Her Trip's

Woman on a meandering errand 
of her own delighted devising 
falls on her face in the ordinary
and (you'd think) serendipitizing-

ly uncovers the keys to a kingdom. 
Her awe erupts as oohs and aahs and jeezes
over all the odds and ends now she somehow 
sees and, most surprisingly, seizes. 

Kinetic electric urges surge frenetic and emerge,
submerge, and merge kaleidoscopic. She believes!
And laughing she gives in dives in thrives on and 
lives on in scintilla merely she perceives.

Watch her now with wonder while she ascends 
her whorling vortex dream in hops and skips.
Blown kisses float back down to you from 
the particle-beam stream that her trip's.

The New World

Look there, Love, 
across the starboard rail

a new world rises 
nascent from the sea,

arches its green spine, 
and belches howls

up to the gods. 
The old ones have foretold

a refuge here from thirst, 
a respite here from doubt. 
They have foretold 

a gentle soil

rich for growing 
orchards, children, us.

As we glide these 
last few meters into

shore, we must remember 
everything they said: 
"It is a place 
that will hurl hail

from metal skies, 
and crack and buckle underfoot. 
The land will leap at you 
with teeth, and seethe 
irascible with ice.

Be quick! Be lithe! Revise 
your maps, revise again — 
no one's been exactly here.

The land will change 
and we will change.

There now we have landed. 
Here we go.

The Metric System

Commence, if you must, 
the conversion
of tulips to Celsius,
anger to kilometers,
and magenta to something
ending in zero.
But pray keep the pint
to remind us we're no gods.
We are human and we thirst, 
both for perfection 
and for beer.

Strangers Trying to Pass Each Other in a Supermarket Aisle

I step left. You step right.
We mirror.

I step right. You step left. 
We fluster.

Hop left. Hop right. 
Hmm. 

Head bob. Hand clap.
Hip shake. Finger snap.

Caught here strangers 
in this life, 
we dance.

Rebel Crow

He flouts the stealth 
God dressed him for
and lights instead
on noontime streets
to praise all things 
ripped open and abandoned. 
Rinds and peels and nutshells.
There's so much sustenance 
we so-called pious miss.
It's hard work seeing plenty. 
You can hear it in his voice.

Your Story

The great stone
of your story,
the one about
where you're going,
gets so heavy sometimes
that the tone
you've gained
from holding it aloft
so others could see
its weight
and your flexing
seems not worth
the way it's made
your circumambulations
smaller and you
too stiff
to let it go
let alone help others
drop theirs.

Gratitude

The definition 
of gratitude
includes the phrase 
"a desire to do 
something in return." 
I am overwhelmed 
by this desire.
But what can I 
give you in return?
You asked me 
if I would 
take care of you.
Yes, if taking care 
means to urge us 
both toward 
our best selves. 
I don't know  
if this is gratitude, 
which begins with 
"the quality 
of being thankful,"
or just a hunger 
to share each rare
and vivid day
with you, a quality 
I'm grateful to you for,
but one surpassing
definition.