When a woman

is a window

open upon your soul

don't hesitate

embrace the elation

mate your fair fortunes

enjoy the heartfelt melting

boundless between you

let this twin skin

of love entwine your desires

in soft spun sun fire shine

weaving both of your worlds

for a while into one

Let us

lick the feather

of living together

and let it loft us

looping into love

For we all need a champion companion

a first rate soul mate

who won't hesitate

to launch head and heart first

into the best or the worst

The choosy will lose

and the timid plummet

but the timely will tickle

the tail of the coveted comet

of love

Now I know just what I'll do

I'll take your hand

and float down to

the lonely waking lake

where phosphorescent fishes break

the surface of the new lagoon

to feed you from a golden spoon

with knowledge of the Sun and Moon

And when I know just what to say

you'll take our thoughts

and sail away

while we sing a tangent tune

that decodes the riddle rune

of Life

Magnets

concealed sets

that attract

distract

and when mismatched

repel

an undefined force

irresistible

snare of caring

the magic of imagination

that unbinds

obstacles and

upsets stacks of odds

in order to effect that short

convulsion of fusion

that yokes us

to the universe

We were far apart

but equally distant

spinning and spiraling

ever outward

from the explosion of birth

until our star flung arms

encountered our searching fingers

and the gravity of our thoughts

attracted us tightly

and for now we are one.

Yet we are still moving

and the force of love

though chosen together

may, for its own purpose

send us in new

and ever growing

never slowing directions

until, with our circles complete

we meet ourselves

in each other

I relax inside you

engulfed by the warmth

and wet scent of new beginnings

What life beats

in one that cannot

grow in the soil

of our spirits?

It is then I

realize that the

chasm of identities

which some try

to bridge with flesh

becomes invisible and vanishes

with understanding

I do not fear it

I welcome you

we shall soar or sink

as one

and I sleep

gently aware

in the arms

of our life

Tantalies

She moves with me

and the tandem emotions

we generate

embrace a passing flock of sensations

and invite them to nestle

in our hands and eyes

and hair and thighs

kindling warmths where once

was bare earth

kindling love where

soon there will be

ashes

You yearn for

a map of the future

to steer you through

the crazed maze

of meeting a mate

The gap that you fear to fill

The waiting that wants to be still

you wish it would be simple:

a lover who will anticipate

your unrealistic

and unsophisticated

playboy portrait

But let me ask

Where will you find

someone who seeks such

a self-demeaning task?

and should you succeed

soon shall you see

how short-lived are such

shallow fascinations

I read the letters that say:

"please love me

because no one else can, really,

or wants to take the time."

But I see the effects

of pressing realities

when she says:

"Don't touch me."

or "Let me be myself."

but I am hers.

The implied responsibility

frightens her

and her fear of love and being loved

turns to embarrassed anger

and fierce, exaggerated individualism.

She cannot see

that to give love

you need not sacrifice your "self,"

only be yourself.

I do not touch out of possessive

uncontrollable sexual desire,

I touch with wonder,

and with my eyes,

to feel and be warmed

by the fragile and unique

flame of another human being.

That gives my touch tenderness

lest both our lights be snuffed

by the careless airless breath

of Demand.

Yet two candles joined

give more light than one.

I do not ask that she

fulfill me with her love,

just that she take it

out of hiding

and devote as

much time to living

with her love

as she and as many others

who are cowed by security,

would drive her

to becoming famous

or popular or

any of the other

passing desires considered

paramount to love.

For it does not just happen,

you must strive toward it

with gentle fervor and

active purpose.

And so, once again thoughtful,

I blink away the tears of confusion

and begin to love anew.

For she has a different

face each day

and her eyes confirm

our love

Two people

have tried

for too years

to be together

They touched

in many tiny

memorable ways

neither can bear

to say good bye

because they truly

have come to love

the comfort of caresses,

the holiness of having

held the closest

happiness

It seems senseless

to say "nevermore"

when side by side

they silenced mountains

with their appreciative sighs

why then can't we see

again the first hope

that helped us past

these petty semantics

that now, unignored,

shout to separate us

Please let us

place our priorities

on what is precious

and necessary to our lives

Why waste time

weeping alone?

I don't know where

you have left me,

but it is too far from my heart

I lingered too long tenderly

lulled by your well played part

now dormant dreams

not forgotten

lure me to another false start

I sense myself a stranger

standing out in time

Who could foresee the danger

when the challenge was so sublime?

It is only another aspect

that feels these phrases deep

we kneel together in neglect

no promises to keep

I mourned your passing briefly

like the shadow of the sparrow

from the dark into tomorrow

a feathered arrow

passing through my heart

a shaft of sun urging me

to start

to know myself again

to show my hand again

briefly, briefly

till the grief of many passings

parts its wings laughing

leaving lightless sorrow

everlasting till tomorrow

still tomorrow

passes mourning

in the wake of time again

in response to a chronic

fit of relaxation,

I am celebrating my first

easter day by

making lunch out of

the can of tuna fish

which you left me

a year ago

in the instrumental

episode which marked

the downfall of our acquaintance

and took place on an island

Now, in the mountains,

listening to the Agnus Dei

and absorbing both

Marcel Du Champ

and Leonardo Da Vinci

from an electric blanket

I rise