edited...

I have edited the post below, I like it better now. I have to remember to reread these drafts every once in a while so that I remember that they are drafts and eventually edit accordingly.


Upon Return from Burning Man

Playa dust still clings
tho' washed from my hair
and being washed from my luggage

I come home to find
my friends in mourning
but creating a pretty celebration

I want to take my dead friend's face
and kiss it softly
and wish she could feel

and hold her husband's hand
whisper playa into his heart
tell him he will heal

I want to gather my friends around
and show them this great love
remind them as I remember

The dusty hard soft spirit
of the alkali flat lives on
in the crevices of my heart

nl

my pirate understands

and sent me this lovely bit...

my skin is still dusty
With a gray desert hurt
she returned slightly burnt,
Now settled way down in her head
there are plans to convert.

Seeking the selfness of expression
as the speck of sand in the wind,
a communion of others is now locked in
and the man floating at bouy 9
has a wistful grin
for he thought she has a journey
that only pirates can know
and mermaid reflect in her background glow.

Just enough rain, just enough sun,
there is a plan for another Black Rock run,
A chainsaw for wood, a welder for iron,
thoughts fill her like the clouds over the horizon,
Tomorrow is today
Free floating on a dusty dessert where the mermaid can play.

upon return from burning man

playa dust still clings
tho' it is washed from my hair
and being washed from my clothes

the dusty hard soft spirit
of the alkali flat
remains in the crevices in my heart

I come home to find
my friends in mourning
but busy creating a pretty celebration

i want to take my dead friend's hand
and kiss it softly
and wish she could feel it

i want to hold her husband's face
and gently blow playa into his heart
and help him heal

i want to gather up my friends
and show them this great love
remind them as I remember

a draft

this love is
cool shallow water
reflecting
expansive sky.

we are refreshed
by splashing in it
and by seeing
on the surface
reflections of daydreams
-like the sky
untouchable
but no less
beautiful.

treasure

a treasure ours
because we took it
but a gift no less
deserving of gratitude
waves wash over me
like gems-these moments together
waves of satisfaction
and tenderness

And another version or one inspired by the other...

the sailing can be
solitary
our moments together
are hidden gems
like pirate treasure -
ours because we took them

''An impression from tonight as told by a chocolate martini"

Shadows tonight bring a burden of an earlier time,
a slight tearful agreement to unwind ourselves
Through a bonded friendship and talk about special times
that may farther or fewer between will be no less earnest.
Perhaps my partner smells the same rose and I see the same cloud,
but the touch of her grace will be deeply missed,
the breath of her beauty will always be cherished.
I'm wanting to have met her in a differnt time, one without age or a defined culture, as youngsters in love, just one grain of sand may make it happen.

stretched out long against you
drifting off to dreams of
southern Mexican travels
through lush mountain forests
beyond gods of the volcanoes
waking in Olmec lands

intertwined and dreaming
soft against your hardness
your leg in careless comfort
draped across me sleeping
pulling me into the circle
of shelter formed by your body

sweet against your sweetness
we paint this waking dream
which sometimes looks so real
I can swim within the deep
I can breathe it into me
I can wear it like my own

seascape

dreamscape surface
color pasted on canvas
like sculpture
sunlight breaking
the surface of sky and cloud
small light reflected off waves
it looks like a northern sea
maybe inhabited by
Poseidon's daughters
under the gray surface
each move is thought-ful and dreamlike
until tired of this ponderous mood
the daughters of gods
head south with a flip of their tails

without touching

She felt the blue depth of his eyes
trace the line from ankle to thigh
and rest a moment upon her hips

then graze the apex of her breasts
excited as though touched
by the flutter kiss of his quick glance,

his sidelong gaze paused privately –
felt as if his hands stole their way
covertly up the back of her skirt

Did he feel her lips where her look
lingered at the curve of his mouth
and along the length of his fingers,

sense the play of her tongue
at his shirt button then down his belly
as she regarded him across the room

then looked away before blushing
like toes withdrawn under a table
as the waiter approaches?

They continued this visual caress
throughout the evening, parted ways
and that night fell into voluptuous dreams.

rare experiences enrich life
superfluid nature reveals itself
offering no resistance
how can I resist
you remind me that i am alive

Leap Second (Correcting Time)

The rotation of earth
has slowed they say
with the pull of the moon
upon the tides,
it has become sluggish
- will get slower still.

For years, scientists
have made up for this
by adding a second
every few years
to the atomic clock
to “correct” the time.

What could you do
with an added second?
It’s less than a minute
to the span of one life,
but still this minute,
not used, is wasted.

