heather hedge,
walking barefoot,
senses fly,
lemonade the tint…
born upon this early morning sky

Lantana lullabies,
still a faint offering,
relinquish me of moon fed destinies,
setting me free...

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Lantana, Lantana! It’s that time of year.
Old winter is waning, and springtime is near.
Lantana, Lantana! It’s that time, you know.
I must cut you back now before you can grow.

You fight and resist me and scratch...

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Hibiscus Sunrise

Fragrant breezes surround me,
sifting on the glowing rays
beyond the heather hedge,
walking barefoot,
senses fly,
lemonade the tint…
born upon this early morning sky

Lantana lullabies,
still a faint offering,
relinquish me of moon fed destinies,
setting me free once more
in the...

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Only one scar, from a kid in Montana.
His mom had him placed in a field of lantana.

The kid was still smiling as smoke from his vest
plumed when the bullet slammed through his chest.

With a split...

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Black and white butterfly a rare single sighting
Idealized image caught upon film
Beautiful bounding insect drinking nectar 
Against such colorful contrast of orange Lantana
A wonderful shot snapped in a twinkle of the eye
Photo snapped by a...

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Lantana blossoms beautify hedge-fortress
Radiant colors relieve distress
Pink and red pink of varied hues
With yellow sun’s cues
Brightly show
God’s bliss!
Flowers blow
Oozing sweet fragrance
Celestial scent’s endurance
Refreshing Summer midst glowing heat
Along hope’s steadfast* light, pests attempt to beat.

*1Corinthians 15:58...

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Looking at the backyard down through a window 
Brought a smile on my lips watching the scene below

A squirrel was sniffing around some bushes
Another one was scurrying up and down on oak tree branches

A humming...

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Daffodil dimples



Crape myrtle blooms form
the entrance now leading
Into the garden of
dreams that we share

Rose buds and hyacinths
tickle our senses
Blending their fragrance
so sweet with the air

Lantana flowers in
yellows of lemon
Paint summer sunrises
along the wall

Hibiscus petals are
raining...

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you were stealing me from myself
my mitochondria, a little under the name,
while I was unmoored, talking to a mirror
who did not recognize me, caked in heat and dust
touching my tissues and blood
under the ignited roof...

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