Jungle Morning 2003

Morning dew
    shimmers
        in silver droplets

Prisms of color
    explode
         and evaporate
At every turning

Jade and Ocher
    vie for dominance
          as leopard screams
split the silence of the mind

The Doll 4-6-01

A broken doll lies forsaken
     on a dirty sidewalk
Her porcelain smile soft
     and wistful
Her painted eyes still
     sparkling with life

Belying the cracks
    and rents in her broken body

Abandoned and unloved
     she lies exposed
          to the elements
Unnoticed by the busy
     bustling feet
           of passersby
They are intent on their own worlds

Discarded
     she waits in vain
For the once-cherisher
     who will cherish her
No more.

Butterfly Wings 10-00

Butterfly Wings brush my cheek
     and I begin to tremble and ache
Words dissolve and melt
     in the fire from the least of touches

Locked in my mind
     thoughts coalesce then dissipate
Lost in the gentle brush
     of fingers across my cheek

You ask me what I feel
     I do not know
I can not say
     I haven't even told myself yet

But I grow weak and tremble
     with a mixture of desire and fear
when words and thoughts dissolve
     in the seduction of Butterfly Wings 

Desire 9-19-00

Our eyes meet and fire crackles
          Electric Force
               Connecting two desires

Heat is transferred
          and magnetized
               in proximity

Morality and Thought melt
          in the furnace
               of our gaze

Bodies touch without touching
         connect in ether
                desires merge

Molten Energy when our eyes meet.

Divided Choice 9-18-00

Conflicting Desires
     Torn in two
Lust and Love
     on opposite sides
Exerting equal force

One choice leads to
     resentment
The other to
     betrayal

Flip the coin
     and both sides
make you lose

Frozen in the middle
     you cannot
Turn to one
     without
Turning away from the other

Torn in two
     you stay
          waiting.

Hidden Knowing 3-31-94

I hide from life within a cage
     ignore inherent facts of age
          and hide my head at face of rage

In fancy, free, my thoughts do range
     imagining worlds, exceeding strange
          where every moment heralds change

But from reality hide my face
     balk at mankind's scrabbling race
          and fear life's speeding, hectic pace

I hide from my relentless age
    I build a wall surrounding change
         Ignore time's track upon my face

But know, inside, and suffer pain.

Torn 9-20-00

Balancing on a Razor's Edge
          Blindfolded

Cut by choosing

Cut by staying

Crystalline tears drop
          and shatter

Scattering needle-dagger shards

Wrap yourself in the tatters
          of discarded armor
                    and bleed

Shadow's Time (between 95-00)

Dying trees spend their last
     in a brilliant gasp of color
This is the time when
     Death takes over

Samhain, All-Hallows, All Souls
     The Day of the Dead
The haunted spirits are free
     to roam the world

Hide, or they may take you over
     black cats arch and hiss
Defense in glowing eyes
      and gaping orange grin

The young and young-at-heart
     hide faces in a masquerade
daring to become what cannot be
     and, for a moment, being Free

Tides of Life 3 - 2001

 Ocean tides of life
    sweep over all
Time lingers on and
    flows in waves

Open hearts, the
    blood-tide flows
sweeping, singing, sighing

Energy flows like
     music through
my soul...
     Connection with
all of creation.

An Ocean of Trees 3 - 2001

In an Ocean of Trees
     Energy builds and flows
          tidal
Connections form as walls
     and defenses fall
           away
Community and oneness
     create themselves through
          truth
Joined in openness
     beneath an
          Ocean of Trees

Kaleidoscope early 2011

A fun-house mirror-maze
     my mind
Lost in distortions
     deceptions

We see ourselves
    through warped glass
Shifted and slanted
    Kaleidoscope

Funny how many
    find that scary
Undesirable

The twisted view
    births creativity
Without the warp
    the weave fails.

Passion 11-11-94

In the heat of Passion

    Bodies Entwine

           and Touch

Limb curls about Limb

     As Heat begins

          and turns to Flame

Fire consumes the Blood

     and Sweat moistens Flesh

          as Bodies Merge

          and Souls Unite

In the Heat of Passion

Unity ~ 1994

Life simplifies itself in Darkness

Confusing colors disappear at end of Day

Shades of gray define
     and unify the world
          of Night
Where quiet reigns
     and sleeping lovers
          lie tangled
In a silvered sprawl of limbs and shadow

Becoming One Inseparable Being

Differences are gone
     ugliness departed
          alchemized
Into a swirl
     of silver moonlight
          and black shadow
By Night's equalizing darkness

The conflicts of Light are gone

Life simplifies itself at Night

Parallel World 3-30-94

Shadowed trees stand sentry 'round
     the grove of moon's reflection
While peaceful clouds play hide-and-seek
     with starlight's loving-bright projection

Hidden faeries usher forth
     knowing well of Night's protection
Working their bright will on earth
     not fearing mankind's cruel rejection