And what if you had
an extra hour?
One precious hour
to use as you wish?
Would you watch a re-run,
once again?

You could tend to your work
tend to your friends
or your garden or home,
or enjoy simple comforts
like chocolate and coffee
and finely aged rum

Would you spend the hour
on a sandy shore
under perfect sky
-the tide on your toes,
the sun on your neck-
and revel in its mystery

Or spend one sweet hour
in your lover’s arms,
belly to belly,
and breathe in her scent
while whispering words
of lust and of love?
5-3-06

damp from river play
in the turning dusk
we walk arm in arm
to the hum of nature

dark envelops us
and we approach the fire
the sparks like fireflies dancing
warm glow reflects on our bellies

we laugh in pure sweet fun
at the gorgeous star strewn sky
at our gorgeous grinning selves
a laughter embracing beauty

(reply to Half Moon)

Billowing shades from a moon lite evening,
share the grace to make me whole,
partly full from a night of satisfaction,
partly empty from a yearning for more,
I think I've fallen somewhere inbetween.

Half Moon

At 4am I awoke
to a vision of light
through a bamboo shade,
the half moon illuminating
the early morning dark.
Taken by its beauty,
I thought of you
and wished that you,too,
were awake
with the beauty of this moon
and a thought of me.

Starlight In Her Eyes

As he enter his spirit cave
the flame of a candle guides his way,
As it flickers in the gentle darkness
he wonders what artist left these
icons along the western walls.

Meandering further to the bedrock
he crosses a deep stream
and cast his fingers into the cool waters.
He finds a smooth stone
once rough but worn by the eons.
There is sorrow for the sightless creatures
that inhabit a sunless life
that never know a shadow
in a shadowless world.

A bat wing suddenly brushes against the candle
crushing out the flame leaving a curtain of darkness;
yet a sliver of light remains.
He discovers it must be the starlight in her eyes
who is standing next to him.
She is the artist.
He reaches into his pocket finding another match
comforted by this thought.

(from my pirate)

The Sea Side of Things

I forget myself sometimes
think I can say anything
carelessly share
the most fleeting of thoughts.
Don't take me too seriously
I change like tides,
in turn, ten foot swells
encroaching on the shoreline
then retreating to reveal shells
and seaglass rubbed smooth
in tossing sand.

Sharing Jim Jobe again....

I like this too much not to post it. I can taste it.
Thanks Jim.






Cool Melon

The morning, delicious
like cool melon, sweeps
the rich valley in a breath
of fresh delight. Wake now!
Your life is cool melon
to start the day. Your soul
is a sweet, honeyed tea.

James Lee Jobe

The Only Morning - James Lee Jobe

Sunlight, cool and blue, kisses
the Sierra Mountains to the east.
Night sneaks away to the west
like a thief easing into a shadow.
There is no morning but this one.

Sweet, all of life seems a whistle,
a long fine note, cool and blue.
My life is a song, melodic,
uplifting, and glorious.
There is no morning but this one.

There is no tomorrow, no sin,
no repercussions; only light.
What a joy it is to be alive
in this body, holding this world!
There is no morning but this one.

James Lee Jobe


Once again and often, I am touched, both by what Jim writes and by what he chooses to post.

what you bring me

we meet
stripped of
the details
of everyday life,
sharing
secret space,
taking with us
what we brought
(and a smile),
the simple beauty
of this world.

Grey

(words from my captain)

Skies are grey, birds have flown to return another day,
asphalt nourishes the ice which clings for its cold remains,
we seek another day with sunlight, yet we wait,
the boat is harboured, lashed to it to dock,
wind still brings the north wind, and tides brush the chilly shore,
drip, drip, drip, brings a foggy night,

but,

cheers are around the north side of the mossy tree,
clear skies are pushing from the south,
a bird's song is heard in the distance,
it brings a rose bud about to bloom,
cherish the day, for Spring is coming to us.

Sirens of Blue

from my captain





Crustaceans live near the ocean shallows as do pirates,
a life between surface and deep,
a life between the land and sea,
for it is the place that the blue mermaid is found,
a place between the foggy mist and treasure abound.

Land is foreign to the pirate,
it gives no treasure and provides no renewal.
Land to a pirate is only rock, dust and dirt.
Sirons of blue waters lie in an unguarded seascape,
A pirate must cast off from the safe harbour,
Pull up the anchor and sail for secrets unexplored.

Oceans have a sky of blue where sirens wail,
said to be from the shimmer of a blue mermaids tail.
When the sirens call, I must come for I am a pirate,
to find quiet waters where the sun cast shadow
mingles between land and sea--there is treasure!

