24 Poems ~ 24 Hours
This week
I touched it, found it prickly, drew blood
drank, found myself changed, drew blanks
stayed up late with a scab and a buzz,
Woke to force words and conclusions
Today
I drive out, drop anchor, see
Buoyed by open water,
sea green.
types of time
the stars last
the rocks too
only we don’t
however
if you arrive in time
the water liquifires
into melting gold
Night
Dark sky
Stark and wide
From the bright city
But bid the lights goodbye,
And see dark skies blossom pretty
Points of light, becoming clouds of bitty
Distant fires, or rocks in space reflecting light
From the hidden sun, behind the gritty
Bulk of Earth, the shadow fitting
A window in the sky
Show the pretty
Lacy shine
Of fine
Light
Form: Diatelle
Prompt: 
Anchored and waiting
calm seas under marble-blue sky
dreaming about land
Archipelagos
long to sail on oceans wide
leave countries behind
In the bay, we sleep
our boat swaying with the waves
and green-blue sea dreams
(22 June 2019, Hour 4)
Higher
Ever higher
My gaze rises
High above verdant treetops
Above triumphant mountain peaks
Vaults the punctured backdrop
Ever expanding
Universe exhaling
Faster
Ever faster
Higher
Ever higher
Zenith and beyond
Shimmering
Shining
Burning
Eternity unfolding
Eternally resounding
The great remnant called apocalypse
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.
I will not shrink from being who I am
In these the last days
I am resolute
I will not hide from the world my fears
Less still my love
My regrets for the past
And a future that will not be
In my heart I planned for this
Though I hoped I would be wrong.
Now I am sure with a surety that cannot be shaken
Though I try, and succeed for breathless moments
To forget that I am the harbinger of doom
Black crow to a world that kills elephants
And bees, flowers and the roots of rain forest trees
Knowing extinction of the world we knew
Is inevitable. Tomorrows will not come for us
The bright and shining days of childhood
Are dark now. Where light once pierced the night
Dawn is too heavy a curtain.
I am powerless to push aside the velvet pall.
And reveal heavens that once revealed stars.
I am. You are. We are.
My last, your last, our last.
Minutes are long and bleak.
They do not pass like shooting stars
And leave a trail of stardust
Pain is an overwhelming blanket
Repentance cannot throw from heavy hearts
The hours are counting down
I am each minute wholly here
With you in a world that madness conquered
Stolen tomorrows are not hidden
In the treasure troves buried by the oligarchs
Who delivered us by their evil to these end days
Funeral pyres piled high with worthless treasures
From the rooftop on Cannon
we broke jokes like eggs,
begged shingles to hold,
avoided sagging dips.
The moon wasn’t full
felt incomplete. I wanted
the stars to be brighter,
wanted streetlights dimmed
and a better view of my bungalow
three blocks away on Percy, wanted
something better to say. Words
swirled like smoke, rings above us
and out into the city. Three
heartbeats high and open.
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
all to be suckled
with reverence.
No fear of human aggression,
these are not pests.
If threatened,
open wings,
display magnificence,
geometrical colors and patterns,
which only nature can manifest.
Then suddenly, people pull out
cameras, cell phones, tablets,
“Oh, look, look! A butterfly!”
For this itinerate wanderer
It was all worth it.
This one-way journey,
to feed, to breed,
to beautify.
Snacky sweet and sticky feet
a sensational view
as my friend and I move and eat mechanically and wonder if there’s something more