The White Witch

Keeping check on the rain
she shines the morning long.
Reaching far to grasp
the close held lie that
all her truth is myth.

Holding out the dismal rainbow 
she swallows up the colors 
spitting out the bitter gold
and tasting myth for truth. 

KW  6/29/23

measure gravitational waves
feel out the undulations
map out this cosmic wave
see the deep neons
splash across the backdrop
while patterns form 
by the birth and death 
of all those stars

we’re here
already in a wave decay
the barrel lost way back
but this ride is far from over
and I’m glad it’s with you

the crowd ebbs and flows,
rippling reflected in a puddle
the traffic light fades in a never-changing red
the speaker on the floodlight is broken
it only sings lies over and over again

pitiful lonely smile, with breath hanging sweet
a daydreamy look inside
i kept the thought to myself,
like drops dripping by the window

if this sky ever stops crying,
you should go back to where it’s safe
so you can completely fly away
as i’m here, with you, in a birdcage
forever, trapped, unable to fly
lulled into dreamland

let me cuddle close with my lover
with an umbrella in the sun
as we share a form, my eyes flutter closed
a turn signal flickered, like it was rushing me
the night i chose this hazy path

we’re back to back, and time keeps piling up
while i hold gentle lies in my mouth
ordinary dreams alone are enough
to leave me lovesick

if i say what i want to say
you’ll get wet from the rain
because you expect it to stop raining
as i’m here, with you, in a birdcage
forever, trapped, unable to fly

hiding in the thrum of the rain,
the two of us quietly sing
please stop staring out the window
your heart is right here–
i’m right here.

if this sky ever stops crying,
you should go back to where it’s safe
so you can completely fly away
as i’m here, with you, in a birdcage
forever, trapped, unable to fly

i can’t even draw now,
let alone tomorrow
and i can’t even go back to the past
let’s both just close our eyes
as i’m here, with you, in a birdcage
forever, trapped
we’re the only two people in the whole world
i want to be together
inside a birdcage
lulled into dreamland

I caught a dragonfly in my throat
chimes rang out in my head
high pitched sounds and vibrations
allowed me to see far distances
I felt the calling…..  

Isn’t that always the way
Suddenly you get taken over
without warning
asking you once again to sacrifice
whatever else you are doing
for Beauty, for Art,
for that Quest,
for that thing you want
that thing
that keeps you  

that thing that keeps you
from making dinner
buying milk for the fridge
running the laundry
because
those kinds of things
stop the momentum
into complete immersion
Those fragmentizing things
just don’t ring chimes,
but rather
break the charm
of muse mining
mountain climbing
grand standing on Kilimanjaro
landing on the moon  

So, again today,
I must choose
my path—-
Other than that,
it’s just
another
regular kind of day

Light up firefly
Show the world what you can do
Good morning/good night

You’ve held tightly my wandering thoughts, 
tucked them into your syllables. 
You’ve woven little nests with 
strings of letters, words, rhymes,
pauses, images
and metaphors. 
A nest from
which I
sing. 

Ham salad sandwiches taste
like tears. In the church basement,
soft chatter sputters, passes
away. After tea and cake,
awkward hugs, strained condolence
fail to comfort, though giver,
receiver, accept the lie. 

Fireflies flutter
in constantly shifting constellations,
one moment Orion loosing radiant 
arrows into ether, the next Ursa Major ambling through spangled
brush.  I marvel at these grounded celestials,
cursing my foolishness
for ever believing I could sequester
their starlight in my puny grasp.  The fireflies have forgiven
my arrogance; they still twinkle
in the eaves for me, gifting me light that renders darkness
resplendent.

I’ve got this bad habit
of starting sentences
before they’re thought out

conversations play
interspersed with tiny bouts
of stage fright- pauses
peppered by indecision,

taking the scenic route,
long winded rambling
from a clueless circumnavigator-
follow me to the ends of the earth,
where maybe we’ll find
our way back home
or maybe