Cairn 2

“Unfinished Rocks” by Karen Jacobs

 

stone upon stone

marks my presence

my promise to pass

what I’ve learned

of the land that its

posture embodies a

welcoming gesture

an offer to settle

one’s peace build a

home upon ground

virgin fertile receptive

to dignified seed firm

foundation for nutrient

footsteps down arable

furrows who give up

these stones to an

ethical plow one by one

over time of my journey

each facet each jag

a reflection my virtues

my vices my fortunes

and forfeits distinctly

positioned to stimulate

cool contemplation by

those who may follow

 

 

From my book Ephemera

Lonesome

“Old Tin Cup” by Kevin Rogers

 

homely vessel
this antique tin cup
battered dented
black bottomed
from too many
campfires burning
on too many trails
rinsed too often
in sulfurous pools

muddied coffee
or watery whiskey
chased choke dust
from leather lipped
mouth-breathing
maw given over
to sighs for that
long ago time
when the ride
was less lonely

when saddlebags
bulged with sweet
purpose and travel
was mounted for
real destinations
not merely to
wander in aimless
perpetual motion

 

 

From my book Ephemera

Bildungsroman

Emblem of The Bildungsroman Project

catholic catechist
landing the lessons of faith
upon adolesced ears
sacramental instruction
ritual secrets revealed
doctrine drawn upon
still pristine canvas
charts limned with the
ancient laid paths to salvation

a boy on new knees in old pews
turning round in his mind
the curricular scripture
the sacred traditions
the solemn-most teachings
of rote magisterium
blessings of knowledge
his father’s blunt questions
his mother’s devotions

new minted emergent adult
pulls away from his grace
carries into a secular world
an agnostic propensity
walking a wilderness
three decades deep
come to find on the other side
peace with a boyhood religion
still holding his soul in its hands

Expedition

“Abstract Tree” by Julie Lueders

(Originally posted June 2013)

 

 

bracken tickles the treetrunks

that stand in my boots

obscuring the trail

but it rouses no fear

I have no more places to find

Human Waters

“Waters Poetry #4” by Melody Cleary

we are but water

pure gift of the heavens

sweet essence enriched

by a few mortal molecules

moving in thrall to the call

of a soundless invisible gravity

washing the weight

of our liquidness

over the surfaces

under the skins

of terrestrial elements

pulled ever downward through

cracks and odd crevices

time has created

their edges relentlessly rubbed

to a smoothness

by force of our flow

yielding bits of themselves

to our fluid who

micron by micron

takes on altered character

making us something more slightly

at one with the parts of the world

that we pass through

the world we experience

each on our personal journey

of seeking that cistern

in which we can finally

arrive at our rest

leaving just enough time

to luxuriate learning the

pleasures of stillness

Out of Gas

“Retired Ranch Hand” by Neil Hamelin at neilhamelin.com

old bucket of bolts slipping gears
slowing coughing and sputtering
needle gauge nervously flits
hovers over the red zone
low fuel light comes flickering

here the road reaches remoteness
the middle of nowhere
no rescue or aid in the offing
no witness to mark journey’s end
just the silence of stillness

the music of motion now memory
life as it lived in the travels
the driving between start and stop
with its coursing relationships
miles that mattered regardless the end

*************************

“Fortunate people often have very favorable beginnings and very tragic endings. What matters isn’t being applauded when you arrive – for that is common – but being missed when you leave.” – Baltasar Gracian

Adventure

“Trail’s End”
Painting by Erin Hanson
From pinterest.com

you were the adventure
nothing short of amazing
a dazzling force of nature
the experience destiny
placed in my pathway
exquisitely timed for the
moment this boy reached
outside of himself into
precincts of heart unfamiliar
uncertain and oh so seductive

you were the adventure
allowed me along for the ride
our exploits were legend
our crossings and climbings
impetuous driven by wonder
replete with discoveries
little regretting the choices
or accidents marking our way
to this place of our rest and
reflection and gratified prayer

Path

“Path”
Painting by Leonid Abremov
From redbubble.com

we the living

are dying

each day

one more

step of our

funeral march

do they plod

one in front

of the other a

tedious trod

or sashay with

a bounce

side to side

are they joyful

or mournful

compelled by

white sun

or wan moon

is their spirit

emotive or

drawn and

reserved

will these days

die in dance

or in dirge

life and death

the same road

meant to carry

one journey

per person

one singular

matter of mind

Pianoforte

“Keys #2”
Painting by Debra Hurd
From fineartamerica.com

every road
a keyboard
every step
giving either
a sweet note
or sour note
tandem tones
ringing a range
of experience
melodies
ears might
obtain and
minds might
remember
in the end
every man
woman child
walks their
music
a journey
a song that
sings distance
achieved in
harmonic
progressions
with interposed
backslide
reversals the
counterpoint
constant
the threat
ever present
for failure
sounds much
like success
composition
is often
impulsive
a resonant
accident
played by
two feet
with no sense
of direction
enthralled
in the moment
delighted by
merely their
chance to
make noise

Night Narrative

“Geopoliticus Child Watching Birth of the New Man”
Painting by Salvador Dali
From salvadordalipaintings.com

sleep in gray folds
of your journey
the paths that drove
morning through
forests of blunt
aspirations through
afternoon landscapes
replete with green
tempting alternatives

slumber in wonder
of choices you made
at encroach of blue
evening on ground
that found footfalls
more certain more
confident even as
shadows cut deep
into twisted terrain

dream in mortal
embrace arms of
Morpheus sculpting
your starlit complete
metamorphosis
black as a mirror
reflecting arrival
at opium midnight
the end of you
shelled and metallic
an embryo poised
for new morning