Woodblock poems

dragons and seas
bridges mending broken lands
mountains flowers and trees
small houses and pale hands

Sad Dunes

Dubious gulls cull together

Without the sound

I know they are around

Hopefully forever



Across the marsh they fly

Floating on inside the sky

When they stop I know I will die

Nothing lasts forever



Two gulls dominate eastern winds

Pursuing each other over again

Unknowing pair of lovers

Stuck in an unfitting end

tonight there be demons

tireless and on edge
we have heroin veins
fallen off the thin ledge
full of hate and disdain
we bend truth to our will
let narcotics enslave
but it's all in good fun
from our hearts we deprave
the beautiful green sea
we light mountains afire
how we loathe what we lost
our own soul we bemire

we stand at the crossroads
and cry out for support
when nobody answers
we begin our extort
give me anger and fear
give me cups full of beer
give me lust give me rage
like animals encaged
give me fists give me blood
throw my dreams in the mud
for I'm tired of life
let me please end this strife

we don't know His mercy
or understand His gifts
our lives are so hollow
our perception adrift

there's a fight going on
outside every day
peacemaker or a pawn?
your own path or the way?
give me hope give me love
give me grace from above
give me calm give me light
give me strength in the night
in this valley I walk
full of uncertainty
lions stalking the lambs
surreptitiously

caterpillars

you are right now, extant
like a butterfly and I'm all ants
just one touch
of your lucid, pixie dust
might just be too much

one flap of your wings
the wind starts to change
what will be can't be
a glass heart and red stain

she seems fragile and wrong
a scream from a mute
a bridge built strong
deep down the taproot

finger to chin, eye to eye
i know what's behind that smile
and it doesn't begin with why

we laugh and cry
singing songs of our youth
because we know no better
vicious and uncouth
together

wings witheld
cover me in your dusty mosaics
lay it out tonight
where we sleep

When there were Ghosts

when you leave a part of you remains
scents from where you've been
the aroma of you hair
weightless on the air
i still hear the sweet sounds
from your mouth when you're not around

even though you don't know, I'm there
the coolness on your skin before bed
deep inside your blue-green eyes
the chained virgin of your wild side


you want what I'm not
a spirit fierce and whole
unskilled in light of your lies
the majesty of your feral eyes

just down the old wooden dock
could be the perfect spot
dancing in each others arms
to the sounds of the night
the moon and her modest light
Then the clouds open up
heavens waters unchained
we sit beleaguered again

so many spirits undressed
before we really know
to fight for what really matters
someday you will tell me
to fight for what really matters


our hearts are far apart
the grand road toward meant to be
where you once were meant for me
swallowed in God's great sea

Only half asleep

speak to me from your heart
walking down train tracks
to another dead end town
more lights and larger frowns

thinking of how you must have felt
sitting there hugging yourself
yesterday was a mile away
one song makes it today

we traveled at high speeds
going down fast
it was never a wonder
that it didn't last

so these empty roads that lead
to the next somewhere and something,
where there's bound to be
another you and me,
are full of broken dreams
that got lost to their destination
where no one missed them

no questions asked
you would only lie to me
so speak from your heart
for forever we depart

this unbalanced lullaby
sings me to sleep
what broken dreams
wait for me?

frost at midnight

who knows where love comes from
all that was known is we were young
discrete discussions between stars and sun
on why and how you are leaving

i hear the words as they leave your lips
remembering the accidental sway of your hips
the movement in my hair from your fingertips
another notch in the handle

maybe the winds in winter do blow
where we live the only snow
rests in the scene of a watery globe
next to the shells and sand dollars

so far away where the sun sets
taking with it the last of our regrets
floating on in this salty sea
fading away as far as the eye can see