Light 8
for M

I have come to you
subtle as a sailor
with the ocean in his
eyes heavy with all
the light as he has collected
in his journeys & now
wants to give to you

the light he has carried
like a lantern over
dark oceans into black
countries frightening
strange tribes of people
who had never before
known the story of light


I have come to you
subtle as an old man
on the verge of death
who has hoarded light
all of his life    a ton
of it locked up in a
back room

a light that has no memory
of wandering    a light that
is lost & without feet

a light that will gather
around your face every
morning as you rise from
the beds of your dream
Morning

It is the morning of my sorrow & she lays asleep in bed & even as the sun comes up light gathers around her face. Outside the world is cold stiff & cumbersome. I can feel the cold in my hands. Blue rivers running through my fingers, meeting in my wrists they continue their long blue journey to the great ocean of the heart. The heart’s red fingers for a moment splayed open then suddenly closing.