Waning Gibbous

She slips over the east horizon
Like a lover slipping into bed,
Bringing a tantalizing radiance
And an alluring mystery

Into your universe.
Wisps of clouds cover
So little of her beauty
As to be almost obscene.

Even as she fills your night,
Her gold turns to ivory,
Even as a woman can be
Close and yet cool.

She is just a sliver shy
Of the fullness you both long for.
As though the eons have taken
Their toll. Yet you know

Her magnificent power:
The call and response
Communion with the waves, the feminine
Rhythm that fills you,

And your heart beats
With the most primal drumming,
In the elemental connectedness
That is at once all-

Consuming, and yet feels
A poor, pale tribute to her
Magic and her constancy.
A communion none-the-less

That transfixes you,
Holds you in her thrall 
For a timeless moment,
An eternity...

-- 06/17/2011

Being. Human.

To stand here in
The middle of my truth,
Consequence be damned,
Without regard...

That is my destination,
My lesson, the place
I've arrived at after all these
Years of growth and struggle.

There is nothing that feels
Elegant or simple here. In this land
Of stark truth. It is
Simply what it is.

And to hear my brother call out
For this stop, as his own,
As well, it turns my head 'round,
As though maybe I've earned

This wisdom. Stark as it may be,
It somehow feels like the
Home I've always known,
But couldn't recognize.

And I say thank you, brother,
Not for any greater wisdom,
But for saying out loud
That what felt so simple,

So raw, that it could be the
Lesson of your decade,
That what felt so elemental
Could carry such weight.

It had not occurred
To me that this was anyone's
Truth but mine. Not that it needed
To be. But it feels lighter,

And yet deeper and truer, somehow,
Because it is shared. Perhaps
It is species-specific. Or maybe,
We two are the only ones. But

I doubt it. And truthfully,
I don't care why: I just feel less
Lonely in my truth. And perhaps,
Just perhaps, that is what it means

To be fully human.

-- 06/11/2011 Thanks, D

Bright, Shiny You

You say you are shattered.
And the best part of you lays
Scattered. Just dangerous shards,
 Too many pieces to reclaim.

You say you want no other,
Have no intimacy to give.
That what is left of you
Is not strong enough for hope.

You say you feel too tired
To start over, too weary
To begin again anew.
You say it is your evening now.

And I say I must be blind,
Because I can't see any of that!

I see you.

A you so luminous, the
Darkness can not survive 
In your wake...

A you that sparkles
From every facet, not broken,
But dazzling with brilliance...

A you that rises
From the ashes anew 
And takes flight...

A bright, shiny you.

...Can you see it now? 
The you reflected in my eyes...
Come. Look again. Look closer...

Let your eyes adjust...

-- 06/09/2011  For P

Awakening

Golden light 
Through white linen.
Dust motes in the 
Still morning.

I drift and float
In and out:
The celestial plane, then
Back again to the terrestrial...

Gently I settle into
My body, molecules
And energy align...
And i am whole again... But somehow less.

-- 05/04/2011

Cherished

I place my hand on my chest:
Lub-dub, lub-dub...
Yep. Still there. Amazing.
Now what?

I can't keep poking at it.
The scars ache.
And the duct tape
Binding the pieces together is torn.

I remember trusting it to you...

-- 04/24/2011

Levi Heart

To live a life of service
Is more than vocation.
It is predestination.
I came wired this way.

To serve is in my blood.
As surely as my eye color,
Is his, so my need to serve
Is from him, the Father I  love.

The one who expected of me:
Nobility, strength, service.
The one who lifted me up,
Defined me, shaped my heart.

The heart you claim to love.
But it is not of gold, no not
Of such finery am I made.
My heart was forged of blue steel.

I am a Levite,
Not one landed,
No entitlement,
Except what I earn.

I am the redeemer,
Not the redeemed.
White-hot are the eternal flames
That forged me, heart and soul.

So if you, tender one,
Dare to love this heart
Be forewarned:
I am one spoken for.

By Lineage,By Love,
By All that is Sacred,
I have already sworn my devotion:
To duty, to others, to service.

My heart is not free,
Not mine to give to you,
Forsaking all others,
For my heart is a Levi Heart.

But dare to love me anyway.
Offer you up to me as an offering.
Make your tithe. As you swore.
Then give me all the rest of you...

If this be blasphemy,
Strike me down
With my own sword,
For I can ask no less.

-- 04/06/2011

Scarred

Like a child,  I sit by the window,
And I daydream. I squint to filter
Out the bright sunlight...
Motes of dust float upon

Each piercing ray...
And I am still, for once.
And focussed.
As in prayer.

I sit in contemplation,
Staring blankly at my own hands...
Again. Wondering when I was
Last truly innocent..

And I think two things:

How we cherish our
Scars. All of us.
Like some bizarre babies.
Like battered hope.

And how those scars 
Are formed: isolated instants,
Which sear their lessons into
Flesh. Forever faithful.

Like lovers aren't.

-- 04/05/2011

What You Want

What you want...
Could take a lifetime
To live your way into.
To love your way into.

To know, truly know, 
With all that grown-up
Logic and consideration...
What is so simple, what we just know...

In our beginnings,
When we are
Pure and true...
Before we make it all so hard.

But what if...
What if someone came along?
Someone who heard your truth
Like a heartbeat...

Someone who made it all clear...
What if?

-- 04/05/2011 For W

101

They say it is because I am female...
That victims trust me, talk to me,
That children will  tell me their secrets,
Women open up.

They say it is because I am female...
That hardened scumbags cry to me,
Or confess...but only to me.
That they trust me.

They say it is because I am female...
That a suspect fought with me.
Or didn't. That a man respected me.
Or didn't.

Not because I have... Experience. Empathy.
Training. Tactical skills.
Drive. Dedication. Discipline.
No. It is because I am female.

And they don't even get it...
That no insult, no explicative,
Nothing they could say,
Nothing could be any more insulting.

Nothing. 

 -- 01/01/2011 For all my sistahs in blue