Wednesday, December 22, 2010

The path through the woods was meandering, and the trees in that forest were very old. Serenity had taken up permanent residence there. Landine liked walking, alone,in her new outfit, warm in the sun and cool in the shade.She sang to herself and thought things to herself. She thought it would be nice if people in town would put on a play or a pageant. The stage of the town hall had curved steps on each side, and she imagined children in silk dresses and ivy crowns approaching each other from the two directions with arms swinging gracefully, and dancing twirls and reels on the big wooden stage with it's drooping velvet curtains. Maybe on the sort of summer evening when those towering windows would be open and all the townspeople sitting quietly would be at peace in the breezes. Some people could recite poetry, and maybe she would sing a song, maybe the song she had just been singing on the path, "The Gypsies, the Jugglers, and the Clowns".She briefly wondered what Milo would think of a night like that, and figured she wouldn't force the point if he didn't want to go.

Down the path she heard a clamor, a thudding and swearing at a distance. From a cloud of dust she saw a three wheeled adult bicycle approaching. Speeding bumpily down a slight incline she saw the mayor of the town, sweat flat mullet slightly lifted by the momentum. He pulled to a stop with palpable relief. "Landine, Landiiine, a penny for your thoughts." He said this with a smile full of mixed feelings.

" I was thinking of a summer pageant at the town hall"

"Well, my dear, if you were willing to be at the helm of a planning committee, I'm sure a reasonable budget could be provided for expenses such as snacks and costumes."

"well, I'd really just begun to think about it."she frowned, and yet she felt happy.

"Submit the plans to me and I will read and re-read them with fascination. A dream, a hope, a whisper of culture, taking the holy mantle of the proud founders of Cabinville"

"o.k."
He gave her a serious and thoughtful look. They nodded at each other.

He reluctantly hurtled on.

"

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

The proportion of the universe
comes as a shock
rude to sweet interludes
those feet are planted in dizzying death
the beauty former
and disappointment latter
your victory must be invented
on pure bravado
no chains or fetters
as everything withdraws without you
our fondest dreams dance on our deepest fears
to wait forever by a cliff
one step high
to wait forever
to again wait forever

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Cabinville had an orderly grocery store with liquor behind the counter,and a hardware store with a toy aisle. Other than that the down town had 5 empty storefronts, town hall, a library in Greek revival style, a thrift store, a sportswear store and a boutique.Entering that boutique, Landine felt that she was stepping across a threshold of time and space into another world. A carpeted world of hats and shoes and perfumes, meant to provide powerful women with the very specific supplies needed for their charmed lives.When she went in she was so focused on the mysterious nature of this reality that she wasn't her usual friendly self with the shopkeeper, even though she'd known her pretty well in high school.Landine knew that if she was arrayed in this finery, Milo would become a love-slave to her. He liked her plenty now, but if she stepped out with him in clothes like that, he'd watch her all night and take her home early. His hands would float on her skin as if the only thing stopping them from melting into one was the electric current between them. Her sigh stirred the silk of the blouse she was looking at. She went up to the counter and spent ten dollars on a silver tube of red lipstick. She crossed the street to the thrift shop with a strong feeling she'd find something wonderful there. Stepping in she saw her friend Lulu behind the counter, erasing old price tags so they could be used again. "Landine, I'm so glad you came in, Penny said if you fill in for her on Thursday you can have anything in the store for free,but she can't pay cash unless you have a real busy day"
"oh that'll be fine Lulu, I'd probably just spend the cash here anyway."
She turned to the racks of clothes with an air of authority.
In terms of finding an outfit that suited her she moved with reckless certainty.Within five minutes she was holding a silver skirt that had once been part of the three piece set for a mother of the bride, a top with spaghetti straps that was Milo's favorite color, and low heeled sandals with x's on each buckle.She went into the changing room and put on the outfit, combed her hair and put on her new lipstick."I'm gonna wear this now Lulu, you just take the tags and I'll square things up Thursday". She stepped out into the spring day a little under dressed for the weather, but a fine sight to see.She could walk all the way to the cabin on the old path through the woods just feeling the warm and the chill of spring.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

the ego, beautiful, but naked
is hurt by peering into the future
things dreamed of in the warmth
are thought of in the still and cold
but love and high regards oversee this process
and next, lady wisdom relaxes.
Though the Pharaohs heart is hardened
against my slap dash song
I dare hope for dignity
at least alone
the crown of the future is the curse of the present
bullys will always knock off my lovely hat,
thereby reducing me to hideousness.

