“Shielded”
Presenting me to the world---
but shielding me all the while---
you want me to be free,
but withing your boundaries.
As I expand my mind and body,
I begin to understand just why
I have been so shielded.


“Mountain Home”
Morning Glory dreams at my window sill---
her night-time whispers clinging to the glass,
clinging to the glass
clinging to the glass
clinging to the glass.
As the coyote swoons the maiden moon,
Glory awakens to greet morning mist.
Apollo beckons stars behind the clouds
and Sun welcomes her valley with kisses.
Splashing dew across the meadow, he smiles.
Apollo, embrace you mountain home.


“God’s Word”
Dappled by mountain dew
is the newborn fawn:
grazing on forest fruits,
dancing in spring grass,
resting beneathe God’s word.



“Honesty is a Treasure”
Honesty is a self-bestowed treasure---
certain to bring satisfaction and pleasure.
For when you are gallant, noble, and true,
you will find joy in whatever you do.


"Bird of Zion"
O Bird of Zion
Welcome the pilgrim with love on your beak
Nestle him with your fledgling child and tender wind


O Bird of Zion
Allow him to slumber with your brood
Allow him to eat your seed and perch upon your snag
If you had traveled as long as he
If you were as tired as he
weary as he
old as he
Wouldn't you conjure a friend from the skies
to carry your body to water?

O Bird of Zion
plant the pilgrim in your bosom and
feed him the friendship he craves


"Holier than the Sky"
My feathers are golden
More divine than the sea
My eyes are iron
More blessed than the mountains
My talons are ruby
Holier than the sky


"Sparrows"
Serenading the city with songs of sorrow
Seeping salons in silver sheets of symmetrical music
Such shy creatures they are when you slip towards them
But bold when engaged in sweet swooning


"This Worm of a Man"
Weak as the robin who hatches with dawn
is this man's love for you
is his promise to you
Fragile as the kitten when she opens her eyes
is this worm's love for you
is his promise to you
Beware of this man
Beware of this worm
This worm who says he loves you
This worm of a man who promises all
Beware
Beware
Beware


"The Tree"
A tree painted in feathers and many-a beak;
blossoming with sweet songs ready to eat
and every fledgling dream your heart doth seek.
Never allow another wish to endure a treacherous defeat!


"How Tight is Your Wire?"
Divine little dove
How tight is your wire?
Will you permit a gentle kiss from the soaring skies?
Will you allow the rain to garb your feathers in crystals?
Divine little dove
How tight is your wire?


"Sycamore"
Sparrows serenade the sycamore
The sycamore of spidery fingers
The sycamore of reaching roots
Sparrows serenade the sycamore
But the sycamore declines



"Blind Man"
The man on the corner plays the guitar
He's blind and has no children
The man on the corner plays the guitar
He's blind and has no wife
The man on the corner plays the guitar
He's blind and has no money
The man on the corner plays the guitar
And he's the only one with a soul


"Pierce 'em"
They huddled through the corridors
A pilgramage to capitalism
They tore through the shelves
Shouting her name
'Pierce 'em!'
'Piece 'em!'
It's in every magazine
'Pierce 'em!'
'Pierce 'em!'
I wanna be the next teen queen

With glitter and lipgloss
they stormed up to the counter
with attitude, sass, and anthing but grace
They threw their studs to the cashier
and cried:
'Pierce 'em!'



"Nursery"

They've ablated all my children from the nursery of my mind
Abducting my babies 'til they collapse to their ideals
They've ablated all my children from the nursery of my mind


"Friday Night"
Friday Night
My shift has ended
Put my apron down and call a cab
My red umbrella and coat take the seat of another man
Raindrops cling to the window
And the city's inky black
Here I am with British pop and rock of long ago
The driver hums and sings along
but I don't know the words
If I did,
it wouldn't matter
because it's Friday night
My shift has ended
Friday night
and I just wanna go home


“In the Mountains”
Sleet slices the sky
and scars my tender wings
as I battle Eastern winds.
Lightning bisects the clouds,
flooding the valley in rain.

Thunder echoes in the mountains.

My brothers pulsate to the rhythem of winter,
of snow.
We scrape our feathers
against one another.

Thunder echoes in the mountains.


