pause to consider

that ordinary short, stout woman
on the transit platform is not short of prosperity
or, the charity that cares to share grace
she carries in plenty making her plump

she, that extraordinary angel
walks the extra mile like raphael
to make me, a tobias prosperous as i pause
from journey to carefully consider

that ordinary thin and tall young man
on the pedway, too, is another seraph to guide
me in my lost ness making my city
filled with loveliness to spoon it out

climb up and dive deep

i climb up holding your feet
as my little grandson crawls to my feet
holding on to them, he stands
begging for grace, lift him on my shoulders

i dive deep, then, within that tiny spring
that well-spring, your gracious being
implanted inside my soul, to swim to you
that can make me whole and well

like a leech

fear, like a leech
has fiercely attached
to my heart
sucking life from my soul

threatening, once again
that reliance on the creator who provides
suggesting that it is me
my self, who sustains my being

it is trust, that salt that spices
or hope, that soap that cleanses, that
(will release the grip of the parasite)
it leaves not its ugly teeth on me

grateful dog

that side of the atlantics i have seen
the guard dogs in homes
including my own
being fed with the left-over food
served forever on that same
unwashed, untidy old plate
or, even on a cement floor
outside the mansion

and with my own i have heard
my dog always said
he is grateful
with the swift wagging of his tail

i too have adopted that tale
to joyously re-tell
my receiving spousal support
unannounced, but dropped in that
unwashed, unkempt td account
i becoming, soon, my spouse’s grateful dog

making of a new painting

a new canvas you have, now, given me
expecting me to create a fresh piece of art
with that courage of that cougar alone
on that tree top, far
far away from another life that can pounce
or, gather together what has been hunted down

i pray, now, that you increase, profoundly, within me
that awareness of that fearlessness
hidden deep, deeper
within my deepest well
unreachable to those un-heroic souls
or, those who crown that domesticated cat

then, i will, with your grace already present
transform my life, at present too plain and un-colourful
into a masterpiece that none has ever seen
never before, though it may offend the weak in heart
causing great, and greater embarrassment
to those in business of employing the mediocre

summer bird of yesteryear

every time i peep into my backyard
through that bay window
in my large living room
that summer bird of yesteryear,

(my fluttering memories of that woman
a new canadian goose
who decided to fly away
with another gander,

no – that white peacock,)
flies into to my unkempt garden
to torment and torture
me; my heart with six bypasses

then, threatens to stop
while, the cancerous cells, around
my daughter’s neck, multiply
like weeds in a neglected patch

you gave me your troth

as that moon walks across the sky alone
i too now toddle
even as i cuddle those memories
of that thirty-five, long, years
when you were huddled inside my soul
while i leapt like a fawn beside you
and then, we were like those double stars
alcor and mizar in the ursa major
for which you had torn yourself
from those in pleiades, your sisters
pledging to be with me till death do us part