Jolie Blonde

You stood up in the fishing boat,

a silhouette against the sunset,

shirtless and damp,

your blond curls wet and tangled.

I couldn’t see anything of your face,

just the flash of your smile

and the twinkle in your eye

as you held up the trot line and grinned,

talking some bullshit …

it was always some bullshit, wasn’t it …

it sounded so good in your patois.

I handed you the bait and tracked a trickle of sweat

down your belly into your well-worn jeans

while you pretended not to notice,

but looked down my shirt in trade.

Warm water lapped at aluminum.

Somewhere a fish jumped and plopped.

Cicadas tuned up

and you started singing

some Cajun thing I couldn’t understand …

didn’t really need to …

we both knew it was your version of foreplay,

softening me for the quick cold hose shower we’d give each other

before fleeing the mosquitoes

into the camp to strip

forgetting the fish bucket on the deck,

because dinner could wait

but we couldn’t.

RCGA, 2011

Bodhi Work

That part of me that recognizes
the gradient between ethereal and solid,
firm and pliant
wants you lying nascent in the afternoon sunlight,
quiescent yet tremblingly responsive,
a beautiful instrument
reclining on my table
being lovingly oiled,
tuned,
played.

What music will you make?

December Morning

The sky is slate

and covers beckon

where you lie warmly

waiting with hands to mold me

soft clay into a vessel to contain you



My shivers are not from the chill



Through the frost-paned windows

only a gray light crosses

our shadowed privacy

yet I can see your eyes glowing

like winter fire



RCGA, 2010

Mail Order

Mail Order
a space sonnet

The men stood restless on the loading dock.
All eyes scanned for the signs of transport ships.
Each one, past nonchalance, had checked the clock,
Attuned in thought, the same prayer on their lips.

At last the cloudless sky rained down the pods
Like dandelion fluff; and out they rowed
Into the bay with nets in eager squads -
The clutch of longed for eggs carefully towed.

One rower paused and gazed upon a face
Still in the sweet repose of cryosleep;
A snow white beauty in her clear glass case,
The sight of which made him both laugh and weep.

“The brides have come!” he cried, and all joined in
A shout of joy from pioneers: “Women!”

RCGA

New Waltz

The band is tuning up again;

I hear the subtle thread

of a song I’ve heard many times before,

music that has taken me

over many miles

waltzing in the arms of strangers

friends

and lovers.



Which are you?



I see you standing at the edge

tapping your foot in time

a hand extended

and I am already anticipating

the breathless whirl you’re offering.



Ah, my heart is shameless.



It is dancing ahead



outpacing the rhythm



precessing me across the empty space



eager



foolish



giddy



before we’ve even taken the floor.



RCGA 2010

Lover’s Farewell

I can still remember,
and will always,
the sheen of your skin in the moonlight
the first time you were bare for me,
and the gleam in your eyes
I recognized as echo of my own.

Ah, alas.

For all the nights of pleasure
for all the mornings of warm comfort
settled in your arms.
Alas for the fret moments
wondering how you fared
when we were apart
and the anticipation of knowing
we’d be together soon.

Time was suspended for a while
and we reveled in it
darlings of some goddess of passion
worshipping at the altar of each other.

Now…
now we part
and I know I have no will to say goodbye
so I give you this
the distillation of my memories
perfumed with the last scent of our bodies rising
scribed with the nail-scores of lost control.

You will abide with me
like a treasure hoarded in my chest
locked within my heart
yet never seen again but in my mind.

I saw how the moon loved you
when I held you that first time
and I knew you were only mine for a spell;
I can no more possess you
than I can that gleam that sparkled in your eyes
when you lay down for me.

RCGA. 2010

Light

There’s a bit of sunlight trapped in your hair

just there

I think I can capture it with my lips
if I am careful

and maybe I can transfer it to your mouth
with mine

give you a taste of the bright beauty
you’ve brought to me

RCGA,2010

Tantra

I am holding out my hand to you.
I am the Earth…
I am your Goddess Lover
I am deep, and warm, and as fertile
as the longest of your full night dreams --
naked as the Moon,
blinding as the Sun,
more intoxicating than swallowing Stars.
If you touch me,
you will know what it means to be alive --
you will understand how the rhythm of your breath
is the axis upon which Eternity spins.
The fire of inspiration
waits, banked, to light our joining.

RCGA, 2010

Inebriated

I am intoxicated
by the cadence of your voice
by your playfulness
by your eagerness
by the shape of your being.

I would like to let you protect me
even though I don’t really need it

just because I imagine
how delightful sleeping in your arms would be

tipsy from
your scent
your sound
your way.

RCGA, 2010

Listening

Once I woke in the night
thinking I heard your voice
calling my name

and ever since
I cannot sleep for waiting

to hear it again.

RCGA, 2010