From Water Is It's Own God

Libby’s Shells :

Libby was three and
We collected shells,
In that one rapid summer
We met, and fell in love.

Gray shells from a gray shore
Dark shells on cloudy days
Black shells to match
her father’s black moods.

I varnished her shells
And made them as bright
As the moment she picked them
From that eastern sea.

The joy in her windowsill museum
Was worth her scream of ignorant fear
As I left her standing
In front of an approaching wavelet.

How precious were these moments
To teach one you love, periwinkle
Mussel, barnacle, you thought discarded
From your own childhood.

I showed her how to hear the ocean
Inside some shells
Roaring a storm for nothing, crashing tears
From a great distance

With small and large shells
I explained how they grow, like children
How they protect, like parents
Just like she and I.

I told her that little soft things
That I could not describe, only believe in
Had lived in the shells, had died,
Leaving the shell empty.

Now Libby is five and I
Collect treasures we never saw then,
Far prettier summer memories
From a warmer, western ocean.

I varnish them as before
And lay them out on the ledge.
We have a better shell collection now,
But I don’t have Libby.


From Tiger Blue ('98)

New Poem

Ignition Point

I am the once-fertile prairie
dessicated beyond remembering rain
seeds scattered in hot desert winds
without knowing how
to be washed to earth
I am left waving dry stalks,
an ocean of brittle frailty
in an arid sea of air
flagellating the heat
under an empty blue heart.

You could light me with your smile, if you wanted
I am tinder, kindling laid ready,
waiting for that spark
dry these three winters
no hint of moisture
from clouds that passed by
looked pretty in the sunset
and sailed on,
ships leaving the night barren
and my waves, shining and dusty.

We are destiny in flame
waiting for a moment to ignite
all you have to do is
touch these flints together
your passion scorching these combustible lips
Sear me! Devour me!
Kiss me into inferno
Mormon rain
then drown me, wet me, feed me
let me grow again