this is what we are now,
haunting reflections
of lives half-lived,
crushed together in shifting compartments
crowded under the weight of moremorefasterbiggerbettermustmusthavehavingandnot
less room to stretch and grow,
to stand upright confidently and move with ease,
running from the natural rhythms
of the light and green world,
following paved paths
and the trailing lights of others
trudging ahead in line.
the girl next to me
pleads to God
in exquisite blue cursive
as I sit in awe of the artful way
she is searching for support,
and I want to leap over the vast barrier
of these mere inches
and hug her and
beam love into her dark moment.
I need you to step beyond the boxed lines,
I need to feel your heart SING,
to hear it ululate with the profound resonance
of dawn breaking over the ocean
of the stars wheeling above mountain crests,
to see you move as fluidly as your hair in the strong wind
of a bright summer day
unfettered and electric,
to see the smile not just on your lips
but also in every cell of your being
until you are on fire with joy
and contagiously sharing with everyone else
all of the love this world needs,
that these bodies were made to give.

living breathing through bones
blood-edged
heart-bared
naked and shining
in-decisive winter’s grace.
delicate-seeming map of growth
soon to shower
splendor
in all directions.
hard conversations that go
easily
yet leave such
aching awareness
hanging

Birthing the new year into the wee hours in a wild gyration of primal beats, delving deep down to the instinctive root of pure bliss in life and body exuded through sweat and movement in unspoken tribalism with strangers, camaraderie and smiles freely flowing luminescence through the shadowy streets, tumbling into warm friend welcomes and succoring sleep, waking to the sweet peace and safety of the old heart home, delightful discovering that the shining of the starlight still bathes your skin after all the hours, bright clarity streaming through the window strengthening dear connections and warmth in this new day, news of grandma’s passing interwoven through the tapestry of shimmering now-ness, sharp-felt loss of remaining chances to connect, to learn the stories and history of times before you were even a twinkling dream in the deepness, to know how you are a part of the long ancestral mother line, unaccountable unknown wisdom lost, loss of her echoing loss of your voice still runaway hiding in the dark, missing, missing still, even through the beaming joy-filled celebration of radiant futures of this abundant consummate me returned to life, life and death, warp and weft, loss and love, all, all in this beauty-fulled inaugural day.