Being culturally of OZ/meant comprehending/secret codes/without instructions/Childhood lullabies/about distant Galway/wild colonial shores/the capture of admired/ desperadoes/the lilt of Ned Kelly/strains and dips I still hear/never having to ask why the corks were on the hats/having heard about the proverbial meat left out a short time/the blow flies laid eggs/in just a bit they hatched and grew/the meat went walkabout on its own/mostly I learned not to ask/for the far off sadness in her eyes/we didn’t ask/we just knew

Some days/coffee/flowers/good books/inoculate from/fear/death/sorrow/after a little escape/we face the day/serenely/we face the night/wide awake

How the light gets in/filtered by the myriad living leaves/shining joy into my soul/the thousands upon thousands/tiny lungs/bless this air/I pray thanksgiving/amazement/wonder/awe/the light and the shade/build a bower/for love

So many of our interactions/merely skim the surface of our lives/the window to our pain predicaments/our joy explosions/suffocates under layers of blinds/drapes/curtains/swags/valences/I want to live with the sight of this life/unobscured/thoughts of being naked/vulnerable/keep the shades down/but I would rather awaken to the green and golden light

So the road arose/in greeting/the really big sky/spread like a canopy overhead/full but wary/I engaged cruise control/signaled madly for every lane change/dining on songs from my youth/all the way home/singing/as the road lay before me/a smile crept onto my facial estate/that’s me grinning/laughing fear to hell/as I sashay along this Jericho road

Born in the middle/of the century gone by/I will be old and/perhaps/frail in the early twenties of this/yet to be written/era/distant horror/echoed for me/when I looked back on roaring years/depressed years/atrocities of /omission/and commission/I wonder now/ how children to be born/in the middle/ of this new century/will hear our echoes/what story our years will tell/

After all/the waning days of summer/at hand/we lean to the very edge/peer over/new season/of change/promised land of mercy/be not afraid/with you/with you/with you/mantras galore/settle into the deep/watery/anguished/ tender parts of me/the bruised edge of me/you know who/and I don’t know where/drink tea/oh so politely/waiting for the scones/fresh from the ovens/furiously crochet the jaggedly/separate/mismatched tea towels/back together again

Like distant ancestors/I call these waters/home/not knowing/how many survived/how many would jump/rather sing the deep/how many were so strong they lived/gathered strength from somewhere/to live/parent/shape the life/ that shaped the life that/shaped my life/saints invisible/call me from the deep/energy of life and faith/I name you no longer nameless ancestors/I name you too strong to die/too human to be dehumanized/guardians of your own choices/ to be free/

This was the view from my window/once/my chair lived with the rising and setting/like a watercolor picture show/I don’t miss/or regret/simply breathe/in the consciousness/that I have been so blessed/surrounded by the majestic beauty/so much more than I ever imagined/I just breathe/every breath a love song

Something to be said/for counting sunny times twice/the weight of decay and loss/halved by the company/we keep/we treasure/storing up sunny measures/with eventide the shadow advancer of our journeys/we spin fire and dance