I sat on the bench near the mystical pond
 a lanternfly sat across from me
 I wanted to pet it
 and bent across
 and looked directly at it
 “Too invasive,” I thought
 and I sufficed myself by gazing at the pond

The next minute,
 that critter was crawling up to me
 I was hoping he would perch on my lap
 but he decided to crawl up my back
 Jesus, well,
 I sufficed myself by gazing at the pond

And, the next minute,
 he’s sitting right back to where
 he had been sitting before
I mean, I guess he satisfied himself

Well, then, some other day
I was walking around the mystical pond
 a water snake made a startled lunge
 towards the water
I stopped right there; he stopped too
He rested his head on the rock
 at the edge of the pond
 and let the sun bathe him
 and he just cocked his head
 and gave me a long once over
and I sufficed myself by gazing at the pond

Well, he just looked at me
 for a good chunk of time
 and every now and then
 I glanced over —
 He was just there, not moving,
  looking at me same as ever

At one point, he did yawn
 sort of a grandma-what-big-teeth-you-have moment
 and I surmised his jaws would
 fit around my big toe

But, after that, he was back to the looking-at-me
and I sufficed myself by gazing at the pond

Then, one time, I looked over
 and he was stretching out straight towards me
But, it was only to rest his head on another rock,
 just one over,
 then back to the staring
and I sufficied myself by gazing at the pond

Well, then, he went as to come towards me again
But, it was only to go up the hill
 into the trees
I mean, I guess he satisfied himself

I bask in your light
 its radiant energy pours through me
 part cat nap, part dancing fairy
 without your light, I would be colorless

Do I imbue it?
Do I blush?
I delight in the color I imbue your light with
 my stain is my offering
 I dream of lighting up the world with it

Oh, well, so, perhaps
 you have arraigned me next to others —
 I wonder what that looks like

If I could step back, I might see
 some special arrangement
 such as a rainbow I sometimes see
 I am not ashamed of what there is to see
  of your creation

Philosophy is so hard
Each soul is a new secret
 unfolding
There will never be an end to history
 as long as flowers bloom

Flour, salt, butter,
baking powder,
tepid water,
time
folded and folded
stretched translucent
toasted ablister
containing yet revealing
nourishment

Man has the priviledge
 of being enraptured by beauty
Women have the priviledge
 of being beauty

The biggest things personal art
Why would we ascribe to inspiration
what are simply matters of the heart
set in public metaphor for private confession

We were dupped into thinking
Shakespeare knew the murmurations
 of the human heart from nothing
when verely he did know his own palpatations

The fabricated characters we love
woven into comedy, tragedy, and history
were fashioned out of true flesh and blood
along with some gleenings from antiquity

They become ever so much more engaging and sensible
when verely his own life makes them apprehensible

A mosquito visited my bed
 and entreated to my ear
 an awful sermon
 concerning silence
Attentively I did hear
 and took the matter seriously
Then silence itself came
 and its sermon was so palpably sweet
 that, verely, I did know it and believe
And back and forth
 mosquito inveighing
 silence soothing me
 to sleep — perchance to dream

The flower attends
 its blossom
nature takes care of the rest

Once you had broken my heart
Or, rather, let me break my own heart
 myself
I looked the gift universe in the mouth,
 admonished myself for scolding
 the impish, smiling Krishna,
 bowed and wondered
What God,
what miraculous being
 could bring about such a thing!?
Why don’t you break my heart
 one more time just for good luck!?

The fire did burn —
 the branches twisted and snapped,
 popping in extorsion
 now all scabby and withered
Enough to bury it
 or fling it out to the river
  to float away
And yet the embers still glow
 and the pulse of the heat
 that once stoked the flames
 still beats
Still prays and dreams
 for its tree to rise again