Air

Feel the endless light of stars,
Pause, gazing into infinity,
From light years away it pours,
Into the unquiet parts of me.

Standing in fields of wild grass,
Stalks breathing a skyward climb,
As endless rays perform the mass,
And endless breeze the sacred chimes.

The clouds daily weep their joy,
At beauty their vantage beholds,
Warm earth currents, the gentle ploy,
That coaxes rainwaters to unfold,

And air like grace is all about,
Bending soft to enfold my frame,
The substance of every song and shout,
It carries the calling of my name.

Seligman's Dog

Eyes fixed on the closing light,
Not a breath betrays this fright,
I dreamt once of safe and warm,
And felt safety from all harm,
Now I lay me down,
Like Seligman's dog.

Now locked at neck in guillotine,
The universe turns cruel and mean,
I dreamt once, the trust of love,
Felt the touch like a velvet glove,
Now I lay me down,
Like Seligman's dog.

And every tick upon the wrist,
A new ache scratched on the list,
I dreamt once of the hope of morn,
It seemed not a curse to be born,
Now I lay me down,
Like Seligman's dog.

Somewhere a fissure in the clouds,
Somewhere faith, hope, love sing loud,
My eyes closed tight to the angels,
With keys to the locks and manicles,
I need be led and freed,
Like Segligman's dog.

____________

Martin Seligman did experiments on dogs to demonstrate a concept called "learned helplessness" where dogs were given electric shock through the floor with no way out of the room. Eventually the dogs would lay down and whine. Then after restoring a way out, the dog would still not chose escape. The dog would have to be led out of the painful circumstance by hand. It seems to me it is a fit analogy for some of life's experiences and conditioning.

Clouds

A dizzy dance of vapor mists,
And my heart sinks, painted grey,
Even as droplets off wind-gusts play,
In rain sprinkled grass I rest.

What calls this surge to leave the beds,
Of pools, ponds, lakes, and oceans,
Cumulus over sky in endless motion,
And weep o'er faraway lands instead.

In nimbus Rorschach forms of white,
Or in streaming cirrus vapor currents,
Like a living tapestry of firmament,
Plays imaginings and fools my sight.

Then waters reclaim what they have lent,
Drawing mists, drops, snow, and hail,
Even as clouds toward horizon sail,
Their very selves condense, are rent.

Clouds, like stories, like life and death,
Lovely in time, but the moment fleets,
Winds blow clouds, like backyard sheets,
The stuff of dreams, or ghosts, or breath.

Beautiful Boy

Of pain and blood — first cries,
And breath and open eyes,
The womb's safe walls now breached,
As pixie hands, upward reach,
Beautiful boy.

And endless nights of endless wake,
Love's sweet specters never slake,
They cradle pup from every fear,
New breath puffs in parent's ear,
Beautiful boy.

Limbs so slight of bone and skin,
Scarecrow cub — free as the wind,
Yet time will grow sinews and size,
'Til a young man one day does rise,
Beautiful boy.

As his character and stature grow,
Then a father will come to know,
The infant-man dons uniform,
With proud heart, and tresses shorn,
Beautiful boy.

And every ring, and every knock,
Brings every fear, and every shock,
For the one once weak and frail,
Now blazes the most deathly trails,
Beautiful boy.

The day violence breaks this boy,
This beautiful, beautiful, boy,
Now lays crumpled upon the ground,
His fractured frame makes no sound.
Beautiful broken boy.

Of pain and blood, last cries,
Without breath but opened eyes,
Kin and loved ones mourn and weep,
And walk in grief and valleys deep,
Oh beautiful, beautiful boy.

Oh beautiful, broken boy.

The Rose

Silky huddle teams the stem,
Seeping drift of sweet pollen,
Fist-tight greed in morning light,
Allures in hues of lovely sight.

Orb rises o'er horizon's curl,
Rose fair plumage gently unfurls,
Now wafts fine nectar on the breeze,
It beckons beasts, birds, and bees.

Wantonly sprawled in heat of noon,
The flower flirts in a midday swoon.
Like a girl grows to womanly charm,
Finds suitors circle in avid swarm.

'Til hapless lover seizes stem,
To be sole owner of floral gem,
A piercing pain retracts from thorns,
Love and grace are in pain adorned.

As days bleed night and back to day,
Thus softly petals wilt, then lay,
Like an offering at the feet of God,
This — rose's dying act of laud.