A Grand Awakening

A  Grand  Awakening

The sun sets on the Canyon’s fire…

A sacred space…

with a past as colorful as it’s rocks

to which no photo has ever done justice.

Barefoot impressions in the sand remind us

of those who once flourished here.

The wind transports me as it

makes its way throughout, defining crevices,

and speaking volumes to all who will listen.

Hidden chasms possess breathtaking waterfalls,

with clues to an existence long ago past.

Night falls in the Canyon…

While I nestle snuggly into the softest of shorelines

enveloped by a blanket of stars above…

The river lulls me as it dances in the darkness.

Drifting now……

Impending Reckoning

Impending Reckoning

As I drive past the once lush landscape

still smoldering…

An eerie silence fills the air, and I am

again reminded that our grasp on control

is tenuous at best.

The earth lives, breathes, and she’s angry…

at our continual assaults on the plentitude

she affords us.

Like a loving parent, stern, but kind,

she sends urgent, painful warnings

that our behavior needs to change.

Like the willful, stubborn children we are,

we fail to listen…instead we push and

exceed her boundaries with record speed.

There are even those among us

who in the pursuit of money and power,

have had the audacity to alter her sacred…

Prep Time

Prep Time

Today I thought of you…

of precious moments in our now distant past.

With warm fuzzy fondness I recall…

two zombie like figures huddled in front of the heater,

you with your egg drink, and me with my iced coffee,

sometimes two blankets, sometimes one

The sun commencing the hour oblivious to our objections.

I miss that sweet, simple and tender connection…

mother and child…

fifteen to thirty minutes of nurturing, bonding, cuddling,

before we had to be assaulted by our day.

(For Setsuna)

Dani Heart  4/4/2013

To The Beauty Of The Day

There were a score
At least
Of new birds in
The chorus
At the dawning
Of the day

The touch of
The light clear air
On my skin
Intoxicates
And revives me

Flowers of
Orangey gold
With accent
Blooms of
Snowy white
And deepest
Purple
Edge the
Sidewalks

The grass is a
Green so brilliant
That it almost
Hurts the eye

Laden with lush
Pink and white
Blossoms
The magnolia
Across the street
Waves to me

Am I not
Beautiful
She cries
Doesn’t it
Just break your
Heart to
See such beauty
It’s the only
Reason I exist

And my soul
Leaps with joy
To see that Spring
Is here once more

Another Soldier Gone Too Soon

The reason that
The word unbearable
Exists ~ is
Because some things
Truly are ~

Hearts do break ~
And minds ~
And wills ~
And the courage
To go on ~
May have an
Expiration date ~
Written in
Invisible ink ~
But no less real
For all that ~

Each death is
One too many ~
Each one a cry
For help that
Went unheard ~

They were called
To the fight
And they answered ~
Now we must
Answer them ~
Before another
Soldier dies ~

Who Fights for Them (image credit abcnews.go.com)

Minding the Current

Minding the Current

Just beneath waters apparently still… lurks a tumultuous

undertow waiting to wreak its havoc.

I live in this tranquil sometimes raging body of water,

and I have had to learn to navigate its infrequent

treacherousness in order to survive.

Copyright  2/6/2013

Dani Heart

Promethean

Stark bold bright
Against the page of my
Soul it stands
Out
The bitter resentment and
Anxious insecurity of
Identity

And recognition isn’t
The simple cure
I wanted distance, but
The truth is
I wanted distance from
Above

It wasn’t meant to be
As close to hubris
Or psychic surgery of the
Soul
It was inelegant
Remedy of
That bitch I used to call
Karma

Into the Fire

Into the Fire

I know why people are apathetic…

because the pain of helplessness

and futility is simply too much to bear.

better to navigate this plain in an

altered state until we can make what

ever kind of exit is possible.

Caring would require doing the hard work…

facing challenges…being committed….

and getting your heart broken when you

have to witness inhumanity.

I will choose the forging (every time!)

and I will emerge a sword for justice!

copyright  1/3/2013

Dani Heart

Sonoma County’s Finest

The fruit on the blackberry bush are shriveled and black.

The gravel driveway has washed-away and then there is you.

