tryingpoetry

Fall Fell

Fall was a bigleaf maple leaf on a main branch green stemmed born in spring spent all summer on her task sending her work back to the trunk until she grew old

In retirement her shoulders golden spreading all over Until with her family she lit the tree alive before the air turned cold before the wind came

Until one day She knew she was done and longed for the ground let go

Gliding down stem-first pirouetting in the air Riding the wind with a shawl upon her back

Write on my Coffin

Like they did for Grandpa that day I wore red saw it too Make the words scrawl instead of neat no fonts or serifs Let them be hard to read on the pine wood rough cut and not sanded Because I want to go back to ashes and dust let your words go too

My memory will be the taste of well grown fruit the mineral taste of venison The smell of the dust in the air before the lightening starts and the drops fall down

Heavy and pendulous like life itself landing finally home, in the grass or in the dirt, before being taken up again to fall over and over and over

Sediment

Seabeds and valleys layer cocomino fossils in between and ephemera written in glyphs on rocks Over time slow

A soul is sedimentary layered emotion spark and life in the middle Perceptions filtered and bands lay on time the stream washes them away And they lay on again

Thinner is brittle so gather as much as you can Let the pressure make it stronger so the water and sand will only polish the solid rock

Water

She danced in the waves leapt with joy Sand fed through her fingers smiling in the sunset The edge of the world

And left the salt and the long rolling waves Ranks of breakers and the soft floor While the Sun boiled in the ocean

The clouds highway Weather and river Valley full of farms Two tall towers stood Into the hills

She slept like a charm Tentative child Speaker to dragons Uncertain sapling From the old uncertain tree

She dressed formally labeled her case, folder and stand Waited patiently left and watched I waded into the new place

Her nervousness witnessed by her mother where do we go Where do I sit where do I find my paper Over here

In the sanctuary Dozens of children Tuned up chaotic notes Alone and different Until a wand raised

In the sanctuary Dozens of children Played a single note Beautiful and They know

And I watched her write on the score And speak to the neighbor playing next-door and raise her horn, posture strong

Dozens of children Who had not met Began to play As though they had known each other forever Ode to Joy

She was back there again In the saltwater beach Jumping in the waves wind in her hair and I wept

Her tribe puts the mist in a spiderweb Stacks the kernels on the grain Hangs the snow on the mountains The trees on a slope Booming big as the sea and quiet as the smallest spring her tribe is gentle and strong Stronger than me

Dance

Knifefight, doge and weave sleepless fear, guard perpetual faster with the hammer down don't pick it up you can't be Furiosa but you can do your best

Running fast I caught a message I don't know why I looked down it doesn't matter anymore I grabbed it and put it in my pocket

And the chanting was louder and the drums were thunder the voices were loud

I found something, I forgot read the lines hand script, no calligraphy, simple letters from a friend and caught my breath

Blokers

Brain fast and finger slow Hear the sweet sweet flow stumbled and low

Turn the mind and over noise repeat and refresh, refine the eyes Know the road's lies

Hammer in my fist I go to war Mis and duck and smash the floor where the nasty creature sat before

Swimming

Swimming through air My arms don't pull There's no weight

And time ticks so I fall

I can breathe Or I can swim But I'm not a fish

This isn't my water

Untitled

Ship em off and now we're alone quiet at home

Simple chores and tidy tasks sprint ending at last

The time spinning towards another place Where my mind is easy and the water doesn't rest

Tell me when we go To listen to the noise again

Giant chants and falling trees screaming glee

Then we're not alone quiet at home

Iron

Slippery iron dripping off the meat smells mineral

The back cracked bone shot out pale and wet

snap

I want to drive South

I want to drive South to TX And look the people in the face Who let children live like prisoners

And then walk past them And take care of those kids