EVIDENTLY

 And on the 8th day

god looked a tad bewildered,

even forlorn after that amazing week

of 24-7 creation,

feeling they might have forgotten

something crucial to the mix,

an item so small it’s almost

inconsequential,

when you could see their palpable relief

as great shoulders relaxed and then

you overhear this low almost

imperceptible mumbling

to their behind-the-scenes long-term

partner, that sexy creative collaborator,

“Evidently, it’s the freckles.”

    Let’s keep plunging 

for pearls, 

feasting on oranges and pomegranates, 

    preparing for arrival 

into that river 

of silver and light.

death blossoming inside us

like an errant sun,

this unnamed

unknown

friend,

that strange package

propped quietly

on the doorstep

of your life..

falling through 

a hole

in the earth

you cannot

remain

unscathed.

Soaking It Up

In this rain 

she pours

a fevered ballet of fir 

tree and windstorm.

Her dancing lands

in an earthen jar 

of elemental blending.

I am soaked through my skin

laughing all the way 

beyond the banks of River 

meandering, separating

two states

in the Pacific Northwest.

At rickety pier's end

corkscrewing whirlpools

twist to transform the life

of a wet warrior boy;

he’s fending off stormy

advances. And the smell

of rain is a woman

entranced and entrancing.

And the joy 

of bounded blue lines 

on unfolded maps is a child

wandering to witness,

to discover and wonder,

to speak loudly with fervor

and frankness 

to the gods of adventure

and learning, 

these amphibious sirens 

of yearning

of drowning,

bounding  

rebounding..