Leaves stampede across the ground
fleeing from the winter cold
they scurry with a rustling sound
as last days of the year unfold

They'll each end their sprint somewhere
some might fetch up on a log
others lift into chill air
perhaps they'll land in a deep bog

This winter wind cuts to the bone
turning sedge fields into seas
little wonder I'm alone
few would brave such cold brisk breeze

Talking behind their back
bitterness their only track
of stories they have no lack
truth or fiction they don't care
challenge them if you dare
seeping poison from their pores
now they'll only hear my snores
as my silent derision roars
pity them their shallow lives
placing in backs their knives

I listened and heard
in the gurgle
of streaming waters
the timeless tunes
of freedom

I watched and saw
in the flapping wings
of the dove
the boundless joy
of freedom

I stopped and saw
in the face of
the sun flower
beauty of the sun
of freedom

I came and saw
in the face of
a man barred behind bars
the throes of a life
devoid of freedom

Doors close to us at every turn,
And others open so we learn.
Not a simultaneous event.
A good portion of our time thus spent,
In life's hallways near and far,
Looking for the door ajar.

I -
Insouciant
ingracious
indifferently
benign

You -
courageous,
flagrantly outspoken -
have opened
my mind

Nestling joy
suckles at this breast
Awakened longing
from what was
an insensate mess

A ratchet to my desires
has been wrenched at the wheel
I am alive again
I breath
I feel

7-01-13

This poem is by MIKE CARTER, he couldn't send it so I am doing it for you, hope I'm forgiven. Ann.

meditation then medication

what we miss out in life
for sound health is
more of meditation

certainly more than medication

the former helps us stabilize better
than the latter

Yet the docs do never prescribe
what this self made does
yeah this scribe...

First and foremost
meditation be your whole souls host

I've become
abstract
they dont understand
anymore

my vague dreams
and a reality of mediocrity
bleed into one

the veils slipped
and I glimpsed midnight
I watched as each pale fell
and a god whispered come near

I've changed my dress
to hide growing scars
littering the landscape
of my entwined limbs

scattered from here
to neverwas, I am lost
alone and so afraid
and misunderstood again

hot wind
rattles branches

bone dry tree

the artery of fire
cracks and bleeds

it is so beautiful, it is so terrible

ash falls, wood snow,
bone dry tree

Every year, we "let our hair down"
and celebrate with solstice cheer,
we over-eat, get extravagant,
drink too much champagne, or beer.

We spend too much, try & do too much,
and party up a storm;
all the while steady complaining
how last year barely kept us warm!

How it didn't quite live up to be
a better year than the one before;
funny, how last year's complaints
we seem to forget, or else ignore.