For my Captain

(from a blue mermaid)

Quite a charming pirate he-
the finest swordsman on the sea,
the finest spinner of the finest dreams
of uncharted islands and Argentines.

I hope he won’t hang his sword up for good
above the mantle to be taken down
when telling tales to his nephews (the lads)
of great adventures in the wide sea around
and of the blue mermaid whose heart he captured
('tis true she gave it willingly).
"She's real," he'll regale, though they won't believe
-"It seems like a mythology"

I'll dream in my harbour of his return
while my rogue, for awhile, returns to land,
and I'll reminisce of hideaways-
of buoys and floating pods and sand.

m9

mas de Carnaval

words on the page are too confining
to reveal the luminosity of the night
a revelry in the ancient sense
a lupercalia – or some other primal rite

this thrumming wild human heart
drumming in ecstatic expression -
one hundred sweating lovers lost
in the pleasure of the dance

the procession -
my hips become the drum
free of conscious effort
freed from even being hips,
becoming part of one long line
of hips and hands and bellies and breasts
that winds its way through the crowded room
my astonished mind along for the ride

meet me there
at the mouth of the cave
where pirates have hidden
their stash of rum.
meet me there
at the mouth of the cave-
if we call to them,
blue mermaids will come.

Mermaid in Blue

from a pirate
There once was an island that let the world stand still,
All that entered forgot time and moved to where they belong,
Volcano's roared but only for amusement,
for the real heat lie in the lava of those who take time to say,
"will my blue mermaid be there today?"

One hopes for the mermaid to arrive,
for it brings a lucky day and good cheer,
she is special in her blue allure,
she brings delite to the pirates with new discoveries near,

Oh alas, may I find the blue mermaid on my island.

What God Said When She Finally Answered Me

James Lee Jobe


Look at what I have - everything! Every dream!
I have flight and fancy - endless children!

And look at you - losing sleep over foolish worries.
Can you control it all? I don't!

Life is coincidence - listen to your dreams.
Learn to love the life you already have!


James Lee Jobe


Again, Jim Jobe's work has moved me. It happens often, but if I posted everything of his that moves me, this would become a version of his blog. I think this is mermaidish (as are some others of his) and have dubbed him an honorary merman from afar.

thinking of you
and dreaming of a summer night

Mermaid in Winter

Today is bright sharp cold.
Winter is not her favorite time.
Her tail, fishlike, can adapt to chilly waters -
slowing, hibernating -
but the woman shivers
longing for a tropical retreat.
Even the sunning rocks are not warm.
The water herself has a steel glint.
The sky, though blue,
is a thin wash
instead of the deep summer bright
that goes on forever.

an attempt at haiku?

That there are limits
to the time we can savor
allows me freedom

that when I'm with you
I want drink you in as
deeply as I can

And left, then, apart
this longing brings forth the muse
singing so sweetly

She stretches within
She draws from me this beauty
These flowers of ink

Let me introduce

a fellow poet. Here is a piece by James Lee Jobe, posted at Putah Creek. (See links) Check out his blog. He shares his work and that of other poets and news of readings in his local area.


WHAT YOU COULD BECOME


You can become many things in just one life; a lover

with breath on fire, touching like flame a sensual meaning;

a hammer for bent, spent nails; a yellow-eyed goat

chewing the grass behind the fencepost; a cloud;

tomorrow itself with time not passing.

You change by the lone dance of your will, and you own

only what you can carry inside the invisible pouch,

as change is your end and your means, what you become

is that which you already are, you silly dreamer,

you fool of poems and hopes uncounted.

A killer, cold and distant; the dog that didn't whimper;

the place where motion and light caress each other.

It is hard to say what you could become.


James Lee Jobe


My response to an inquiry from him follows -
More thoughts on mermaids...
Mermaids represent the sensual, the mysterious, a sense of curiosity, openness, a certain type of naivete (not to be confused with benevolence or goodness or sweetness as mermaids don't make these type of human distinctions.) A mermaid is drawn to others but pleased enough to be of herself in beautiful surroundings, a mermaid values beauty above almost everything else.

He replied, "sounds like a poet..."
(Thanks Jim)

An Evening Mermaid

I remember that evening still,
when a moment of night stars stopped time,
when music filled the air
and a mermaid shadowed the cabin door.


How the room became a tandem sigh,
Breathiness and deep whispers
to the steady rhythm of pure passion,
until the faint streak of morning sun approached
and suddenly gone.


