Deep in the Heat

It’s a harsh light,
This summer sun, baking the earth.

But why is autumn
Coming with a soft light, wit

h long shadows?

Sad to say, winter lights are cold

And blue, and we shiver with our teeth 

clapping like cymb

It’s only in spring-time
That we see a new light 

that’s bright with daffodils.

Do you also have the light 

of understanding
in your eyes? 

And I Sang Hosanna to God

She has a sign on her wall
Stop and smell the roses
knowing you owe
a debt of gratitude for the gifts
so plenty, oh many.

I looked round and saw no rose

She was the only rose by her wall

She has a sign on her feet
Drop in quietly without noise
Inside you can juggle six not ten times
Repeat, once again, only six not ten times
I’ve got no time to waste, I dropped in

I smelled the rose and I juggled not six but ten times

After the water she wants me to drink

I sang for the first time Hosanna not six but ten times

Yours Forever

Strip me, petal by petal and slowly;
Touch me…and fondly mold me in your open arms.....
Let me feel your breath and the heartbeat in the dance

Let imagines paint me with the trail of your tongue....
And I will forever dance for you and with you alone

See how slowly my body sways, and begs for you
See how my hips whisper to your fiery leaps,

To lead you to my temptation's gate...

Do you hear me? Do you feel me?

Can you gather my tears?

You are the one I have been waiting for

To savor in my well of elegance
To melt me into your waiting arms
Let’s fuse body and spirit when you run the tip

Of your tongue along my spine
Oh this will ride my pulse higher and higher
Leaving me wet and wanting to devour you.

Envelope my sweet surrender
And awake to my addiction to your devilish embrace
Sip my liquid gift of abandonment for you to know, I burn....
I burn for you and for you alone and please,

Take my soft sparkling surrender with you
I’m craving....I’m craving always for the singe that
Trembles my silky will and sparks my hidden desires
That we live forever on this playground with sighs...sighs.

Ooh! Why did I do this? I’m yours forever.

Hard Road

Sometimes, it is necessary 

for everything to flower from within;

and discover the gold and silver is the hurricane.

Sometimes, it’s self-blessing

to bitterly relearn a thing of its loveliness, 

that after nights of whirring rain, the earth is green again

Sometimes, it is necessary
to put a hand on the grimy brow and sigh

when you remember what made you once sad and cold.

The Jewel

This morning you and I are being toasted

In every alley of the village because you are mine. 
The day I met you was a wish come true for the women. 

Grandma says: your smile brings out the best in the village,
The women also say you are the greatest gift ever.
It’s the way you smile and laugh and show your love.

Ever since you came, the sky shows a new shade of blue. 
It is brighter, like the gods are revealing their feelings;
And we melt every day when we look into your eyes. 

With you we will make it through every thick and thin;
As long as you are with me like the pea is to the pod, 

Our heart will grow together to weather every storm.  

One thing do I ask of you: can you never say never;

Can you always be loving and kind, so gentle, and so sweet, 
And with you by my side, life will be simply complete.

Can’t Find Another You

Darling I’m knee deep in loving you

I done got deeper than I wanted to
It’ll probably drown me before I’m through
Because I can't find another you

When first we met I wanted Love

And you brought it down to me
I wanted you to stay but the next day
You flew away to the far end of the world

I thought I’d wade easily through my tears 
Instead it wet my feet and drenched my beard

Too late to find a dried place on another route 
So I just keep sinking deeper in your love

Today I’m knee deep in loving you
I’m done got deeper than I wanted to
It’ll probably drown me before I’m through
Because I’m knee deep in loving you

My Love and All

Last night I fell asleep
And saw you dancing in my dreams
Just like the autumn leaves
Have fallen for you, all for you

And you changed my life
You changed my ways
I don't even recognize myself again
It must be a reflection of you, that made it

I can't remember the last time I felt love like this
I can't imagine living life without you by my side
Day after day you find a way to make me cry
Really, I can't remember the last time I felt love like this

My arms still hold you tight like in my dreams
I want to keep you warm in the coldest night
Where my hand would pull your hair right back

Away from your eyes for you to look into my face

If I knew just how to do it, I'd hang the moon,

And the stars around you to adorn the horizon
But I couldn't make it more beautiful than you
Darling nothing compares to you, my love and all