“My Window”
Dawn’s silver mist imbues the air
entwining birches in its sullen body---
splaying its gentle blood across my window.
A window stained with memories of spring.
the fledglings still linger in my dreams.
Their bantam wings trembling in the evening breeze;
Sweet songs tangled in the ivy.
Then they flew.
They conquered the wind and seduced the skies for their own.
My tears painted my window with pain
with sorrow.
But they will return.
The fledglings will return.
They will return to my window.



“Perfume”
Fresh desire blooms this summer--
sweet as immense perfume.
Embrace the blossoms.


“Meterological Pity”
Clouds shelter my body in the morning’s mist
Wrapping my soul in precipitation
Deluging my heart in meterological pity
for wingless creatures


“Heighten Me”
Hazy blue mountains compete with the skies for glory
Scraping the clouds  in envy for their elevation
‘Heighten me!’
‘Stretch me!’
‘Pull me closer to God.’
Thier echoes tempt the valley.



“Honesty is a Treasure”
Honesty is a self-bestowed treasure---
certain to bring satisfaction and pleasure.
For when you are gallant, loyal, and true,
you will find joy in whatever you do.



“Tenderness”
Your tenderness for the one-winged bird
reveals your kind and gentle soul.
and places you above your comrades
on the grassy shepard’s knoll.


“Migration”
Tearing through the ice and snow
Cutting thought the graying sky
Slicing in and out of clouds
to a Southern paradise.


“Where is My Home?”
Where is the valley?
Where is my home?
The clouds in which I used to roam?
The trees in which I used to hide?
The reeds, the rocks, the rivers?
Where is my home?
The clouds in which I used to roam?


“Cloud Dwellers”
The skies are tainted by days of lore,
of defeat, of victory, and men before.
They echo of lost love found again
and the disappearence of a faithful friend.
Our weaknesses, our secrets, our dreams
flourish in the cloud’s gentle wrinkles, it seems.


“Among Termites”
Shielded by bark, twisted and gnarled,
dwells the heart of a tree
nestled among termites.


“The Flogging”
Branches whip the wind,
flogging her hide,
clawing her flesh.
Blood soils her body;
birds kiss her wounds.
Rain washes the agony away.
And she heals.


“Mirthful”
I have never mourned for my life is mirthful.
I have never mourned for my life is fruitful,
bearing golden grapes come harvest time.


“Some Sunshine”
With knotted fingers,
they tremble in the spring breeze,
seeking some sunshine.



“Georgia’s Valley”
Lilies creep through Georgia’s valley
Georgia’s valley of green and gold
A valley where summer reigns with the stars
A vally where vine slither through fallen trees,
strangling fungus and conquering the worms
The worms of oak and maple


“Empress of the Evening”
My days wane with the mournful moon
The grieving moon, the dying moon
The moon of memories vanished
Of memories sequestered

The moon harvests my secrets
from lips that whisper in the night
from lips that regret their words

With a star garland ‘round her head
she is the Empress of the Evening
she is the Queen of Enigma
the Nocturnal Messiah

Into her craters of darkness
my dreams slither into the past
etched into my celestial epitaph



“Dead Men”
Sewn into the sky
are the epitaphes of dead men.
With their legacies
splayed among the constellations.
Let their children gaze 
upon their accomplishments.
But shield them not from
their father’s lifetime failures.


“The Warbler’s Nest”
Empty is the warbler’s nest,
perched upon the sycamore---
where their’s mother’s tears frolic
in the eastern winds.
Their layette of plumage
faded with spring’s dance
and suddenly their wings graced
the star-stained skies.
Mother-dear was all alone
in her tree of memories.
Their fledgling songs of yesterday
flourished in the breeze,
for they were gone
but they serenaded her in her dreams
in her solitude.
She would never forget
those days of happiness....

when she was still Mother-dear.


“The Demand”
Scarring the skies with a stroke of a wing,
they swoop through the city and this they sing:

'Our feathers are tarnished by your bricks and cement,
by your seemingly harmless but malicious intent.
Here was a forest, a forest of silver and gold,
a forest you destroyed, despite what you were told.
And flee did the dove, the sparrow, the cardinal, and the mockingbird---
or perhaps you?ve forgotten. Has your memory been blurred?
In tears, our flocks disappeared---completely vansihed---
for it was with your intrusion in which they were banished.
You sequester our children from their nests and use
them in your science.
Well, we?ve come to protest and have formed an alliance
against this wave of smog and your repulsive machinery
to demand the return of our beautiful scenery.'