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Well being
is effected by desires
when perseverance has seemed unrewarded
the shadows cast change the look of everything
here patience is discovered
like the sighting of a creature
believed to be mythical
your heart has written you a letter
and everyone pauses as you open it
the journey seems more a departure
than a setting off
and the result is that you are once again younger
wounds, riches, and revelations swim in your mind
as you think down from the sky.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

all I've been given is treasure
ravished and left with pounds of pearls
careless childhood baits me
resting on the collapsed
a woman's mind is keen
while yet warm from the bedroom
temperance is closer than it seems
and prudence more liberating than it seems.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Landine

Landine was asleep with some covers fallen off.Her skin was chilled in that strange way of sleepers, in that oblivion that prevents the simplest solution to the plainest need.She was dreaming of a parade. She sat on a float in driving rain in a flimsy gown held down to a bench of roses by sewing pins.She seemed to have been somehow stitched into the display, a maze of flowers and girls, where not all were visible to the crowds, as they would have been on a real float on a real day.As Milo woke up and tossed the blankets back over her, she dreamed of the sun bursting out. Its' heat caused the girls and flowers on the float to swoon with relief.

Her eyes opened with her nose still below the blanket. Milo was heating water and rolling up his long johns, just about to soak his feet. He was going about his business, and she was peeking at him. Well she knew he wouldn't lie back down once he was up. Her best bet was to get up and start acting productive, doing the chores, while still wearing nothing but a her nightgown. Of course, she then might herself realize that the things of the day were calling. For this cabin not to look like a robbers den of iniquity, she'd have to work steadily 'til afternoon. It looked like it might be a good day to air things out, like the winter was giving a little. The thaw was seeping through. She'd feel like a queen by noon. The cabin would be straitened up and the sun would be streaming in.
a simple success that takes a lifetime
we suffer in affections
on a foundation of need
plans are laid below marshes
until finally tradition
gives his blessing
determination in a woozy haze
the existence of love
and the pain in the neck
it happens!
vs. the scheme queen
set in the graveyard
as the mind rises
a step in the right direction
storms that skate
across eternal nights
the perfect hat
and embodiment of
vivid Christmas
ready to dazzle as usual
here we go then
into stillness
burdens and shocks
are addressed by sure commanders.

Monday, October 18, 2010

getting home late I found Emory's notebook lying on my bed with note- "read page 2"

The Wicket maze of woe
---------------------
The wicket maze of woe the ways
of life may go,I wonder
what the meaning of life is, maybe
it is to find your own meaning or to
enjoy it another frustrating question
is what happens
when you die are religious gods real
or even why anything exists in the first place
will those questions be answered who knows
we'll have to wait if so
the wicket maze of woe
the ways of life may go

Sunday, October 10, 2010

The sea can see
because I am it's eyes
oceans of Shannon
with Gene Clark heart
life in a life boat
afloat on mud
that cured the Coney Island blind
to wash your feet with perfume
whose cost could have helped the poor
to dry them with my hair.
you awoke one morning with beautiful curls
I had dreamed of having so many children
I kept forgetting all their names
the mysterious painting titled
There Were No Words
appeared again
as Ariel, Eve and Me.

Saturday, October 9, 2010

The light brigade
encounters wealth and time
the holy conundrum of pleiades
as sky foundation
we already rose from the grave
our flag emblazoned
Trust the Truth
collecting pennies
scattering pennies
we work with skill
and rest with depth
the surprise is innocence
the outcome
delight in good fortune

Sunday, September 26, 2010

suspension, maintaining a semi-permanent reversal, through will power
without the right information
encounters a suprising win, complete with a smug sweetness, examining the prize
suddenly
visions visions
the march that surmounts
and real results
I am pure water sky soft
I am winsome winding
I want to wait
I don't want to wait
love send me a letter
leep steed
when evil fascinates the innocent
the devil is dismantled.
a message surrounded in luminous blue
transports the reader whose interest is piqued
tiger striped action seems so bold
to we who have waited so long
and charged forward in a dash of sudden bravery
oh to time our steps and gestures to be pretty together!
while we hang by our toes
our fingers trail gracefully along the ground
well do we know our sweet ideals
proletariat ladies
who bend with kundalini grace
life's gift we hardly dare unwrap
a bowing beauty bends before the bath.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

at heart, a heart
treasured as a petted darling
from singing silence sprung
the steady solid senator
a high mind covers a multitude
of inconveniences
dashing dashing
receiving letters
I wish I were a fool
I wish I were a fool
bent forever
beneath the beams
of the sun

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

The solemn temper
widened by thin pains
coated in salt and
deposited in limbo
could be rescued
dipped in celestial gel
sped to truth
and balanced between
capacity to sense
and life's thousand things.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

The journey in parallels
spined, but the flesh is soft
(and resting on well known harmonies)
let go upside down
asleep during a violent storm
with daylight all is well
caressed by both delight and formality
I am the strength that failed
The sea-sick authority
I don't want to watch out
Libra, restore me.