An evening to remember
I sit quietly beside myself
asking in a muted voice,
will the night return in ever such a way?
I remember that evening still.

sr

indescribable

painting by r.howard


No words come to me,
a poet, to describe a night
as mermaidish as this,
and I remember that
mermaids, bewitched,
lose their voice on land.
11-22-05

hedonist

(one who pursues or is devoted to pleasure,
especially the pleasure of the senses)

painting by e. millett



I did not post the secret:
“I’ve become a total hedonist,”
but I may as well have;
When we parted
after conversation
and shared coffee
and walked to my car
and you bent inside
and we kissed for a moment,
all I wanted
was to pull you in.
Now ten minutes later
all I can do
is write it here
and want you still.

Sun Day (a path of light)

Everything within and without sparkles, brilliant,
light absorbs and reflects endlessly.
The luminosity of the universe, evident,
meets each object and, according to its frequency,
bounces back to meet the eye.

The sun finds its way between leaves
to touch us on a cool morning;
and between us - Feynman’s paths:
light sparkles along infinite histories
and follows the one its chosen.

Drifting Angles

(This one was sent by my aquaman - may be still in progress.)

Earth magnifies itself to each grain,
rough and smooth edge alike,
Through the looking glass floating pods
find themselves adrift in the lake,
tender touches are beached by a
search for solitude,
creatures defend their territory
but open arms find
each other together,
sunlight brings two souls to one.

sr11/3

This is the 25th mermaidish post. I think a
celebration of some kind may be in order.

my other life

sometimes i long to run
not actually, but in a plane or boat,
to a faraway place
and wake up in a strange town
a strange country
a strange continent-
an alien world-
and change my name
or forget my name
and all i know
or wanted to know;
but instead i wake up
in a familiar room
with you who, after all these years,
i sometimes still feel
i don't really know,
and that is a strange place indeed

together

(working title for a bit created together)

first rays of sun kissing skin
appreciative looks, admiring friend
smiling eyes, whispering touch
growing hunger as fingertips brush
heated skins brought to a bursting glory
cold clear waters suddenly cool,
moisture ridden madness rises again,
wide eyed friends join intertwined'
soft rhythmatic motions climax,
smiles of joy and a wave to an envious crowd above.

blue reflections

I give myself to this joy:
these unexpected pleasures,
sun resting on bare skin,
the depth and reflection of blue,
this rekindled inspiration,
uncensored mermaid calling,
secret messages and your fingertips.

Yet some days the brilliance pales.
The wind conjurs thunderheads,
and blustered gray thoughts
whip through dreamscapes.
Summer takes a sheen of unreality:
were you really there?
was that really me?

But mostly I give myself over.
Constraints from without and within
do nothing to quash my desire –
(these moments are droplets of water,
are light reflected through sapphires)
-knowing we’ll dance again
in the depths and blue reflection.

A Matter of Light

A jealous sun guards its daytime light,
Fearful of moonshade and the night,
The stars laugh with overriding might,
The clouds weary as they have no fight.

The sun shows its patience until another sunrise
Clouds adrift always a moody compromise
Stars afar with their own glow glaze
The sun sets and gives its praise

Alas, a struggle between sun and dark
The clouds at the mercy of both
and the stars far removed can only
laugh from their vantage point.

sr9-24

A Merman ponders Katrina

Dedicated to New Orleans, 2005, Katrina (aka CAT IN A)

NEPTUNES RECLAIMATION

A dark liquid sky smashes particles of prizmatic sands
as Neptune reclaims the domain it once preserved;
Severed fingers in the dike fail
bringing a watery grave to those that remain.

Cat In a tree stuck in a tangled branch of a limb
stands near the bridge where Grandma escapes
with her little lives and new futures in tow.

The mermaids of Neptune watch from afar
ready to find the survivors with weary souls
offering inspirations, light yet undiscovered.
Blue martinis wait; ready to shed their glow.

A footprint of Neptune leaves a new shade of water
casting new shadows;
at new angles;
crossing the threshold of singularity
to Inspiration.

keenly in your absence

listening to Aretha sing about a tryst at a dark street's end
apple ambrosia touches my lips and I taste your mouth
i feel you keenly in your absence, imagine you pressed to me
a single spark the point between lightness and dark
the brilliant moment when we come together
the shadow remaining when we fall apart
the shadow of my longing the perfect complement
to the moment of brilliance when we collide

shadows belong to light

my tall graceful swimmer sent me this. My mermaidy self loves it.