Dreams abound for those who see
     whose eyes hide not behind convention
And Love and Peace are there for all
     with life's great gift: Imagination

Romance in Moonlight 3-30-94

 Moonlight shimmers on a silent lake
     Fragmented into diamond shapes
          By wind's loving-errant fingers

Night's forgotten splendor holds sway
     In dusky garden, overgrown
          With waterfalls of trailing roses

Silver-edged trees stand sentry
     With moon-sharpened limb-lances
           Protecting Dream's abode

Romance defines itself in Darkness

Paradox ~ 1992

 Fate beats at my soul
     with night-dark wings
As ravens circle
    the red death of Heart's corruption

Sliding, my mind falls
     into the abyss of night
And light fades from me
     as I fall into the grip of despair

My being cries out
     for succor from the blackness
That surrounds me
    and foul wins tear me
From my unstable perch of sanity

Where is the reason, the hope
    that will save my soul from terror
Where lies the meaning
     that will bring my essence back into light

In me, flickers the candle
     that holds sanity, life, and hope
In me, the only help
     to bring me back from the abyss

I lie in the midst of Paradox
     and tremble.

Irony 9-92

The Blind may lead the Blind
     Soul's blind  follow Destruction's course
Damnation Eternal
     Led through Flame to Fire's heat
Melting, Burning  Innocence away

Charred Black, corruption follows
     Deceit, Decay, Destruction
Lit in Sable
     Scarlet Blood flows in and around
Etching out the Ruin of the World

Mankind crumbles and the Destroyer laughs
     Taking Pleasure in the Pain
Enjoying our Descent
     Herein lies the Paradox
We are Destroyed...and Destroyer
     Eternal
          United
               One

Metamorphosis 09-92

White on Black
     Contrast of opposites
Etching of shapes
     Cut-glass edges

I am bound by conformity
     Chains of collective morality
I want to fly
     Void perfection for chaos

Bathe the world in color
     Distort the edges of life
A sea of individuality
     overlapping
          changing
               forming
     a new reality

Dark Seduction 2-29-92

Darkness Threatens
A shroud drops
     over my mind
Hiding light and
     happiness
Behind a black Veil

Light eclipsed by Dark
The world grows dim
     around me
And Night pours
     inky blackness
Over and through my soul

Imprisoned in my Mind
I strive to break
     the hold
The seductive power
     of Night

Seduced by blackness
     I hide
Try to escape
     to break free
But I am bound
     by chains
Fetters of the soul
     and Desire

The Golden Rule 8-2-91

Good intentions pave the road to hell
     What they say may well be true
But sometimes good intentions are
     The only things that we can do.

We spend our lives in striving for
     The things which we believe
But we have no way of knowing,
    in the end, if anything done was worth the doing.

Despair may crush and topple
     All our castles of the soul
But the worthwhile life is one in which
    you make your dreams your goal

Bottled Nostalgia 12-18-90

Friendship is like a good wine
     It improves with age
The color and flavor become richer
     With each memory shared
Savor thoughts of friendship
     As a precious gift
Given to lighten the heart
     When troubles weigh heavy
And if you grow apart
     As friends sometimes do
Uncork your bottle of memories
     And take a drink
You cannot lose by drinking
     But only gain comfort
For this is the one bottle
     That will not run dry.

Afraid

{This is a monologue written for First Stage - Intern program at Stageworks Summit - Summer 1988}

I'm afraid.
I guess of rejection.   I'm afraid of not being wanted, or loved, or even accepted.   So I retreat.  I pull back from the world to hide and watch.
Especially among people I know who've turned me away before.  Oh, that WAS years ago, I'll grant you that...but...I'm still afraid.
Do you know what I mean?
Do you know how it feels to want to join something but to be too afraid to make the first move?  and to pull back into your mind and watch, just watch.
Almost as if you were a child again peering through a window watching others at play, yet too shy to join.
Do you?
Some of you must.  I can't BE the only person who feels this way.  
Maybe I'm just insane...crazy...locked in my head...
Too much reading I suppose.  Too much daydreaming about romance, adventure, fantasy ... life...

"She's just too far gone to be real"

That's what you think.   Isn't it?   At least...some of you do.
Do you know what it's like to want someone... to love someone...and to let chances to show him slip through your fingers because you're too afraid of rejection.   You think to yourself (trying to work up nerve)  'what's the worst that can happen?  A 'no' right??'   but a 'no' isn't the worst is it?
Rejection.  Utter disbelief of your feelings.  The loss of a friendship
THAT'S what you risk losing...and to me the 'odds' aren't good enough to risk the loss of a friend.  
There are so few that I can talk to...I mean really talk to...to throw one away.
So...I'll just fantasize about the risk paying off...Dream of Life...
And when I'm threatened I'll just...retreat from reality...
into my head..
where I can't be hurt...
or rejected...
or loved...
but...at least...I'm...
safe


End Scene.