Scarring the skies with a stroke of a wing,
they swoop through the city and this they sing:

'Our feathers are tarnished by your bricks and cement,
by your seemingly harmless but malicious intent.'


“Dove”
Among olive branches and golden grapes
lies a feathered being, with plumage white
Coo-coo, she whispers
Coo-coo


“Gun Smoke”
Eyes tainted by war
Amisdt blood and gun smoke
He stands in an empty field
Tears stinging his face
Sweat on his wounded skin
His innocence sequestered


“Addicted”
The ice glitters
but he just wants his apple fritters
The maid of beauty skims across the lake
but he only looks forward to a frosted cake

He’s captivated by comestibles
He’s mesmerized by delectables
He’s addicted



"Peaches Ma’am”
In Georgia, Mama made peaches, Ma’am.
In Georgia, church was our life, Ma’am.
My life and
Mama’s life.
Mama candied her peaches somethin’ fine for them white folks
They were the sweetest, most divine peaches
In Georgia, Mama made peaches like her mama
And in Georgia, I’m gonna make peaches like mine



“Liberty”
Liberty, swoon my men to victory!
Sing them to justice!
Sing them to history!
Liberty, entice my men to glory!
Make them successful!
Make them a story!
O Liberty....have mercy on these children.



“Nitrogen”
Since I began to breathe,
your air has been my salvation.
Since I began to breathe,
your air has been my destination.
Cradle my lungs, why don’t you?
Cradle them until they’re saturated in nitrogen bliss.


“A Kiss”
The figure you find
clinging to a wall of broken dreams
seeks a gentle gift: the gold and silver of a kiss.
It asks for a sliver of love---no matter how small;
any sized portion will do after all
Perhaps just a little kiss
 this one little kiss
will return the flesh to its cheeks and hands
Such starved little hands
Perhaps this little kiss
will plant hope in its heart
hope that its life will jump out of this death


“Lady Universe”
Red earth cascading over the edge of the world
Creating new celestial beings to fathom
A day ago, a year ago, before these trees existed
There were four corners to our planet
Each draped across the Universe’s body
Brandishing delicate strands of stars
In her abode of solitude
Where she dances to silent melodies


“Mother Vine”
Wandering from the mother vine
Hitting city pavement
Skidding across orphan rubble
And rolling through the park
Over children, under children
Dancing with their golden hair
Between our legs and feet
And beneathe our autumn skirts
Rushing though the skeletons
The skeletons of fall
Cadavers of the season
Over children, under children
Withered son from mother vine



“Six Decades”
Summer sky stained with stars
Caressing tresses, reaven-black
Tires beating foreign roads
A journey for the hungry soul
Deprived for six decades
Wanderlust is this aging man
Eager for a new word


"I Am Crying"
You are timid.
I could that from the moment that you waltzed into my spectrum of dreams---
This spectrum of dreams they call 'life'.
You are weak.
It was in those eyes from the moment that your existance began---
Your innocent existence.
I am brave.
You could see that from the moment that I waltzed into your spectrum of dreams---
This spectrum of dreams that has imprisoned you.
I am strong.
It was in my eyes from the moment that my existance began---
My sinful existence.
Yet your cheeks remain dry....
and I am the one crying.


“So Cruel”
Confined to the shade of a tree
Prisoner to this Chinese chain
Deprived of happiness and glee
Mirth is mine to gain
The children have fled
to their academic institution
I wish I were dead
Wait! There may be a solution
If I tug and I pull
Perhaps I can fly
From all that is cruel
and jump high
into the life that I crave
before I hit my canine grave.


“You Will Never See”
Before I close my eyes to savor eternal rest,
allow me to relieve this burden from my breast:
As soon as I was able to love another---
someone besides my sister, my brother---
you enchanted my young and open heart.
yes, all from the very start.

You are the element of all my dreams!
My messiah! (or so it seems!)
You were then and you still are---
however near or howver far.

Such sincerity in your face,
as if you were from some other place
holier than our land.

Can you ever understand
what you are to me?
Maybe, you will never see.
Maybe, it can never be.