Silence to Light
Light to Silence
The threshold of their crossing is the Singularity
is Inspiration
(where the desire to express meets the possible)
is the Sanctuary of Art
is the Treasury of the Shadows
(Material casts shadows, shadows belong to light)

A MERMAIDS LAMENT

Sea is always a nice place to be
for I am a mermaid.
A waterery world where I live and play,
always soft and dreamlike and a shadowy deep,

During the full moons
I long for the earth above,
a place with firm earth,
a connection with a partner
that does not drift away at unexpected moments

So close and yet...

A hundred feet away
and utterly untouchable;

dreaming:
hands against hands,
fingers to wrists,
longing for a nearby tryst,
a way around this locked up place
seeking out a space to stretch
where arms and legs
and bellies and lips
can come together head to toe,
entangled for an hour or so

jigglefish and mermfins

A blue particle streaks to a deep place well below
where the jigglefish and the mermfin play
a realm where the aquatic passion fruit thrive
revealed by their bubbles rising

a jigglefish occasionally nibbles on the mermfin
in fanciful delight awaitng time til it is right
mirrored worlds come together soon

the pirate speaks again.....

EYEPATCH

away on a silent thought beach is a treasure,
painted sand turtles cross its path
it is padlocked and out of view
it is buried yet still accessible
others pass by without notice

out of desire a pirate's treasure must be seen;
are the unspent experiences still awaiting?
when unshoveled from prying eyes the blue sapphires sparkle;
clear shining diamonds blind an eye
a patch is worn so not to disturb others

alas the lock box must be buried for another ripe day
the turtles meander,
the blue sky crosses the stationary white cloud above
a blue fin is spotted just beneath the nearby slow wave
the sun is in eclipse
a pirate returns to his fermenting grog

Drydocked

because we are incognito and speak in secret codes,
i missed a rendezvous, unsure if i was expected.
i did not want the wrong pirate to find me there.
i flounder between desire and good common sense.
this time common sense won out.
it is too late to change that today,
so here i am thinking shimmery thoughts of you.

we walk around in everyday life
and no one notices
your eyepatch or my tail
or the talking parrot
or that the buoys have become numbered
or that i've started drinking rum

And what kind of mermaid are you?

I took a mermaid quiz and these were the results...


You are the Aqua Marine Mermaid. You are pure and
brave. Strong and True. Your best friend is
your seahorse, your steed. You have fought many
battles in your own life and in the sea. No
matter what challenge you overcome it.
Congratulations there are very few of you.



What kind of mermaid are you? (Gorgeous Pics)
brought to you by Quizilla

(still in progress)

your pirate ways make me wild.
i swim in the luxury of your attention
i surrender to the current and
forget to watch for riptides.

Towering under the rumble of a waves, a mermaid waits for thee;
> Blue is my name and where martini's are sipped with glee!
> A pilar of sunlight cascades thru my waters
> awaiting the next meeting under the nearby trees.
> If you cannot find me whisper in your quiet voice for the
bluemartini, I
> will come!

In dark times, remember…

The embrace of the sky
and the water,
tree shadows playing
on bellies and legs,
a mermaid morning

Floating above
and diving below,
a thousand bubbles
caressing skin,
Twinkling like tiny gems

Playful diving
and tandem treading,
floating kisses,
morning martinis,
And buoy #9

a pirate replies

Soft like a rock, sunny as a blue sky,
water shimmers with sounds from a satellite,
and at buoy #9 below the surface
lay many treasures for the seafaring.
Dive deep.

i breathe in sharply
as i remember

floating at the edge
beautifully entangled

waves rise and swell
surrounding and inside

although unnumbered,
it must be buoy #9

mermaids get reality but don't always like it

hesitation and human relations
interrupt my mermaid ways
I know I can't swim every day
in a pirate cove
or stay all night in a pirate lair
I am aware of pirate hands
on the small of my back
and of my desire for them to stay
or to move
but not to move away

pirate daydream

a pirate man and I
swam to a pirate cove
and drank a pirate's grog
and shared a pirate kiss
and made a pirate plan
to meet for a pirate's night...

mermaid summer daydreams

a lovely night in a faraway place
after a splash in a faraway stream
a small splash of light in throwaway cups
a backrub a kiss
and mermaidish things

mermaid in 9

i am reserved and contained;
but lately my mermaid ways bubble to the surface
-ecstatic, erotic-
splashing, floating, diving again;
my boundaries as wide as the sea itself

jump right in the water's fine!

i resurface, kelpy hair, scales glistening in moon light.
come, sweet merfolk, feel the night air
take in the stars.
let's play on the surface tonight.
tomorrow we will be merely human again.
7-25-04