Twilight

Half slumbered and aware of your throb
I imagine myself awake
annoyed at how it will become
that tedious ribbon
that desperate expansion
yet I am bereft of excuses
and you are ready for invention
so we look for reason everywhere
except our own back pockets
while our days skitter along
like leaves blown across the highway
dancing toward the ditch at twilight

Subtle

There are people who know what to do
when they are running out of time
I remain in the dusk of deadline
whistling sparrow tunes to approximate subtle

Fortune keeps its eye on me
but would not touch me on a dare
the last time we were together
you told me what to remember

A suitor needs a breath at times
his hand in the game is only chance
hope like ivy climbs at a steady pace
but withers without good root

There are places in the shade I remember
cool shadows that saved me
I will not turn my back on you or the sun
knowing both of you can burn me

Once

Once she was beside me
we laughed at how the flavor changed
from calico to gingham
as we drifted on the temporal tide
lovers on their way to a future
that isn't but needn't be
because of now

Soon Again

You would question my wonderment
at your banal explanation
of this insignificant part of the all

Once there was darkness and soon again
you will be in darkness you will not know
forever

The wise time traveler realizes
that plans are fruitless
for the trip is only a matter of time

Evenflow

I may be tethered to the stanchion
not in the parade but watching
the trick is the evenflow
beauty rising on its own tide

A head around or quick blink
to keep my eye from being caught
but how can I pay no nevermind
when you whisper in my ear

Autumn

Autumn was yesterday
an afterthought as I button my coat
had I been serious I would have planned for
the possibility of the past migrating into my life

Was I really such a dancer
I can only hold the candle and
suppose that who I have become
is as susceptible to fault as the flame