Gates

Built up high and built to last

Built to cover up and mask

Only there to block the way

And stand between so they can stay

Forewarning those who intend to intrude

Adorning those who pretend to exclude

The rust that collects inside the cracks

Resists and tries to counteract

And with the winds that whisper wit

They bring fixed forces to attack

If colossal gates refuse to glide

Within becomes no place to hide

They start to shake and crumble at last

and now together in light we bask

Blind

Go on your way
Don't look behind
But if you turn
You'll see me blind.

Too tired for the rays of light
That peel from space and block my sight
Vision gone and colors too,
Left with only echoing hues.

Vibrant waves cannot refract
through eyelids sealed and not intact
Nor can they whisper through the shades
That cover up my former gaze.

This curse, of course, could be a gift
Eventually, my sleep will lift.
Just a chance to rest my eyes
Until this blindfold comes untied,

Tides

Tides

Tides of wonders

Wander up

They stride with blunders

Glide with hunger

But leave my eyes

and frozen lungs

In thoughts unwise

and songs unsung

Zaccaria

Bonding atoms
Washing tones
Blinding spirits
of a sunken pilot
Granite scratches fern
Zaccaria trucking
Paper, no paper
Steam, an eloquent dream
and a roar from a rush
of hourly traffic
The lift master dials
and walks me in

Gravity

Again I fall into your atmosphere

Not by thrill or painful cheer

Not by will or waning fear

Your gravity just pulls me in

Tugs at my limbs, my oxygen

And outside lost in orbit still,

The remnants of our connection, shrill

Redwood Foreigner

Too many grains with fibers bent

The splintered veins run without intent

Intersecting every corner

Collisions in this redwood foreigner

Each year the carving ripples bring

Loopy age in twisted rings

Until a slice of axe takes rage

And scrawls its life onto a page

Departure

You sit and watch the changing lights

I wake you from your static life

The carousel that took you far,

Only spun you 'neath the stars

Only sees your crimson car

Only floats on gravels of tar

The summer mist dissolved to dust

All these gates just wait to rust

Its time to leave this carnival

Leaves detach and beckon fall

The fair has gone, the joy has left

The clowns departed with their theft

While solitude calls to depart

An autumn home awaits your heart

And if you still don't choose to go,

I'll have no other friend I know.