Pulling to the strait

Pulling to the strait
Finding St. Chrispoth
you’ve freeloading aboard again
steamrollers and stowed
in amongst the shipping crates

under rocks you’ve tugged
at barnacles undersea
your reat to zinc electrolysis
of a magnitude
almost impossible to resist

Before when the desert was flooded
under rings like steppes of ebbing tides
cataclysmic events
indeed water scrapes over the land

the emptiness
dry left behind
is what i suppose is below
look thru the portholes to the absence
of thought dimension
and turmoil

All the secrets just vanished

one day
all the secrets just vanished
loosed from your bounds
of splendor and
influence
wielded mercifully from afar

all the secrets vanished
and the emptiness made it clear
your lilly waft-like flowers
in crave like a buccaneer
away from the sea

are a dangerous
rife with rouge waves
and misery/mystery

beguiled by my ignorance
charmed by our incidents
mournful of your restlessness

That first flicker of luminecense

That first flicker
of luminecense
spark from soggy matches
pouting lips
watched you wait
like a best friend
of a third grade memory

lakefront fireflies
too quick for jars
rocky beach
and proverbial stars

you called me out
to a distant place
i couldn’t recognize
as my own backyard

filled with malcontent
and telepathy

we’ve no secrets
said through forked tongue
try to believe
it’ll make strife easier
when we’ve moved on
from young

Refined not Created

The sugar refinery
seems to operate
yet i’ve never witnessed an act
of refining
or manufacturing
yet the trains go in and out
just before
New Brighton
and slightly east of the drive

Is the sugar squeezed
from beets?
but certainly not
sugar cane
tasty when thrashed pulled through ringers
dripping sticky on humid day

refined not created
sugar from the ground
or canes sprouted from Hawaii
half a globe around

Mountain Lake, Cerulean You

Mtn lake
deep and pure
devious me
and cerulean you

Arching racers of barracuda

Arching racers of
barracuda
coming round the reef
silver fast in unison
chasing each other first

he speared a fish
with parrot beak
enameled azure blue
dappled like a sunset
these swimmers never see

Giant clams are hermaphrodite
and win at scrabble every time
snapping jaws slow at first
faster when breaks the air

Aye Carpaethia

Aye Carpaethia
sublime vision of grace
you came alongside
my listing hull

Grabbed the briney rope
and you pulled me towards
the sheltered cove

Flotilla of flotsam
bounding with the swell
my heart aching
wondering where to pull

Inhibitions and accolades
rescue me to pier
when the wreckage split
me in blinding fear
i yearned for your
uncommon gaze
thoughtful twine
and restive ways

curled in a quilt
handmade by
a mysterious soul
my disaster
now averted
despite impending gale

forced winds
and the ends
of existence
as it’s told
by fore-bearers and liars
who nearly took stroll
long slowly
glancing only once behind
changing lines sometimes
exceeded what you’ve been told

Your Letter Came

Your Letter Came
as clouds rolled in
message left
with blinking light

don’t push me over
though you know you are able
i fall too quick and
likely bruise my knees

despite your
circumspect intentions
selective memories
are clearer yet
of distant trips

When the letter dropped
in basket like an easter egg
the envelope crisp
the stamps foreign
the writing i knew
instantly it’s you

Despite my zen demeanor
i confess to waiting
everyday for a note
for my own jealous reasons

Reading your note
the bitterness fades
Finally i can say,
that i just pleased
to have played a part
in your intrepid life

All day walking in 1950’s Kitsilano

All day walking
in 1950’s Kitsilano
from my clapboard porch
i see the Lions

Leaving in
Starched shirt
battered hat
in absense on snow

Streetcar ride
near Dunsmuir
near the laundry mart
the store on Georgia
where i work
is expanding
past the brick facade

–

for Alice Munro