The gutters are clogged and falling-off the roof,

Due to the weight of neglect, and then there is you.

There are a few broken panes that we covered with cardboard,

To keep out the draft. And then there is me,

Going over the bills at midnight while you are asleep.

There is the two of us clinging to each other to conserve heat.

The beer bottles are piled-up around the kitchen sink.

The screen doors are torn to shreds and wasting…

Concord Hymn – Redux

The “Concord Hymn” was first recited on July 4, 1837, when the Concord Monument was completed. The Hymn honored the courage of the patriots who fought the battle that launched the American Revolution. Now that revolution and all its promise is imperiled by mean spirited, small minded political gamesmanship that seeks partisan advantage at the expense of the common good. The “embattled farmers” faced death and today’s elected leaders in many cases are afraid to face a primary…

Running On Empty

Here. There. Anywhere. Nowhere at all

Searching for home, answering the call

Fight or flight, choosing the latter

Looking back upon the years and realizing it doesn’t matter

Wherever you roam, wherever you stray

You cannot escape the tricks your thoughts play

Looking for peace in new places, new beds

Never silencing the voices within your own head

And so again you aim to run

Your desperate race is never won

The more you flee the smaller you feel

Yet larger are holes your spirit reveals

Until at last, your heart and feet fail

And you slip, defeated, into the eternal pale

You gasp your last breath,…

We Ride

We ride on the backs and breast of those that have come before

On ancestor’s shoulders and great, great, great, daddy’s toes

With drops of Frankincense and Myrrh and rows of gold around our necks

We ride on ocean waves of Blue blackness on top of undersea ancient temples imprinted

of our Blue colored faces

We ride on Congo drum beats

with dancing moving hips and

breezy Blowing dreadlocks

on Cowrie shelled waist bead covered bellies

We ride on…

The City of Broken Dreams

Welcome
To the City
Of Broken Dreams
Where the lies
Burn
For candles
While the light
Fades through the beams

Where
The ferry man
Smiles
At you drowning
Asks
For no fare
Once
… Here
Twice
… Has been
But never
Getting you there

Where
Tomorrow
Rains
Salty
Drops of sorrow
And you soul
Lies
An open sore
Where
The shelves
Of might been
Echoes of empty
Yet
The Sale signs
Yells at the door

Never then
Never hence
Mists of yarning
For ever more

Mismatch
Of jagged edges
Which Never meet
“Keep
Your head up”
This is
The land
Of lost feet

Here is
“IF”
Standing Strong
Sweet moments
Turning sour
Time stretching
Long
Forgotten
Looking
For hopes
To devour

Welcome
To the City
Of Broken Dreams

Grenoble

We spent the day riding
Trams all over the city
Admiring the view and
Talking about things we
Could do while we’re young
We climbed mountains
Looked solemnly at pop art postcards
Took the télépherique up to the
Bastille
Swam in the Isère and
Picnicked in the graveyard

I told you about the cobwebs
The dreams I had last night
The apple from the Loire Valley and
The things I did and saw last time I
Was here

I told you that I loved you and
You replied, ‘That’s just the
French air’ and maybe that was it

Or maybe it’s simply being lost and hungry
I tell you

Or so I would…

When I Open My Eyes

The street lights flood in
Through the slanted blinds ~
Stippling the walls
With fantastic designs ~

A chiaroscuro mural ~
Delicate and beautiful
And full of movement ~

The wind busies itself
In the tree branches ~ and
The whole picture changes ~
In a heartbeat ~ in an instant ~

Exactly as my life changed
When I met you ~
So suddenly ~ wildly and
Totally ~ out of control ~

Aflame with desire to
See if your lips were as soft
As they promised to be ~
Beneath my own ~

From that day to this ~
Nothing has moved me
Half so much ~

Then sleep reclaims me ~
And I…

Frustration

Frustration

Slumber whispers like a lover I cannot help but slip into…

sweet…dreamy…euphoria….a soft all encompassing bliss.

There you are waiting…and together we slay DRAGONS…ie big selfish greedy corporations!

We give to those who create with passion good things for all to enjoy.

