Long Muir Poems

I am much more likely to feel like a respectful,
trusting family member
than an entitled warrior,
while outside "property improvements"
rather than inside anthropocentric habitats.

Sometimes
even as I approach my favorite sanctuary,
an AllSouls Unitarian-Universalist built structure,
I feel more sacred...

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From shore to deep, the colors of the sea,
tan sand and white meringue bursting forth.
Can you picture the lovers on the edge
             long...

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Labels that lead to hate…will only pain impart…
they will never bring us together…only push us further and further apart. 

When we are consumed by the labels we place on one another it becomes more difficult…more...

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Happy Birthday, Gerald Buisman. *
Thank you for your part in the story of my life. You were fundamental to some good memories.

I hope you enjoy this poem. The footprints we leave in the hearts, minds...

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Oh! to be among trees, mindful of silent power 
in mountains hallowed trails walked by Muir
snow still filling nature’s deep kept secret bower
breathe a bounty of sweet air clear and pure

the rush of streams in...

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Figuratively tack one hundred 
and eighty degrees away...
where joie de vivre underscores 
poetic theme, no matter every day
brings gut wrenching tearful tragedy, 
thee attention for heart warming 
(powdered milk biscuits 
of human kindness)

doth shyly beg...

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Tissiack’s Tears
“[F]or I was absorbed in the great Tissiack [Half Dome]-- I have gazed on Tissiack a thousand times -- in days of solemn storms, and when her form shone divine with the jewelry of...

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It was not a decision taken lightly
When we found that our free servitude
Unrequited was by our chosen masters
With their metal monsters they had fallen in love
Growling,roaring and spitting fumes
Our nostrils filling with the smell of...

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"In every walk with nature, one receives far more than he seeks."
                       ...

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“When we contemplate the globe as one great dewdrop, striped and dotted with continents and islands, flying through space with other stars all singing and shining together as one, the whole universe appears as an...

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During these Covid-19 days so sad
when an walking trip is not on cue
so missing in one's fondest memories
a trip on high seems so long overdue

My own favourite place to climb
is in the English Lakes so...

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AND INTO THE FOREST I GO, TO LOSE MY MIND AND FIND MY SOUL…
John Muir 


A cool forest trail beckons and begs
Come, stretch your tired legs

     Feel the cool descend upon...

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Today winds at 20 miles per hour

The temperature is 90 
no electricity no power

Santa Cruz Halloween costumes will be about 
the Joker and surfing

Wild fires red and orange, windy and smoky
San Francisco schools are closing

Muir...

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Dedicated to Gregory Barden who is likewise
a fan of “The Ghost and Mrs. Muir”

THE CATCH OF THE DAY

Like an Amazon queen with falcon feathers climbing
looking down the steep decline
at the turn of the century.

This modern...

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The forest is a wonderful place
so free among the open space
loads of trees with wide branches
let imagination show their every face

Let yourself go completely wild
give your every thought away in mind
making the intellect so very...

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The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, one of my favorite films, hauntingly irresistible in black and white.  The sun neither rises nor sets as the words stir in the tide. Like fabric, I touch and...

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From pine-scented forests, past boulders and streams,
To clear lakes encircled by murals and dreams
Where bright clouds emblazon a warm azure sky,
A trail through the mountains is one I must try.

When bluebells stop blooming and nighttime...

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The Muir 
There was a small lake near the farm I lived at for some 
years in my childhood. The lake was on peat land, and 
it water was fenny and dark. The lake also...

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“And into the forest I go to lose my mind and find my soul.” - John Muir



The forest is a calm spiritual place,
a balsam scented and serene space.
Rabbits hide in mossy dens,
with fresh mushroom gems.
Magical!
Cleanse.
Fanciful,
trees,...

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IN THE VALLEY OF YOSEMITE

Today, as I took a walk through,
The valley of Yosemite, such
A beauty that lies within 
The rocks, trails, and the falls

There is a place where
Clear blue sky's embrace
Where the trees are...

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The Ballad of John Muir Woods

	
	I squint at the splendid morning sun	 
	golden filtered bright rays conveyed.	
	Speaking they say, sit, little one		 
	rest a spell in our noble shade.

	I squint at this forest of titans
	sitting,...

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“Charm'd magic casements, opening on the foam 
                Of perilous seas, in faery lands forlorn.”

John Keats Ode to a Nightingale

“Strange...

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Tom Waits sang, And I hope I don't fall in love with you.
But I did, fall in love with the land. I fell in love with Warren Zevon
and the idea of telling something about who...

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I'm not like you John Muir:
I haven't fell into the deepest well;
I haven't swam through a solid stream;
And I haven't felt a gushing geyser's steam--
I've only been forever locked in this cell.

I'm not like you...

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death can never cease to exist
what lives in my every moment
the softness within her eyes
a light brush of a hand
taking my breath away
lips as doves landing
upon mine
a smile bequeathing me purest of joy
become eyes shuttered...

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