Spring Thaw 

Swirls 

Journey up to top
Look around, go down again
To the other side

Only the Shadow of my Shadow

Agape 

Living undulations,
Tall grasses grow
Up to the light of the lights
Tall pines together
Sing lullabye songs
All through the long dark nights
One song life
One song love
One song a spirit and a soul
Another forsooth
Whispering truth
Teeny, tiny pieces of a whole
How they know
How to grow
So strong,
So deep in the ground
Mysterious mystery
In all of history
No answer has ever been found.
-//\\-sef

Dripping tears 

My home is in the deep forest of this Island:
I walk daily around the edge of the shore,
then sit for a while with my bare feet in
the little waves which languidly lap in and
out around my ankles.
Tall trees above my head swing and sway as
warm wind passes;
I drink spring water from green leaves.
I weave willow branches to form a little
basket then rest beside a tree while
sipping cold, wild tea.
I lie down between clean,rainwashed
sheets woven by my own hands...
I've taken my body away,
far away from the daily grind
filling, flooding my mind
with clean, clear waters of being
I inhabit this island,
this glorious island.
-//\\-odmmb

Cloudy morning, layer on layer,
from white to indigo;
Shady path around pond lingering
in last night's dark,
Not a sign of anyone anywhere to be seen.
Little creek under bridge pure clear flow,
No place, no where, could be
any more so beautiful than this.
Birds sing in tune with my own heart.
-//\\-sef

All over the city warm breeze, soft sunlight
Even the oldest trees under the
dark eaves of a building are blossoming
I tried to find a place to sit but on
this glorious morning the path led to
a thousand places.
Sef

Down to the edge of the river
to watch the whirlpools go
round and round
or back up to the clearwater spring
to sit in the shade.
Not doing any one thing in particular;
just walking around
two feet off the ground,
with my head in the clouds.
Sef

worrying down through the ages 

rolling in the snow

River run on by
Carry plum blossoms down
To valley below


The world before my eyes is vast and fruitful.
The earth is delightful, the sky fathomless, all the
grass sprouting forth from brown to green in spring.
Already a fresh breeze rustles dry leaves at my door.
Billowing pink and white clouds of
plum blossoms adorn my tiny thatched hut.
Sef

My Thatched Hut

I built this hut myself
With my own two imaginary hands
Out back I made a little garden.
I planted all the way down to the
edge of the clearwater river;
That last row was mint
with a heavenly hint
of purple.
It's warm and cozy
on New Year's,
Cool and dry in July
It rained every day
Last May,
I didn't get wet
Sef
.

Leafless Trees 

Today

One tulip yellow,
One dark red, one pink
Two transient robins
stopped by the pond for a little drink
Wildflower seeds
came raining down from the sky
gift wrapped brightly
like Christmas in July....

Model of Antiquity

Today

...Quietness fills the forest with sound
a feast upon a shelf of twigs.
"that's a hard nut to crack,"
said a wren flying around and
around looking for
a good place to build a nest ...
Come Next Spring
The brown grass will be green again.
Sef

Be my Valentine  

Pine Trees

Morning breezes sway limber young
pines moving cleanly through emptiness.
Towering trunks of ages old loblollies with
firmly planted feet drink from invisible streams.
Lingering patches of last year's brown
needles glisten on the ground being warmed by
a goldenly slanting winter sun.
All serene.
All secure.
Do we, could we have need for more?
Like these, we nestle unconcerned
Safely we dwell neither here nor there,
in the everywhere.
Sef
..

End of the Road 

Old mountain home.
Deserted and still.
No smoke from the chimney
.At the top of the hill...


One day Granny, she said,
"good old days long since gone."
She said that to grampa when
he tried to get her to dance a jig,
and she wouldn't and he went
off pouting muttering, "you used
to all the time back in the good old days."
...
Grandma and Grandpa's old house.
It's still there, though washed clean
by wind, rain, sun and snow.
There it is. The old house with it's warm kitchen
And the yard where green grass used to grow.
It's solid as a rock and just as good as ever;
All it needs is a power pole, a cow, a few
chickens, a new vegetable garden, and a phone.
We could turn on the lights, make bread and cheese
Call up granny in heaven and say, "granny, Puh-leeeze!
The good old days ain't long since gone,
the good old days are on the phone!"
:-) .....


_______________

"To me, fair friend, you never can be old,
For as you were when first your eye I eyed,
Such seems your beauty still."
-Shakespeare
.
.
Nobody knows much about grampa's vision,
how well he could or could not see.
Since he never had his eyes examined,
didn't wear glasses even at ninety three.
But one thing he did swear to.
'Twas about grandma's unchallenged beauty.
He swore she'd never changed a bit,
was still the same beautiful girl she'd always been.
We used to ask each other:
Does grandpa think grandma's still the
same only because he loves her,
and because they have grown old together,
and therefore changed so gradually that
he sees no difference in her?
Or is it because his vision is impaired so
that he can't see very well,
and he really and truly does think she
still looks the same as
when she was a young girl!???
.
We will never know.
.
........Old mountain home
........Deserted and still
.......No smoke from the chimney
.......At the top of the hill...
.
.

Red sunset at night, camper's delight 

A twilight song 

Winter can be cool 

Bluehole underpass
River going underground
Through hollow caverns

Mardi Gras

Green grass grows there on the ground
In Jackson Square where young lover's have found
A place to sleep the day away
After a night spent in debaucherous play
Old StoneWall Jackson on his high horse
In the middle of the square looks
down with stern disapproval.
But who cares? It's Mardi Gras!

...

The Costume
Made it into Pat O'Brien's
But after four Hurricanes
The Frosty cold streets crowded
Burnt the wooden legs off an
old begger hobbling along almost
hit while ogling high-flying girl on a swing.
"Never fear!" Yelled old Stonewall, "I'll
save The South" but they painted the whole
square with shards of glass and
mellow brown liquid spilled out over every
hanging balcony painter there.
In the midst of it all, stood the towering
Cathedral with it's twenty-four
evergreen trees all surrounding the altar.
"Bless me Father, for I have sinned," intoned
a penetant at the confessional.
...

Cafe au lait,
bittersweet and strong
french market at the corner...
do you hear that riverboat whistle? turn around to
gawk at paddle-wheeled people rollin' on the river...
Rusty, dusty old jazz musicians play in
a serious confabulation
of Saint James Infirmary Blues
Ah the music sounds so sweet
Sidewalks shuffle dancing feet
All souls hafta move along with the beat
It's Mardi Gras again on Bourbon Street

...

Greyhound bus caught in
drunken parade,
puffing black diesel clouds into
faces of revelers
staggering along
carrying silly grins
like as if angels dwelt therein.
Mardi Gras wraps the
everyday Party-of-pity-and-doubt
Up into one neat package of let-it-all-hang-out.

...