Any Which Way

Backwards, forwards, any which way

Why is this day not yesterday

When the axe’s chop remained infrequent?

When things were clear and good and innocent

Innocence is but a breath that’s gone

In every situation knowledge and experience won

Is innocence truly the opposite of guilt?

Action is how legends are often built

Inaction shares as much blame as purpose does

Two tributaries joining in the flood

One trickles pretending not to see

While the other flows maliciously

Both thinking solely of their own gain

Disregarding someone else's pain

One mute, unhelpful to a neighbor’s plight

One loudly bragging that he had the right

When charges are thrown into their face

The bully lies to obscure and build his case

The coward lies to himself and his own heart

Neither stepping up when called to account

Just Fine

Sometimes words and music bend my mind

With meanings obscured and undefined

Bypassing thought and consciousness

Blending into the universe’s sweet morass

I tried to find the thread and pull it free

But perhaps I pulled a line not meant for me

Like an artery filled and flowing red

I pulled too tight until it snapped and bled

I searched for another and found a vein

Pulsing with the aching blue of untold pain

I tried to let it fall and leave it where it lay

But my sticky fingers hooked would not give way

Its beating path led me to your door

Where you lie prone and naked on the floor

I fell to my knees to see if you still lived

Your soul journeyed while your body grieved

Either my ministrations or simply fate

Brought you back before it was too late

Spirit returned-- your eyes burned into mine

And somehow I knew we would be just fine

The Cycle Spins

West wind whispers in the willows

Small people press faces to their pillows

Hovering hawk hears harvest mice below

Stillness and cold--harbingers of snow

Milky morning light kisses small towheads

Yawning and sniggering they fly out of bed

Yelling, “Mommy, Mommy we want to play”

“Daddy, Daddy, are you staying home today?”

Boisterous family goes playing in the park

Where streaming sunlight washed away dark

Happiness so easy on a bright, light day

What does it take to keep it just that way?

Children grow and children change

In a world sometimes wild and strange

Parents allow their fledglings to fly

With arms open wide to hold if they cry

Hearts are stretched and souls are seasoned

Decisions made either gut-felt or reasoned

Mother is awake waiting in the rocking chair

For youth to come home in the midnight air

Teens mature past heartbreak and pain

Years go around and around again

Steadfast love leads to marriage banns

Juggling relationship and career demands

The cycle spins full circle and then

Different yet the same spins again

West wind whispers in the willows

New mothers fluff their children’s pillows

Grandma smiles indulgently

Knowing these years pass too swiftly

Hovering hawk hears harvest mice below

Stillness and cold--harbingers of snow