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Walking Home

The gentle sigh of pouring rain surrounds me
As I silently step across the parking lot.
A cold, stiff wind caresses my damp face
Slightly downturned.
I whistle to the pups barking behind their fence
Knowing they're far less brave out of its confines.
My crop top and courderoys, now soaked,
Cling to my body's curves,
An almost nonexistent barrier between myself and the falling rain.
Cars pause, waiting for me to cross the busy street
While drivers shake their heads, laughing.
The scent of the damp earth fills my lungs
Bringing a smile to my face.
Long, dripping tendrils of hair
Whip my back amd fly about snaking around each other in the wind.
Fresh, cool moisture drips onto my lips leaving me wanting another taste.
The postman and I wave and smile to each other as we pass
A bond found in the winding, puddled trail we both travel
Out of necessity
On this beautiful day.
Arriving home I shed my sopping clothes,
Sit on the carpet before the heater,
Watching the fish in their tanks
Wishing I could join them.
--~}@{~--


Sun Dancer

Early in the morning on a lonely stretch of beach,
When the sun is just beginning to rise,
While the rest of the world is sound asleep
O'er the waves the Sun Dancer flies.

In a secluded clearing in the middle of a forest
Where the wind whistles through the wood
At sunset, when the deer lie down to rest
The voice of the Sun Dancer is heard.

On the plain that stretches as far as the eye can see
Amid the tall grasses that gently sway
The buffalo roam wild and free
While the Sun Dancer quietly prays.

In the desert under the noontime sun
From which none can find any rest
The jack rabbits frantically jump and run
In the land the Sun Dancer loves the best.
--~}@{~--


Enrapturing Night

The misty moon hovers above you,
Illumining a scene of serenity
Hauntingly enfolding you in its surreal peace,
Embracing the song you sing for it
Knowing you cannot cease;
The melody ascends to the ceiling of the sky
Blending with the music of the stars
Before the strains of its refrain are returned to you
Hallowed by the angels' sighs.
This night is the embodiment of all you feel,
Enrapturing and capturing
Your soul, your life, your zeal.
One you are, in desperation and desire;
Its bitter wind cries out your anguish;
Your eyes betray its fire.
Your power, your force, are one and the same;
Rising up on and with each other;
Flame feeding on waxing flame.
Eternities combine in a finite place and time;
Forevers intertwine creating sacred rhyme.
Dreams, visions, nightmares, all
Released to run rampant, wild, free;
Swirling, gusting, you alone trusting
To hear, taste, touch, and see.
World within world, your passions unfurled,
Sheets of mist blow over you: covering, encasing;
Icy fingers reach out for you: grasping, enticing.
The chill currents spin you, turn you, push you down, prop you up,
Submitting you to their every whim
Though willingly you succumb.
You leave your senses and surrender to the hypnotism of the eve.
This night of nights, a fantasy flight
Beyond imagination has let your spirit soar;
On this fling you have taken wing
A whole new consciousness to explore.
Images, knowledge, and wisdom have filled your open mind
Until finally the night is through,
And you'll not soon forget what you've left behind.
--~}@{~--


Travels

Shadows of night
Remembered by light
Return me to another life
Far removed from my present plight.

I'm taken back to a time,
Deep inside my mind's eye--
Where every dawn I die
With my dearest enemy mine.

They also take me to the future--
A dark place of fear,
Where no one of anything is sure,
And the world is impure.

The shadows only show
That which I need to know,
Not, where next I go
In my nightly travels to and fro.
--~}@{~--


The Land of Lore

In the Land of Mists in the Valley of Shadows
Stands a house, in the center, with no windows.
Do you enter, or do you even dare
To pass through the door that leads to nowhere?

The Door of Mystery is a puzzle unsolved.
Will you, once and for all, its conundrums resolve?
Do you think you can do what no other could?
Will you enter the door, or keep wondering if you should?

Oh, such delicious temptation!
But what price accompanies this sensation?
Every fiber of your being says to keep your distance;
Still, closer you go urged on by its insistence.

You cannot stand the wondering any longer,
So you submit to its alluring power.
With finality of decision you reach out to open the door
To face your destiny in the Land of Lore.
--~}@{~--


Goodbye

Goodbye,
I'll miss you.
I'll be brave.
I won't cry.
Goodbye.

My friend,
I've been lonely
Since you left
To meet your end.
Goodbye.

You lied.
It just hit me
That you're not coming back.
I cried.
Goodbye.

You said
You'd return,
You'd come home soon.
You never did.
Goodbye.

"Friends forever,"
Since we were kids.
What good's forever
When you're not here?
Goodbye.

But now
I've accepted it.
Maybe I can go on,
But I don't know how.
Goodbye.

You're dead.
I said it.
I know you're gone,
But I can't say
Goodbye.

Goodbye, my friend, you lied. You said, "friends forever," but now you're dead.
--~}@{~--


Thanks Given

Lone warrior,
Dancing in the wind,
Alone on a hilltop,
One with Mother Earth.
He thanks the Great One who gives him
His life, his home, and his food.
--~}@{~--


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