Christmas Tree

Lit-up trees are beautiful
They can’t be understood
Christmas only lets truth stand
Privately remembering the land
Where the tree left its roots
While we feed it water
Not to help it live
But to protect us
From its bright flame of dry anger
Baubles and their boxes
Fondly remember Christmas’ past
They all belong to this time of year
In their own certain way
They shed all our past worries
And sing only with fondness
For those who are here
And for those who are not
How can you give such gifts
After we do such things to you

Moments of Knowing

We all have
Moments of knowing
Accepting a past
Understanding the present
Embracing a future
All three alive
In the seed
And the flower
Of a simple moment
Held in our heart
Untarnished by thought
A bird’s flight
Through the forest
Of all things
Gently embracing
All truth
In that precious moment
When everything
is still

Solstice

Winter in darkness
Strains at its solstice
A leather tether
In the casual hands
Of an unthinking child
Spinning the round weight
Of a heavy world
Faster and faster
Over a head filled
With full moon
The rest of us sleeping
Winter windows open
Listening to the world
Orbit and spin faster
Through the steady air
Hearing and feeling
Wind brush through tops
Of needled forest trees
This place stuck tight
To the surface of the land
Where we sleep safely
Fastened under covers
Tethered to our dreams

Friendship

I like
Walking beside you
On this path
That appeals to us both
But really it is
The echo of my laughter
In your eyes
That draws me on
Through the brightening
Landscape of our friendship

The Ocean

She welcomes every river
That flows down into
Her always open arms
Nourished by salt and abundance
Ten thousand voices hum
Life's ever-changing melody
With gratitude
As the ocean dances
Within the moon’s embrace
Spinning under stars
Born in darkness
Between sleeping breaths

Winter Leaves

Wet brown broken leaves
Stuck to the end of their branch
Single, separated flags
Flutter in the winter wind
Now long past autumn
And still they can’t fall
From where they’re stuck
To whippy branches
Way out there at the end
Of the tree’s most flexible part
They seem trapped
Like a fish on a line
The wind can’t blow them
Off their flexible perch
And gravity won’t pull them
They rest there in their death
Simply proving
That the sleeping tree lives
In spite of the earth
That calls the leaf back

Oregon Junco

Efficient in the cold
Followed close by the flit
Of your own white streaked tail
And all of your similar friends

The two white tail feathers
Are just a part of the package
So is your little black crash helmet
That seems no good at all

Frost

Frost’s thin shirt
Covers everything
Fuzzy cold crystals grow
Through winter’s sleeping stillness
Wind chimes hang heavy outside
One eye open
Listening for any sound
In the forest
So wanting to be found
By the slightest winter breeze
To free its inspired music
And urge the last bright
And colored leaves to
Fall through autumn’s spell
During earliest morning light
Before sun can prove its presence
And while salt lamp still
Shines through
Into the clear heart
Of fluorite that waits
Patiently beside me
While I sleep

Winter Wren

Tiny, fluffy and brown
You share your whole world
With your friend - a partner
Flitting from ground to branch
Chatting through the world
I notice one of your legs
Stiff and pointed back
It does not touch the ground
Its been broken a long time
I can tell that
I watch your mind fly
Effortlessly
Through the universe
It never trips on your leg
It never even points there
I feel your warm presence
What a big truth to know
Thanks for showing me
How you fly