Brook Trout

Brook trout
so eager
no fear you possess
fly on the water
soon you will take
but no thrill of the chase
nor stalking in shade
too easily caught
too easily played
agreeable to a fault
though your wintry coat
is a marvel to behold

Chimney Lake

Silt to my knees
barefoot
in an alpine lake
two great fish lie at my side
a fly rod sits by them
on the grass
of the meadow banks
of this lake
the sun dries my clothes
a scent of flowers and grass
fills the air
an insect hum ever-present
the granite cliffs behind me
and the forested banks in front
bring to mind
the sierra lakes I've been to in the past
there is an abundance
of life in the grass.

Dancers

whisky slide
sip
rested
opening unfolding
patient lips
demonstration of
wait worthy
a longing dance
all night
but one girl
gentle
held
know
depth sought
held close and far from
sway upon and in
unhidden eyes
yet unexposed
the chests know
locked
thump  thump
quickening
softening
the hot moon melts resolve
lens
fog of night
dissipating
scented glass
emptied
Ursa's cup upended
as bodies seek

Plato's Kiss

Tendril
silent beauty
shifting lith
enter my vein
a break in the armor
laceration unnoticed
while life falls
a trail left to follow
grow across my body
my chest filled with you
branch out
seek my soft tissue
be my undoing
please me
rest in my eyes
it is light
overwhelming
heart overburdened
cheeks sore
drifting into warm currents
its waters wash
over me
they drown me
and yet
suffocated I breath
held in your arms
I am free
to love

Thin

Thin
weeks of thought
concentration of my person
food for thought
my nourishment
ribs, count them
held close
my heart unloads
asleep in arms
my heart finds sleep
rest softened eyes
in the mirrors
of friend eyes
quieted

Carmel

My head spins less today
Sittting here absorbing the pleasant sounds of this place
Carmel Valley awoke from the fog
to find me sleeping
My calm has found me here
Far from home where it hid
somewhere
Among too many familiar things
My cappuccino delights in showing
A relation between light foam, warm milk
and searing espresso
Elements very different
yet special in their union

Morning Jazz

Tenor banjo strum
along piano rolls
This morning
in among the people and their times
Take me back
for I've been here before
the music of a coffee shoppe
the cafes of my childhood
What a treat for
a little girl and me
Music and people in real time
natural
no stage
just players, a little girl and me
Two old men
sit as friends do
a tune between them.

Night Cafe

In this cafe there are none of them
only us.
She, who sits with a wine glass reading
I with my pen
My companion looks on as her gin dances in its glass
Take a closer look and you'll see
there is a difference between us here and them there
I lied to you
Well sort of a lie
this place has made me dishonest
I said I would share no drink with you
in a bar
This is no bar like those..
A special place deserves more than our rules.
As we transcend the base
So must our places dance past a base form.
You, my Adler, my 'the woman,'
So few should sit here
and feel as we feel
This place knows its kind.

Departure

The branch of a tree
leans far away
The trunk is left behind
seeking the sun

Hidden from View

On this summer night
Orion lies hid
There being no moon to guide us
Stars run free and unhidden
Streaks form across the sky as they fall
Twinkles on the horizon
Summer's heat is softened
with night's calm
The heat sleeps
in the rocks
under my back