Origin

When I was born
I was born with a light
a light of longing
a light of longing that shone from
deep inside from some
burning hot patch that
anytime I touched it
hurt like hell
shot through my organs
my awareness
up through my skinachingskin
seared my parents
my brother
friends and
other unwitting sorts and circumstances
and
in refracted spreading dimness
into deep dark space
one infinitesimal photon per
(god knows) one hundred thousand
million
stars-far-away

so many births later
and that longing has a friend
inside, I know she'll never leave
she holds my hand, tells me about her day
listens, really listens as I chatter back
her smile is the painting I sought for years

and hanging out? divine!
sipping coffee in a field
animals galore
mountains, a
starry sky day and night

not sure who taught that sky its skyness
a little unusual
likes text messaging
the other night I looked up
stars spelled I love you
one big I love you with
smaller receding I love yous
far as my telescope could see

de-sire fr. L. désīderātus, de- away from, sider- heavenly body, constellation, star

Inside Out

the large majestic canopy of isness
thrown over all
connects heart to tree to rock
contains the pain
says thank you
for giving voice and feeling
to the simple is of all:
of scattered nameless rocks
and fallen trees
and of the untold many lives before mine own
the tree falls in the rock, don’t you see
and inside the tree
roves this crazy heart of mine
saying I love you to a
thousand million things

Uni Verse

Before humans
were the animals
and only the animals

only the animals
carrying life
through the ages

through the aging growth
of this one earth’s
one simple time

in aeons of
emergent grief
and slowly kindling light

until sometime somewhere
mid-late early before
who knows when
 
the animals birthed us
Their Legacy
birthed and fed

and wanted us as the
next of all that
went before

wanted the Skin
that
touches Skin

the Feeling
that
outwardly Goes

and Words
that
say the Love

scattered so Everywhere
it could easily be
mistaken for
Everything

Body Parts

Parts?
Finger Body Part?
Separate?
Separate like galaxypart
Earth is
separate?
Like earthpart
You is
separate?
Separate like your bodypart
eyes are
Separate from the feelingpart
love they
bear?
FingerToed LiveWired one-whole-thing
I
shade into NoPartNoWhere
You
and the Feeling of
We
and the earthair we
Breath
Together
shading blurring undividually
all.
Ain’t no part thing no part
ness no part
ly no part
ing no part
ed ever.

Physics

hey human!
see that little piece of matter that
tiny little atom before you?
stick your hand inside
right in,
hand elbow and all
press your face against
the limits of your reach
and rummage about until you
Feel something
then grab hold
grab hold
and pull what you find
pull until you pull
entire galaxies out if you must
until you feel the Love
the Universe and Yourself
pulling tugging the other end.

Appetite

imagine the pterodactyl
ungainly, awkward, heavy, imprecise
a dinosaur!
a big
big
zoogenic
beast

who ate grass

and walked

and walked

and walked

and watched

and watched

the little little insects

how much longing before wings appear
on a dinosaur?
and do you think this particular dinosaur longing
had broad dinosaur family or community support?
and do you think a dinosaur
had any idea how to grow wings?

“But would you still think so much of Noah if he had thrown away his bag of nails?”
Robert Bly

pterodactyl rel. to appetite, pp. of appetere, to long for; f. ad- + petere, to fly