Things Not Far Away

Sunset glares through a slit in the clouds, 

cool air descends with a childhood memory 

of horses in Willcox…

They know things.

We stared at each other over a millennium.

They know wind, rain, and trouble.

They helped me to many 

places that were kindred to my nature,

escaping the oppressing forces,

to wander in the dreams of silent places

where kindness flourished.

There are no maps for any of that. 

It’s windy on the borderland

and rain approaches.

I opened a lovely Malbec to sip slowly

and relax while the storm treked across 

a darkly veiled sky.

Wine is poured and its fragrance

mingles with the aroma of rain

that falls from dreams and memories.

The horses know.

We all know.

Rain will soon come.

From: Getting There

Unpub. MS p.2

A Question Of Madness

No one has a right to say that no water babies exist 

till they have seen no water babies existing, which is, 

mind, quite a different thing from not seeing water babies.  

~Charles Kingsley

To awaken and then to disappear 

into something beautiful

saturates our hearts and minds with wonder.

Waves never go to the center of the sea.

The oceans do not forget that bearers of pain

find solace at the turbulent edge of the world.

The wind on the grasslands whispers to us

that everything possesses music,

but if you listen for it, you won’t hear it.

The failure to speak

in the voice of the invisible 

will render your heart barren of vision.

If never allowing for uncertainty,

for possibilities beyond light and darkness, 

then our spirits languish.

The question of madness is always present.

I would not argue against it being 

the highest form of intelligence.

From: Finding My Way: A Meandering Journey

Seeking the Sacred Mysteries Through 

Memory, Time, and Place

Unpub. MS p. 15