We envision a world all would love to live in, and in my dreams we make real our desires.

Sadly… I must always wake.

12/13/2012

Dani Heart

Divine Design

This is a Universe ~

A Cosmos ~

Where nothing ever

Goes to waste ~

Not a soul ~

Not a molecule ~

But has

Its purpose ~

Its place in

The Divine Design ~

Just so are

You and I

Where we were

Meant to be ~

I cannot

Question it ~

Nor would I

If I could ~

The current

Pulls me

And I follow ~

Full of joy

With knowing ~

You will be

There for me

My love ~

As I will be

There for you ~

From the

Beginning ~

To the

Never-ending ~

Let it be so ~

Dream me an angel

Dream me
An angel,
With solid halo

Ethereal beings
We always seek
Uplifting wings
We must crave
In the wind
Of uncertain
Our doubts
Slowly reek
Deep inside
We lay still
Stuck in the cave

Dream me
An angel,
To turn back
The hands of happen
One tragedy
Couple of mistakes
And a handful
Of dreams
Life
Is not
What it seems
You grasp what you get
You give and give
It takes
And takes
And takes

Dream me
An angel,
With solid halo

The Pearls

I reach for the pearls
That you gave me ~
And clasp them
Round my neck ~
The last gift that
You gave me ~
My last tie to you ~
Lies cold and heavy
Against my skin ~
The way my heart
Lies leaden in my breast ~

And I wonder if
It will ever go away ~
This chill that ices
My bones ~ and
Makes all thought
Of warmth and comfort ~
Seem like a mirage
Or a magic spell ~
From long ago ~

Sometimes I think
I should rid myself
Of this last reminder ~
But I know
I never will ~…

Tennessee

Tennessee

Do you still think of me
(The way I think of you) when
You hear ‘Come on Eileen’

With detached curiosity about
Where I might be now?

We heard it everywhere we
Went that year we lived
In London
I wonder if you
Are still chagrined by our
Ironic fondness for it
As you were when the
Girl from Vancouver
You had a
Crush on expressed her dislike of
The song

I wonder if you hear it on
Jukeboxes and tell stories of the
Innumerable times we were
Out after work or
Shopping on weekends
And that song
Haunted us through the city

I wonder if you made it through
Med school, and if you
Get back…

It’s Just That It’s Autumn

The early setting

Sun  ~ casts its

Autumnal light

Across my page ~

Nostalgia rears

Its head

But I ignore it ~

I try to

Walk it off ~

I kick my way

Through drifts of

Rustling leaves ~

As a gentle

Melancholy

Grips my soul ~

And I know well ~

That sleep will not

Come easily tonight ~

Memories of you ~

Memories that I’ve

Suppressed  ~ come

Drifting by

And I ignore them ~

Master of my own fate ~

I am still the

Boss of me ~

But truly it is lonely

At the top ~

Or anywhere that

You are not ~

I’ve said there’s

Nothing I regret ~

But that’s not

True ~

I regret to this

Very day ~

The day

That…

Ghost Imprint

I never know if you really existed.
I remember only your ghost imprint,
a flowing white cotton nightgown,
your naked silhouette apparent by light.

I remember the fragrance of jasmine,
pots of hot oolong tea,
curry salmon with mashed potatoes,
and spooning while half asleep.

Your image is of questionable reality,
a breeze blowing through the window,
the dancing of the curtains,
no one ever really knows for sure.

What is real is uncertain.
What happened is forgettable.

Treading Water

Waves of sadness wash over me,

and it’s all I can do not to succumb

to the everlasting peace that awaits me

in the depths…

Air fills my lungs as my face

breaks the water.

Painful breathes remind me

Why I fight, and what I live for.

It is not yet my time for peace.

10/18/2012

True Worth Grows Out of One’s Past

As you chase what you want in the struggle for self
And twist yourself every which way
Stop and look all around and ponder your wealth
And think what it all seems to say.

For it isn’t your title, holdings, or homes
That confirm your worth at the last.
The source of true merit mentioned most in all tomes
Is something that grows out of one’s past.

It all traces back to you at your bravest and best.
If you’re lucky, it sticks clear up to the…