“Coffin”
That coffin will hold her spirit.
It can never contain her soaring soul---
just old organs and stagnet eyes....
eyes that once loved me;
eyes that once smiled.
That coffin will never hold her spirit.


“The Train”
Is this the train headin’ west?

The one that’ll change my life forever?
The one that’ll make me laugh? Make me weep?
Knock me off---and then put me back---on my feet?

Is this the train that will tear me from everyone?
Is this the train that will tear me from everything?
But then return it all back in a pretty parcel?

Is this the train headin’ west?
Away, away, away from here....



“Fading”
The mountains slope in that direction---
where I used to live.
They into the clouds,
and they fade into more mountains....
until they disappear into the stars.


“When You Cry”
I am your teacher, your preacher.
I am your mother, your brother.
I am the one who holds you when you cry at night.
Alone.
Alone.
Alone.
I am your preacher, your teacher.
I am your brother, your mother.
I am the one who knows what you say at night.
Alone.
Alone.
Alone.



“Find Me”
Sometimes you’re as fragile as a babe.
I want to embrace you.
Sometimes you’re as delicate as a bird.
I want to captivate you.
Sometimes you’re as lost as a lamb.
I want to find you.
And, sometimes, darlin’....you’re as alone as I am.
I want you to find me.
Because I don’t know where I am.



“Toy”
Who is this woman---
dressed in satin and lace?
Who is this woman---
with kisses all over her face?
Has she replaced me?

Do I find someone else?

Am I a toy no longer wanted, little boy?
The ragdoll in the corner, little boy?

Is she the new toy?
The one who runs on lies,
instead of batteries?

Is she the new toy?
Whose kitten fluff I’ll excise.....
while she’s sleeping?

Is she the new toy, little boy?
Bought yesterday so cheap?
‘Cause she looks used, second-hand---
like she’s played before.



“Within”
My destiny lies within those trees.
Behind the mirthful maple.
Under the powerful poplar.
Inside the whispering willow.
That is where I should be
to return to Mother....
and escape from Father time.


“Why Didn’t I?”
My Adonis,
may I pose a question?
May I utter a query?
May I inquire of thee?
Why didn’t I see?
Why couldn’t I see?
Why wouldn’t I see?
That you,
my Adonis....
are the only one for me.


“Green Grass”
Are you still a wandering lamb,
searching for greener grass?
Are you still wandering, wandering
in a dead meadow?
Because let me tell you....
my grass is greener than you’ve ever seen.
My grass is softer than you’ve ever felt.
And you’re free to frolick in my pasture.


“Not Without You”
Please don’t away from here!
Fold your wings against your body.
Tuck your beak beneathe your down
and land into my hand.

Please don’t swim away from here!
Shed your scales from your body.
Throw your fins into the sea.
and approach the shore towards me.


“Where?”
Where are the virgin woods of my youth?
Their wild honeysuckle and playful vine?
Their sycamore, maple, oak, and sweet pine?

Where are the emerald forests I once knew?
Their delicate leaves and dying logs?
Their tender toadstools and little frogs?

Where are the fairy bogs of my youth?
Their water nymphs and weeping willows?
Their snaking ivy and pixie pillows?

Where are the secret swamps I once knew?
Their sinking pebbles and blackened mud?
Their newts and many-a hycinth bud?



“Roses”
She has always requested long-stemmed roses
Wanting thier bodies eradicated from the soil.
She has always prefered yellow roses
for red is an emotion too severe for her to feel.
She’ll pucker at whitish-pinks and pinkish-whites
for she doesn’’t know the beauty of a rose.
No, she doesn’t know the beauty of a rose.
O she doesn’t know the beauty of a rose!



“Can It?”
The cat’s eye can see into the deepest darkness
but can it see into my lonely heart?
Does it see the dry leaves?
The dying leaves?
All the torn and unmended leaves?
Can the cat’s eye see into my lonely heart?


“Salamander”
My toe can destroy a salamander’s nest
but my hand can put that same nest to rest.
I can kill a thousand birds
but resurrect them all with kind words.

A torn can always bee resewn.
A ripped sleeve can always be mended.
Acquaintance can be made of the unknown.
A stranger can always be befriended.
Because my toe can destroy a salamander’s nest
but my hand can put that same nest to rest.


“Dreamer”
There’s a flamboyance to his silence.
A volume to his whisper.
Each time he speaks, he wavers....
but there’s a strength to his words.

