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Unbound
I write to you unfettered
Reimagined from the ashes
Of some dark demonic depth
Starving for the light
And unbound in so questing
I write to you untethered
Having cast aside the mooring ropes
In favor of a floating peace
As tenuous as it is tender
Yet more real than the metallic anchor
I write to you uncertain
Of the plan beyond the headlights
Yet enamored by the gentle knowing
That the tangles of the trail ahead
Will be easy to follow
If I just listen
I write to you unspeaking
My voice is strong enough inside me
Spreading my story through every bone
Seating tomorrow between my ankle joints
And whispering yesterdays into the wind
I write to you unshaken
While the larch leaves murmur
The breeze that incites them enters me yet does not stay
Rippling through and moving on
Leaving in its wake another layer of ashes
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Puppeteer
I imagine
the puppeteer
swapping out my strings
methodically,
robotically,
one limb at a time
snipping away sinewy chunks of my past
the zigzag remains dangling haphazardly
waiting for restringing
into some well-articulated supple shape
whose movements dance
softly swaying to silent songs
The new instrument will be beautiful
Tender and strong
Harmonic
But, as is the way,
The restringing aches, burns, stings
The puppeteer moves slowly
despite the fragrant throb
aware that the process
cannot be rushed
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Onward
Fairytale clouds hang
Atop evergreen shoulders.
Blue mountains below
Stand vigil and blow kisses
Flirting with our awe.
Road ahead empties
Just me and sky.
I press onwards fast
Trying to arrive before
The stars remind me that they
Shine on, shine in me.
I could not forget;
Our hearts beat in time.
I wonder where I will go
When the darkness comes.
I am not afraid
Gently grateful for today
Made of trust and dust.
We say willows weep
But could those be happy tears,
Old forest wisdom?
I like to think so
That the trees, who’ve lived so long
Know to celebrate
For they see cycles
Are what made the stars.
Today I look up
In wonder of the magic
Tomorrow I look
At evergreen canopies
From fairytale shroud.
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So Many Bones
what do you do
with so many bones
washed clean by the sea’s salty tears
in a place you love
wind whipping waves’ whispers
a pallet of Picasso’s blues
paints the sky
the mountains
the water
the observer
I stand
with my feet just shy of the edge
shivering
yearning
wondering
what do you do
with so many bones
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Moments
It’s all just a series
of moments.
We can hold each one
in its season
with love and tenderness
But then we must let it go
so that we can extend our arms
to wrap around the next one.
If we remain clutching the last moment,
we miss the one that follows it.
We fall out of the balance
that has been curated for us.
The action of holding on
is more familiar than the letting go;
it’s easier if we focus on the now moment,
showing it all the love we can.
Releasing the last moment becomes a natural motion as we embrace the now.
One set of arms.
Many many moments.
They all happen one by one.
Let us live them one by one.
Let us love them one by one.
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So Alive
Pure potent Alaskan air
Raw and wild
Unzips me to my core
Rips me
Woos me
Startles me
Seduces me
Kisses my bones with the frigid breath
Of iced over ancestors
I am alive
So alive!
My whole being is in motion
Aligning to these arctic rhythms
Where the cold vibrates and the sun sleeps
I am the tundra
I am the snowflakes
Correspondence
We freeze together in one orgasmic crystal
I am energy
Forever
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Liminal
When we look out at what has been
Then look in at what could be
And choose to depart from the patterns of the past
Without yet knowing what shapes the future will take
We bravely offer a hand to the liminal space
And begin to dance
With each footfall
Etching new memory
Into old clay
As we suspend ourselves between was and will
We invite the unseen to guide our dance
The earth reaches up to place our feet
The sky leans down to shift our beat
We dancers become the danced upon
The instructions dotted like stars
Transmitted through smooth skin
Into our marrow
All we must do is remember
Keep dancing
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Mysteries
I love mysteries
Not the dead body in the closet kind
The soul in the body kind
The soul in a living, so-alive body
The body right here, in this time-space coordinate
In this unfathomable universe
What is it about the ancient wisdom
Stored deep within my DNA
And yours too
That’s so magnetic, alluring
Full of siren-sweet nectar
Beckoning, passionately ?
I’m not looking for answers
I love the numinous questions
It’s something about how they make me feel
When I roll them around inside my being
The expansiveness of possibility
When I contemplate
This enigmatic existence
Do you feel it too?
That energetic hum
Way deep inside your skull
In your gut, your throat, your heart
Perhaps tuning itself to some ethereal frequency
If you listen, it’s there
If you needed permission
To silence the noise and play
With that juicy resonance
This is your invitation
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Torchlight
I go out on a walk
To watch the dawn
Trace its bright fingers
Over the mountains’ angles
Softening them into curves
Golden wavelengths
I find myself
Instinctively, effortlessly
Picking up pieces of people’s souls
Walking in step with them
As they open their armor
And show me what hurts
It’s an honor
It’s a responsibility
It’s a gift
May the solar torch
Continue to light my path
So I can keep giving
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Airbrushed
I feel the sunset on my skin
And a subtle sweet uncertainty
About where I end and the air begins
As the orange glow warms my core
Penetrates my marrow
Adheres itself to my soul
There’s something so holy about the way
The wind ripples the waves
And flutters my hair
With the same breath
I can’t caress her back
In the same soft sweet sultry salty way
She flirts with me
So I blow a fiery kiss
Into the air
And hope she catches it
Hope she can feel the love
The love that’s swirling
In this magnificent multiamorous multitudinous magic
That is my reality
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Interstellar
Silver sliver overhead
Smiles at celestial sparkles
Queen Moon in the Stardust Kingdom
She smiles upon me too
I too sparkle with heavenly glitter
I too am part of the Stardust Kingdom
A fibrous, flexible part
Supple, supportive
Crucial, connecting
Earth to sky
My body is that bridge
The fabric of the liminal
The valiant alchemist
Transmuting Earth matter into ether
Made of the same stuff as stars
Starstruck
Stars in her eyes
Starting to see
Startled
Stargazing
Upon myself
As Queen Moon
I smile