a ritual to start the work week
joy rests
suppressed
under our anger
and grief
jaws and fists
grip
joy sits
deliberate
weighing options
which crease could crack
which crack will widen
wait
joy lives
hard-shelled
seedling needing space
and warmth
to twist upward
grow
love notes
a ritual to start the work week
brilliance, open and endless
flecked with maturity, holding light
the yellow of late autumn, storm-nourished oak
creeps across morning’s pale, cool blues
later, far away stars will speck the same expanse
bright white time-bombs ticking thru deepening black
dark nests of potential grow in twists,
slowly shocked silver by grasp
love notes
a ritual to start the work week
Care slips from our fingers
like flowing brook water,
frigid from the chill of November night
and icy under our skin.
Only our cupped palms, powered
by boilers hidden in dark basements,
caged and clanging, clanging,
can heat it enough to share.
Attempted sleights spill our wares,
a bean stripped of its magic,
air thinned of oxygen,
leaving us empty-handed.
Cup lip lowers
back to break the surface again.
love notes
a ritual to start the work week
release misfortune
just a turn of the wheel
hold fast to the reins
inner conflict controlled
embrace past warmth
filled filling full
love notes
a ritual to start the work week
my old friend
take me with you
take my body
and my love
my old friend
take my forgiveness
forgive my absence
and my pain
my old friend
feel my reaching
hear my whispers
and my love
my old friend
let’s heal together
let’s heal your heartache
and my pain
my old friend
you still surround me
my heart knows your pain
and your love
love notes
a ritual to start the work week
the memories live in our bones
shadows of laughter in our jaws
and smiles lifting our cheeks
the bounce and the rattle
reverberate our hips and knees
opening and echoing our joints
like so many caves of wonder
ankles and toes relive the slow side-steps
and swaying to and fro
ribs to ribs, cage to cage
humerus pressed over shoulder blades
to congratulate with warm embrace
and the grasp of every digit
counting connections, thankful, true
as our fingers clasped our fingers
pressing wishes into each other’s palms
love notes
a ritual to start the work week
you’re so tiny
and so beautiful
something magical
and blessed above all
when the enormity
of life and earth and time
seems to anchor you
calm your busy mind
remember you’re so tiny
and so beautiful
how could such weight
rest alone on shoulders so small
feel your light
you’re light, you’re rising
up above it all
observing the turn
without feeling the pull
when you’re ready
to ground yourself
and bear your strength
return relay recall
how you’re so tiny
so fragile so nimble so beautiful
something sorcerous
and ever-changing above all
you’re the universe you are
you are you are
love notes
a ritual to start the work week
wisdom says time
wealth says wealth
taken and given
heard and had
belief says time
faith says faith
taken and given
found and felt
strength says time
work says work
taken and given
dealt and done
trust says time
fear says fear
taken and given
learned and lost
love notes
a ritual to start the work week
Scuttlebugs creepin
and rumor-juice seepin
slippin on a cacti
gettin baptized by needlin
poked and stoked and choked by jokes
that won’t slow but don’t hold
blow up like smoke
no the chatter titter tatter doesn’t stop but doesn’t matter
if you can’t turn off the tweeters or the haters make em fatter
serve em beef on a platter
feed em fodder for their patter
but don’t ever take a bite of the mush that they plate
know your push from your pull
and your fish from your bait
make em flop, make em fin
try to stop all the spin
take a breath
get off the ride
and go find your mountain
love notes
a ritual to start the work week
Peace, come find me
turning over stones.
Peace, go with me,
together and alone.
Peace, fulfill me:
quiet, open, here.
Peace, release me
from fantasy and fear.
Peace, see through me;
bare my eager soul.
Peace, speak through me
the words to make us whole.
love notes
a ritual to start the work week
Sometimes cycles close before we know it,
before we can recognize some great end.
Quiet denouements slip through our fingers
and fade into the sand under our feet.
No clear horizon to set our gaze on,
no time, nor space to turn back, reflective,
sometimes our steps just find us farther on.
love notes
a ritual to start the work week