Where I Come From

where we come from, joy
floats around us like clouds
the way leaves rustle in the breeze
and love and beauty swing in our embraces
and smile with all our senses from sunrise till sundown

where I come from dreams do not rest on fences
when the cock crows the young and old rise
take to the road with sparkling powerful arms
songs work-songs harvest-songs and jolly-songs 

hold us tightly in fragrant dances
and kinship are to us scents of magnolia and frangipani
and rituals of the elders look toward the skies
from where cometh our Help of Ages

where I come from on every village lane

and on footpaths you could see something lovely

you can see our children's smiles white and glistening  
young girls in braids as precious as gold 
the swing of their hips the rhythm in their gait
the smile on soft-brown cheek and the movement of the eyes
leave the lanky brother in the heat blowing kisses in the air

once I heard low bass voices crooning

on a Saturday afternoon when the Rainmaker

came out of the forest with the Dipo girls

the magical flowers of breasts lost many in the garden of chimera
and they disguised their racing pounding hearts
in the melody of the music in their heads

strangers who won't be for long be spectators
left with their manhood shooting loudly ahead of them

where I come from are many things to sing about
not these hard core blues low bass voices crooning
nasty cruising thoughts on corrugated Freeways 
turning nouns into verbs and fetching dreams
strewn with bones that melt melodies to huge fires
but with my smiles and deep dark eyes

I’ll continue to see there's so much to life than gold teeth

For a Friend

seeing the sun rise with glow this morn
its rays dancing among the leaves in the grove
I saw my tears dry like dew on village lanes
and for once, I found again the lost smile
that was missing for a long time

seeing the moon with the choir this night
this heart holds hope like a rock
to see this old heartache in love's cradle leave

maybe I no longer will cry at night
as if all my dearest friends are gone

I Appreciate Your Kindness

thank you is not enough
to tell you my deep feelings
about your thoughtfulness and the gift of love
but in the absence of the right word

let this note thank you and say
the memory of your thoughtfulness
will be remembered for many days and many nights
till this Breath leaves for Home by your gift of love

I have come to know

you are a person who makes life easier and better
for everyone around you

your continual acts of thoughtfulness and kindness
and love brightens each day of lives
and what you did for me will glow in my memory
reviving pleasant feelings every time I think about it
and should I not tell you in person
how much you mean to me
let this note tell it now, I appreciate your kindness
and thank you forever for the gift of love
that has made a difference in my life

Let's Get on It

One day when time races against us

And your legs can't work like they used to
And I too can't sweep you off of your feet
Will your mouth still remember the taste of my love?
Will your eyes still smile from your cheeks?

So Darling, let’s get on it now
Take me into your loving arms
Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars
Place your head on my beating heart
That’s where we found love the first night

Time waits for no one in the world

So when my hair's all but gone and my memory fades
And you no longer can remember my name
When my hands too can't play the strings the same way
Let me know if you will still love me the same

I love you because our souls never grow old,

They’re evergreen and I’ve buried your smile forever
In my mind and I’ve kept in my memory how we fell in love
Maybe it's all part of a Divine plan that we fall deep in love
That’s why I fall in love with you every single day

So, Darling, let’s get on it now
Take me into your loving arms
Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars
Place your head on my beating heart
That’s where we found love the first night

What Is the License to Happiness

While driving home late last night I noticed a fellow driver's personalized license plate that read LVB4UDIE. Interestingly, my friend interpreted it as "love" before you die. I thought the owner intended it as "live" before you die. In the final analysis, however, it probably doesn't matter since I suggest to you today that doing one is the only way to do the other. In other words, the only way to truly live, and elevate the soul beyond the vibrations of it's mortal confines, is to engage in activities that feed it and help it grow--namely love. So make it your mission to find someone to love. It might be a child, a parent, a partner. Love, and the ability to love that often follows forgiveness can be the thing that makes our present moment experiences worth all the pain and suffering we may have ever experienced. (And, as Marianne Williamson said in her book Return To Love, "We are not held back by the love we didn't receive in the past, but by the love we're not extending in the present.")

LVB4UDIE

Let's start off with the answer
so at least we'll both be clear
There's got to be a purpose, friend
a reason we're all here

It's more than just survival
that's too basic, all agreed?
For once you've got that covered
there's a soul still left to feed

So what shall be your mission
so you'll say you've truly lived?
How best to capture grains of time
that pass right through life's sieve?

To me the answer's easy
for just few things really matter
And given choice of shape or soul
I'd have to choose the latter

See, cash alone won't cut it
but you'd best not do without
And power can move mountains
but it's not what life's about

And freedom's good for getting
but no fun if it's just you
You'll need others to share
So serving others ranks high too

But one thing reigns supreme
and trumps all others on this quest
The act of giving love
is what shall make our life its best

For fleeting are the trappings
and with shells shall pass away
But spirit grows eternal
be the love we share today

For by our true and present love
our pasts we nullify
The only way to live, therefore
is love before you die