Creativity unknown.

An artist blooming within that November leaf 
that has been thrown to puddles but still hopes for the sky.
A thinker within that spider’s web 
that has been torn by dew but regrows with the sun.

He is the color in this rose.
The hue to that feather and the light that lures the dreamer into life.


“Sweet Forest Pine”
Doomed to dark dungeons deep,
in silence doth the monk weep.
Birds and trees roam outside,
but he has taken the Lord as his bride.
Bound as a scribe to the Holy Book---
to which his eyes must forever look.
He has crucified his dearest dreams
and lost himself (or so it seems!)
The raven issues his caustic caw
for this priest was to be a man of law.
As a youth, he relished in the constitution, 
but here he is, in this religious institution.
Confined to these walls of honeysuckle vine,
secluded from the sweet forest pine,
he feigns joy for life....
but his heart sings of eternal strife.




“Drizzle in the Valley”
Evergreens entwining with a graying sky.
And I pause to ask myself just why
the rain
intimidates the birds so?
Why do they flee to bushes low
whenever drizzle dances in the valley?
Why do they chirp in fear
whenever rain is near?
Why, O why....
when there’s drizzle in the valley?



“Physician”
Clinging to the bleeding birch
peeling her skin away with fascination
A sprite of a surgeon
A pixie of a physician
How the elfen child heals!


“Beast”
Mounted in my fragile mind with a golden orb of light
is the most mysterious creature of the most magnificent sight!
Eyes of gold and feathers stained with sparking star dust
adorn a  mystical beat with a deep breathing lust
for its massive wings to slice the skies,
to whisper farewell to the land, to say its goodbyes
He yearns to soar through the virgin clouds
he wants to rob them of their pretty shrouds
And I wish I could remove him from my thoughts


“Baptism of the Beast”
From the crevices of their hearts comes a poison that I can not understand---
A poison that suffocates the individual, until their lungs become as shriveled as their dreams.
They are seeking what does not exist.
They are breathing only temporarily.
For tomorrow, comes a new mustard.

I have found my frustration---isolation, my Messiah.
To seclude myself is to cleanse myself....
I baptize the beast within.
I baptize the beast within my body.
And the river drinks his blood.

Their corpses are saturated in a venom....
the venom of conformity.
This conformity has pilaged them of all they thought they knew---
of all that they felt familiar with.
These are the cadavers of failures.
These are the cadavers of the blind.

But my vision is my gift.
Blindness doth not hinder this creature.
Nay, Venus! Blindness doth not hinder this creature for...
I am able to see!
I am able to love and be loved until Apollo deems his figment over.
Then, I will die.
The dream will fade into the mountains.
It will fade into the sea.
Then, I will die.



“Shepherd”
The child has wandered into darkness---
darkness that forbids your curiousity---
for he was sequestered to a secret land.

He can not feel the lamb.
He can not touch the wool and claim to understand its warmth.
He has exchanged Emotion for Apathy:
rivals for centuries in a world where they do not exist.

If I could heal the child---
love the child, need the child---
perhaps he could heal me, love me, need me.

But I can not feel the lamb.
I can not touch the wool and claim to understand its warmth.
I have exchanged Emotion for Apathy:
rivals for centuries in a world where they do not exist.

The shepard has abased me.



“The Smile”
As fluid as my movements are,
my heart is stiff and weak.
As mirthful as my face may seem, 
my memories torture me.
When I weep, my tears are invisible.
When I yearn, my desire is invisible.
All my emotions have been epitomized with a smile---
the smile society forces me to brandish.
If I am dissatisfied, they must not know,
for I am possessed by this vicious being known only as....
The Smile.


“My Reflection”
Mirror, mirror, mirror....
if this is truly my reflection, where is the sorrow?
Where is the pain?
The longing?
The dissatisfaction?
If this is truly my reflection, how will they ever know that this is me?
How will the world ever become acquainted with the creature that I am?


“Possessed”
As pale and weak as she may seem,
vicious serpents burn within her soul.
Beasts rage and throttle within her body.
She is possessed.
She is possessed.
Her thoughts had been hers own for so long,
but they have been molded by the monsters feeding on her heart,
sucking every trace of love from her memory.
She is possessed.
She is possessed.
But she will survive.