SOFTLY
I come
Softly
Like a cloud on the face of the sky.
I walk
Lightly
Like the breeze off the lake at dawn.
I leave
Invisibly
Like my breath disappearing in air.
And I was never, it seems,
Even here….

WRITING IN THE DARK
I awake
And need to write this down,
Suddenly alive in the night,
Mind afire, sleep long gone.
This page
Is a pulse to match my own.
It demands to be filled
With words which are seeking their home.
I hope
To be able to sleep when I’m done
But in truth, even now, cannot know
Where my pen will decide not to flow.

I HAVE A POEM
I do not have a mind,
I have a thought.
I do not have a view,
I have a compulsion.
I do not have a message,
I have a question.
I do not have an ending,
I have a poem.

UPSTAIRS
I hesitate to go upstairs
Where my people and my dog are sleeping.
I enjoy the brightness here
And fear their breathing.
The darkness up above me
Will seduce me
Reduce me
Induce me
To dreams I cannot anticipate.
That black night enwraps
The secret of my fate.