THE FIRE WITHIN

There are times when I feel

I have a fire within my breast

so hot it could consume

a world – a universe.

The flames, it seems,

could dance forth from my eyes

and no one could resist me.

For my fire would find

its mate in theirs

and all the bland excuses

would be burnt to ash.

At times, I am convinced

that all this fat I’ve built around me

is to hide this flame

from those who would

prefer to put it out.

But protection keeps it hidden,

is a suffocating prison

just as surely as those structures

society’s firefighters

build to suppress

such overwhelming brilliance.

And so a question rises

within my seething mind

Shall I break down the defenses,

drive the firefighters away,

and with a roar of passion

and a tiger’s gaze of lust,

unleash this raging firestorm

that might burn a whole world down?

DREAMSCAPES

1

In the black nights of dream

the whitewashed buildings

of exotic cities reflect

the moonlight like bones

in a graveyard. Deep shadows

dance in ponderous steps

across a desolate urban

landscape where I have

spent so many nights

wandering, searching, striving

to find an unknown beauty

woven of death and life.

Labyrinthine streets

guide my steps, but where?

The search for camaraderie

often seems futile as

doors slam and a single

long black shadow

follows in my wake.

Yet I hear the music

of the dead plucked on

vibrant strings, and it

resonates with an energy

that sings to me of

new life.

2

The twisting iron bones

of dead commerce

and industry

meander across a landscape

of ruin. Skyscrapers have

collapsed into piles

of twisted concrete, glass

and steel. Dangerous playgrounds

for a few daring madmen.

Scattered among the ruins

are rough encampments,

shantytowns living off

the death of the cities,

where daily life goes on

in spite of whatever

vast disasters

brought these cities

to the ground.

3

I find myself

in an ethereal forest

where trees dance

imperceptibly around me

and trail slide and slither

here and there like

iridescent snakes.

Nothing here is stable

or established.

There is no solid ground.

Chasms open suddenly

before me

and I fall

but never land.

I encounter

monstrous animals,

bears that tower

as high as trees,

a great coyote demon

howling at the moon

and lunging for my throat.

I devour this demonic beast

and in this conquer

the undulations

of this seething landscape

and make its delirium

my own.

IN THE CITY (poems from LA)

Sidewalk Cracks

In the city

the wilderness breaks forth

from the cracks

Between sidewalk squares

life teems

with verdant beauty.

Park Bench

Little grey-brown bird

comes dancing, staring, begging

at my weary feet.

In the Garden

I looked into the garden

A satyr’s lusty face

was winking at me in the leaves.

Pregnant Moon

I looked up at the luminous

pregnant full moon

shining through ragged clouds

turning them into a silvery veil

that exposed her own radiant beauty.