Our origins start In secrecy Our life shrouded In mystery from conception Our birth is celebrated For the human They believe You will become. Our soul Is claimed by Others Until we fade Into the ashes Upon our final breath.

Open, close, glide, slip, slide, flit, carried along with the trade winds, from South America to the U.S., meandering descent, alight, rest, sniff, close wings. Scent, sweet, nectar, delicious intent, probing with a proboscis, whether orange or flower, sliced or whole, honey or raw sugar…

I watched a lizard Go after a single french fry that had fallen off my plate In an empty outdoor cafe in Ghana I wished him good luck as he latched on And darted away with his prize. Just before that We had toured the…

Little wet, little damp Are my eyes Haven’t slept Much since last night Eyes half closed And heavy lidded Such a strange feeling My mind playing Tricks on me Heavy with sleep My trembling eyes Bringing back Memories Feels like first time But it’s not…

Flutter, flutter, crisp and soft Across the path flies a moth Glittering wings nearly collide with a bee Under the pines, a canopy of trees Hearing the birds sing their songs, This magical sight is for us to savor All summer long. Mary Gabis 6/22/19

Bowled over by the truth Decimated by the lie The burden once thought able to bear Has knocked me down – left me to die I now lie in agony Weighed down by your sin Your love was always shallow Yet I believed I could…

Chirp the ref’s whistle sounds Five green girls face off  against five grey boys Sweat runs down red faces  “Ugh,” kick, thwap Ball hurtles down the court ”Go green!” The goalie stretches and leaps THUD The crowd erupts

Ansuz   “Can you speak your truth?”   By bringing forth expressed energy In poetry, prose, and art One is gifted communication From more than just the heart   Ansuz sees beyond the apparent Tapping into the innermost self A higher form of deliverance &…

Molasses eyes, vertiginous depths, tender in gaze, opened to me, abated my fear, born inside. Velvet hands of strength smoothed my tears; you spoke of hope and held me close. Distance called, left me cold, until heaven claimed you, and the earth kept you. Scarring…

(Responding to image 3) THE PATH OF LONELINESS I lay under the midnight stars And dream of a life I have never known. I am not sleeping, nor awake As the coyotes howl in the distance. Their haunting cry echoes the pain in my heart….