JESUS AT SEVENTEEN

I met Jesus As a teenager
Yes a real Jesus

Face to face
Mind in mind
In juvenile hall.

He admitted to
Defending an innocent
With his fists, confessed

That he needed to better learn
How to turn the other hemisphere

He sits with long hair
ultra white teeth
Against olive skin.

Growing from the center of his chin
The beginning of a beard,
Hints of becoming a physical man.

His energy filled the room,
Embraced me with goodness,
Truth and humor

His hands danced in unison
With words, those fingers
Wrapping around eternity

Felt the pull and spin
Of the earth’s rotation, his eyes,
The core and axis, felt

My life in his hands
adolescent flesh and flame
Being one with his emptiness.

2007

THE DAWN ADVANCING

The dawn advances
On a dream
As my wheels turn
Speeding down an
Empty 3 A.M. street
         In San Francisco

All alone
For the solitary lone-
liness and joy
        Travel brings.

2009

THE ENDLESS DEPTH OF STARS

There is an Africa
Which possesses me—
Which lives on the inside of
My world view—

The fine leaf intricate,
Invisible creatures seen,

A brief waterfall
After the rain, the

Temporary rivers
Releasing the dust

For the evening offering
Of dusk—prelude

To the surface of sky
And the endless depth of stars.

2009

THERE IS A JANUARY

There is a January
That won’t go away
A ceiling of clouds
Grey and misty.

I standby on the ground
Like in a room.
The sun enters
The windows all golden.

My joy turns yellow orange
The grass no longer green
On the land
                 I thought
I owned.

2009

WITHOUT HIM IN THE VISIBLE WORLD

At the San Diego Airport
On the other side
Of the fence from where
I was in 1975 when

My brother graduated
From M.C.R. D.
As a United States Marine.

Never thought I would be
Standing where I am
Without him in the visible world.

2009

A PHOTO BECOMES A SKETCH

A family photo taken
In this one nothing hidden
Bruises show in the negative

Make-up cannot hide their eyes
Dueling colors contrast
Her black and blue
          His blood shot red

With two kids on either side
Muted smiles on painted faces
Like well decorated bookends
          Holding secret histories.

2009

AUTUMN INVITES WINTER IN

Fog kisses the ends of the bridge.
Birds waffle on the water’s edge.

Palms stand unstill in the wind.
Grass once green now brown

(Autumn invites winter in)

As water ripples shift
               Mirroring endless skies.

2009