Barefoot to the picnic, I
 consume the hillside
 and sheltering sky
leaving notes
for you to brush aside
 and behold the landscape
 whereon you reside

We are the living questions
 we need only ask

The world
         life
    such a heavy gift
may I bear it all
 not groan under it
       oh
   perhaps
     I am wrong–way ’round
and planting feet
 find solid ground

Darling, don’t fade.
From your curly locks,
I reconstruct the mountain airs
 and the earthen landscape;
from your starry eyes,
 the heavens and the
  vast universe.

Hugging the bottom
 little pebble
 never knew
It could break the surface
 breathe the air
 create waves
and the stream
 would just as well
 pass through

 Thank you for this pain
these pangs of love
 You just beauty being
I can’t get away 
 Amo, ergo sum

Tenderly you breathe upon me
 moving every atom
 brushing through my soul
Harsh lessons
 how is it I remain
 in entirety

Behold
No bugbear in my woods
but I
and the bugs I bare
Spider, mosquito, and tick
I tend
Scabs I once continually picked:
Beauty marks
Lost in my loving them

The grey–curled dryad
spoke of a koi in the lake
she spied years ago
Koi in the lake?
Disposed by someone
Dispose of a koi?
Why not a lake full of koi?

I
I hunt for this koi
in this vast lake
a tug on my line
reveals grace–filled fins
            rainbow scales
             languid eyes
              from the depths
startled, I cut the line
regret its nursing my rusting hook
 blemishing its lip

II
I hunt for this koi
in this vast lake
a tug on my line
reveals grace–filled fins
            rainbow scales
             languid eyes
              from the depths
determined, I reel it in
grasp it
jerk out the hook
as its blinking eyes
wonder at my violence

III
I paddle
in this vast lake
a glimmer of light
reveals grace–filled fins
            rainbow scales
             languid eyes
              from the depths

IV
I dream of a glimpse
of grace–filled fins
     rainbow scales
      languid eyes
       from the depths