In Ruins 

Scattered ashes 

memories of what was

those times we shared 

now white ashen smoke 

a quiet plume on the breeze 

of winter hibernation

the evergreens bare silent 

witness to this downward 

spiral, this unfair charade 

a psychological game 

warfare waged upon the 

innocent, bombshells explode

shrapnel slicing through the 

organs, the heart’s desire lies 

in ruins.

Last Words

Ring the death bell, ring the bells of

biblical solace, deer panting for dew

upon the slick blades of grass, jade

daggers and death bequeathed at 

dawn, the wanting of you and here I

am pining away, lost in labyrinths of 

bewilderment, lost in a sea of exile,

this raft afloat and froth of mouth,

here we are agape in the sheer dire

bedlam of our own making, this dream 

and that, afloat and obtuse, hieroglyphic

mind, born in the blood lotus morning,

third eye cast asunder, and if these are

the last words dropped and plummet 

from the grey breaking skies, so be it.

On Doubt 

You doubt your reality 

as the new world warblers

unravel their sweet shrill 

cries, yellow breast, gray 

back, lost into the old world 

of wilderness and winding 

streams of Australia, come

the world, cast out and fly

freely in Northern America,

never doubt yourself, cast 

the stone into the eyes of 

defeat.