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Leave behind your suitcase and Venice’s hurried pace
forgoing culture and medieval history for Dolomieu’s Dolomites~
pinnacles of dolomitic limestone chiseled into grotesque shapes
that refuse postcards—carving their own light at dawn and
gently dissolving into peaceful rose at dusk.
Their trails are old conspirators, whispering switchback secrets
to those like me who love geology, nature and
who walk without hurry.
The trails unwind like forgotten stories
each turn a new clause~
a waterfall’s asterisk, a meadow’s ellipsis:
this writer’s inspiration and paradise.
A farmhouse leans into one of the stone slopes,
its shutters laced with blushing pink geraniums.
Inside, my favorite comfort food--speckled cheese
melted over polenta, golden as an Italian afternoon.
Each peak, a vial where daylight lingers,
hoards time in geologic sieves.
These rouge-colored peaks, half-lit, refuse the night~
patient stars and poets don’t mind.
Another switchback under mountain crossed, (*)
far below blue and violet spires bloom.
Undiscovered shady valley river flows lost,
rippling in pride of madeira's plume.
Turned my back to a harsh southern wind,
reach those dizzying heights again.
No finer place recalled, nor time relived,
though knowin' something's gotta give.
Maybe I'll cave, change a mind that got it wrong..
this heart took a left turn more than once.
Like voices lifted in a David Foster song,
though perhaps a dog that'll never hunt.
You hold someone to higher purpose,
turning like a diamond in your hand.
Look deep in beauty's fractured surface.,
a sadness I finally understand.
She's fixed with a devil maiden's eye,
nothin' as sweet; her cracker jack surprise.
Sweet reprieve to convicted heart lived,
though somethin's bound to give.
*Inspired by poem 'All I can be' - by Heidi Sands
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“Distance lends enchantment...”
They say distance lends enchantment and true love
weathers all seasons; but, sometimes I wonder
whether the distance becomes obscured by changing
winds and billowing clouds.
And what is distance anyway? True, it’s the
long way home, the love on the end of a phone,
a plane ride to passion; but, sometimes, it’s the
pastures new, greener grass, tall growing poppies
that builds the dusty miles between us.
Sometimes, too, the saddest estrangement is more
the realisation that roads fork and curve apart
or that this road does not lead to a rainbow’s end.
But it’s not the end of the world: to have stood
close by as summer and winter heat and cool
affection and desire, is the very stuff of life.
If there are storms in your soul, if your emotions
undulate like a switchback (or the road through
the hills); then count your blessings, for you can
be a long time dead when you’re living.
The jokes on you
Flit
As we walk home from the party
The atmosphere declines
Just you and i alone again
There’s nowhere left to hide
In and out of consciousness
We always wear a different face
Whatever we decide to show it’s never out of place
A game for two that one can play
I know you’ll never stay away
A never ending episode
Of day and night –night and day
Of day and night –night and day
Hello Jekyll goodbye Mr. Hyde
To me you are the joker
The jester deep inside
You are the joker- ---
But the jokes on you
A switchback roller coaster
Always coming of the tracks
Its double vision eye to eye,
It’s time we faced the fact
I know you’ll never catch me,
I’m gonna slip right through
Your altered twisted attitude will be the end of you
I see you in the mirror
There’s no freedom there for me
Cause this schizophrenic multitude
Is deep inside of me?
Is hiding deep inside of me?
Hello Mr. Jekyll
Goodbye Mr. Hyde
To me you are the joker
The jester deep inside
You are the joker----
But the jokes on you
The jesters deep inside
We don’t run the way we used to
ten kilometers pounding
hard through switchback trails
to beat the twilight
Twenty-odd years ago
you wanted marriage
kids and a life
any life
away from your parents
but nothing of marriage, held
my imagination
like Big Apple freaks
casually smoking
creatively shaping
thoughts of a future self
And then you went and
lived your life - exactly as planned
while I stayed and
got lost in the idea of it
And now when we run
I can always see
shadows falling
away from ourselves
moving toward
the finish
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