Posted in Uncategorized, tagged darkness, poem, poetry, solstice, sunshine, you are my sunshine on December 23, 2017| 2 Comments »
We used to sing
You are my sunshine,
sang it like
a children’s song,
all glitter and wing.
That was before
we knew
how dark it can get,
sky without stars,
night without moon.
Even the brightest songs
can be sung in a minor key.
That is no reason
to stop singing.
That’s the time
to ask someone
to dance, please,
slow, your bodies
practicing how
to make light.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged falling in love with the world, light, poem, poetry, solstice, world on December 22, 2016| 2 Comments »
On this gray, near-drizzling day
I write again this love letter
for the earth, which is, I suppose,
what all poems are, though they
disguise themselves as poems about
children or wine or baseball or snow.
On this longest night, it’s so clear—
the truest reason to write at all is to fall
more deeply in love with the world,
with its trees and its drizzle
and its stubborn shine and its
relentless hunger and its corners
that will never ever ever see the growing light.
Fall in love with the octopus that can detach
an arm on purpose and then grow it back again.
Fall in love with the elusive lynx
and the crooked forest and the frazzle ice
tinkling in the San Miguel River.
Fall in love even with this profoundly flawed
species that, despite all its faults,
is still capable of falling more deeply,
more wildly in love.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged light, poem, poetry, praise, solstice on December 23, 2014| 5 Comments »
is it lighter?
I can’t tell—that’s the way
light is sometimes
*
remind me again,
what are we circling? and what
is it circling us?
*
not bell, not mirror
not sigh, not kiss, not morning,
not moon, not kiss, but
*
is it possible
that I might praise
everything
*
oh yes, I remember,
be a fool—that is what
the wise man said
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged cold, fall in love with the world, look up, opening, poem, solstice, truth on December 22, 2011| 3 Comments »
the truth
enters
the room
like a cold
cold breeze—
sometimes
we’re ready
for a break
from the heat,
sometimes
it’s just
so
cold
*
it’s not
as if we
can make ourselves
fall in love
with the world,
but I’ve noticed
that when
I look up
it’s more
likely
*
it is
after all
the longest night
and even though
tomorrow
it’s only one
more minute
of light
it is one
more
minute
*
I have been praying
for openings,
and behind
every door
that opens
another door
*
with my one
minute more
I don’t know
what I’ll do—
but I hope
I remember
to
look
up