Monday, July 5, 2010

memory tilts into
confusion
because of debates
that went on forever
strengthened by awful tasks
I now ride high
and light
dear hiding place
you await-
good news for one
both bold and unsure
the didactic dreamer
dizzy with
separation.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

the world is weak
within a week
and faded in a shortcut
razzed in half with pizazz
and sorta sad.
wild everywhere
except within the taming of brutality
that brutality that seizes me insidiously.
yet even that force becomes the clattering cans
behind the wedding car.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

illuminated jewels,
living jewels in a mirror land
where warm sun shines on two singers.
There I spoke my mind and died.
A crone conducts her orchestra of lightning bolts.
The emotional lady blushes the next day.
An angel who's halo is infinity
pats the king of lions.
she seems to know her own mind,
and suspects material well being
All in all a delight of friendly gossip.
Sometimes things are repaired by mercy
and not contrivance.

Friday, April 9, 2010

If I were made of only bone
the only bone after presumptions that die on the vine
the lurching sea of land beneath
my retreat left behind
could these bones be brave and true
and bring the pleasant company of memories in solitary time?
I can't be seen behind my mask
an odd paralysis is all that's visible
to be selfish or uneasy
spinning with what goes on and on
before sweet sanity unfolds

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Admirers bow to the vibrancy and strength of generosity
and yet it is delicate
a thousand misfortunes may swarm it.
For it's our treasures that we give
and freely too,
since that is all we have to do with them.
to give
to wait
to celebrate
are we judicious and pleasant
when heartbreak is what has earned all this?
Proud towers are toppled in the wake of generous reproaches.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

comings and goings of the ponies.They had managed to bring in the elegant beds with a herculean effort of pulleys and carts, but considered the comfort and beauty that resulted clearly worth it.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

The secret thinker
a bandit who steals from the enemy-
the damsel in distress is your conundrum.
As a habit you take stock of everything
but habits sometimes lead to salty tears.
Still, it's best to face unwanted truths
when powders pearls and turbans
can't protect you.
A lady step by step, alone
acheives earthly comforts
and friendly privacy.
Alone and afflicted
but sheltering a vivid essential feeling
we see how you can bow and bend.
Your strength is formidable.
You find yourself remembering
the freedom of absorption in a task-
the perfection of a companion cat.
What bliss to lay the past to rest.

Monday, March 1, 2010

Dashing forward while looking back is safe in open fields
I see my bracelet on my wrist and how it glitters
The hat has been tipped, the dance danced
The easy gypsy queen is seated on her throne
so many pleasures overwhelm
as sweet charm springs to victory
the night garden of life as it is
the mandala of flowers in the morning

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Electric energy
that needs to be resolved
in demure behavior
rooted in the stolid
(with a wink)
harrowing hardship
sternly pointed
to the silver lining
Oh Devil of lusts that can
never be sated
thirsts never quenched
you have horns and feathers
The mask that dazzles
but then I'm hand-on-hip
to your tricks
I grant benedictions all day
with a frown that
wows the crowd
shall I be as innocent as ever?
I'll duck the pricks
and round out.
even the sun has nerves in it's smile.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Glory, you are a puzzle
a grape that strains to reach the fox.

The spray of the waves
on a seaside day
doesn't seem to suggest
the depths of the ocean
Depths that hold loves object still.

Rest is restored in privacy
where objects keep you company.

Cagey with an embarrassment of riches
regretful of my own power to hurt
everything speeds by.
I hope and fear to stop[
Always looking from a high vantage point
I can't breathe until a certain time on the clock.
Pray-er you think into great voids
beset by everything
but the secret singing grace is your origen
Divine idea-the idol that drains
Divine water
now is angel seated on her haunches.
there are mighty lies to be toppled
before we are children again
Now we see ourselves mere businessmen of life
While all the cosmos reels
with hair in the wind and heartbeat.
Dreams- the beginning of everything
but beginnings that never proceed,atrophy.
Clear mind deliver us our deep authority.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

People like the thoughts they think themselves. When I read a book I take credit for everything in it. Once I was happy for many days in a row.
" I was going to be the bright young girl with big league boots and a crystal heart stepping over everyone."
"How does it feel, dying in the dirty middle of someone else's love affair?"

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

MATT

You stand at ease with your shield,
with bright eyes fastened on a castle that seems a well guarded stronghold.
Long ago mysterious clouds that dashed by moon and stars,
made you content while lost in the dark.
As justice was delayed,
your clear mind gained the power to pierce through the ground.
A man alone in mind, draws the attention of the Divine.
King of Valentines
a restless dreamer
sleeps by your side
all wishes are granted
to those who change their minds.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

The mysterious people in the distance, behind me
have frightened me for a long time.
In reality they're harmless
and minding their own business
I achieved this grand clarity under garlands of flowers.
Who are these people at ease in their lives?
My mind abruptly right side up,
the heavens open to satisfy my wondering.
I set my throne in the sea
to stay awake from my bad dream.
Stability created this advance.
Innocence that was preyed upon
and exhausted
still must face a formidable maniac.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

A plan of my own devising
has heady ideals to reckon
my deep sweet secrets
dusted over gypsy magnetism
were eclipsed completely
by a flat pronouncement
-the daggers that beset you
likewise will defend you.
I merely march,
but seem to ever wave a
whimsical farewell
everyday love-fear not
recognition that appears
so neat
has a moody army
right behind it.