People ask me what love is
and I smile because I know
I see the answer in you every day

Your sadness for old shoes
left on a windowsill
waiting to be rescued from the rain

The scar above your eye you hate
when it speaks to you in the mirror
Always and relentlessly there,
sharing a place with older wounds
just below the surface

It’s not perfection I seek
It’s the little things that are real
and draw me closer to you

Such peace descending on the river
in snowflakes hissing quiet on stillness,
fills the world with quiet solitude

of thick white snow upon the pathways
layered on sleeping trees now leafless,
such peace descending on the river

where no feet touch the icy softness
turning all away as cold emptiness
fills the world with quiet solitude,

and sacred silences are frozen provinces
where burdened souls find rest and bless
such peace descending on the river,

Sweetly you kiss my cheek
As we lie down to sleep,
I know tomorrow when I rise,
You will be there by my side,

If tomorrow, the weather's bad,
If I'm depressed and feeling sad,
Even if I start to cry,
You will be there by my side,

You always have been and always will be
(no matter what the cost),
But please don't forget dear,
I will always be your boss

In a village in Provence
I felt un tickling dans les pants -
'til a charming little bistrot
Let me use their pisstro'.

Don't waste time,
On holding grudges.
Always make sure to add,
the finishing touches.

Say you're sorry,
When you should.
If you make a bleep,
Knock on wood.

Let go of things,
You can't change.
Stay clear from things,
That are pre-arranged.

Forgive,
If at all possible.
Think before you react,
Be responsible.

Your darkest hour,
Can be the brightest light.
Never give up,
Without a fight.

Reading our books in bed in the early evening
You, a favorite murder mystery
I think you’ve read three or four times
Me, another damn poetry book

Together, we hear a forlorn cry
from one of our sleeping dogs. It was high pitched
So, it must have been from our little guy

We check them both to be sure they are okay
And they are. He probably had a bad dream
You wonder why our little brown fella
felt so sorrowful in his dream
and fret about what you can do
to keep him from being that despondent again

Can you;
find beauty in things not pleasant to the eyes?
Can you;
be nice to people you don't recognize?

Can you;
find sunshine, on a rainy day?
Can you;
remain silent when you have things to say?

Can you;
fight when you're tired to the bone?
Can you;
call it quits, leave well enough alone?

Can you;
be ok, in the lonely moments?
Can you;
stay strong in the midst of disappointments?

The trail leads gently up
and through the stand of trees
The day is chilled by autumnal winds
just in from the coast

I contemplate the desperation of the falling leaves
as they wander about in the bracing air
Carried by the breeze to where they will lie
And I wonder: “Are they bitter?”

Or do they accept their fate
as the annual benediction
of having served their purpose
reflected in the colors of the season?

….you have programmed your final day under the sun:

your body dissolves,
graced in sheets of flowers,
succumed to the grass that touches your back side.
you lie inside an abandoned home,
vines and moss cover the cement and bricks.
the flower of life subverted into this once natural structure.

the sun’s rays flash through the trees,
through the absent roof, the home claimed by nature.
it lowers down, calmly.
seeping into your skin, through your blood, through the rest of you.
she is ready to prepare your eternal bedding.

The religious zealots say,
they will pray for us,
They look down their nose,
at us with disgust.

They say repent;
we are an abomination,
We are headed straight
to hell fire and damnation.

They scream we offend them,
and their religion,
It is none of their business;
not their decision.

Eighty percent of churches,
condemn homosexuality,
They explain it’s a sin,
and say it is an abnormality.