


| butterfly those most eager to crush the wings the color the beauty the fragility the soul are most bound to feel nothing at all in its passing yet remain most affected of all by its absence |

| seconds to minutes minutes to hours hands ever reaching from clocks in their towers strike on the hour again on the half can you hear what they say so intent on your path? half past eleven a quarter ‘til one time flows as a river until day is done |

Passage Walking over bright green knoll knotted yellow with dandelions Then down the other side, There lies a dark and narrow passage through a stand of weeping oaks, One I have seen but never tried A light breeze blows, graceful boughs bow Beckoning me to go where I have never been, Shadows darken, move beyond line of sight As I breach the brink of light and dark and go within; Cool leafy whisperings enfold and embolden me to go on Down primordial path carpeted, spongy moss upon rich loam; Fragile ferns rise unfurling, fronds uncurling, Crystal breeze sends white-plumed seedlings swirling up, up, into an emerald dome And down through mottled shards of light in turn Echoes call of a mockingbird, unseen yet easily heard; Singing sonnets from another time, an age of grace, Things no one here can ever replace in thought or word A bend in path, another still, I come upon a lovely rill Water cold and clear spills over rounded stones The blood and bones of Mother Earth—her worth, her dearth, Amid effervescence, a sobering quiescence—both plaintive intones To those who will hear her From somewhere below a semi growls low, grinding, climbing, winding its way up From the city not so far away; Stirs a dragonfly (symbol of long life, I muse—but exactly whose?) from its post Upon a reed and it hovers nearby as if to say, “I’ll lead if only you will follow,” Then quick as a flash vanishes away deep into the hollow Overhead, a rumble—soon winds come making dry leaves tumble, And then a light, warm rain; It is only here I find release from pain, soul-healing peace, And yet I’m aimless like a lost lamb: Shall I go, shall I remain? My heart is torn—I’m city born, I don’t belong, I'm not from here. But everything tells me I am. |


“I love you,” he said, “But maybe just not enough.” I frowned, then smiled, My face hidden in the clouds and as they parted Thankful for the sudden illumination, I whispered back, “But how perfectly splendid," and then my heart lost in the night Wept with the gibbous moon. |

Look through the long window How lightning rips through darkness in Bright jagged lines How Life casts its essence upon the Dark face of the Void Searing the heart of it Branding memories into a smooth and Vacant hide Changing it Forever Where there was Nothing at all before I believe in things that never were |



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