Blue Skink

You are not crazy

Nor I am

Like a blue skink

You shine dark and colorful

against the earth tones of day

you were made to stand out

so you go into the night

under bright lights

where do few others dare

to go

you must shine brighter

you have no choice

Part of a Creative Writing Project: Letters to Geographer 2015-2016

Bi-Coastal Girl (Revisited)

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Look Up (Fly in the Now)

———————

Come on my friend, look up

Today's not as bad as it hurts

Because tomorrow's got wings

And I know how to sing

So let's all just fly in the now

---

Let's all just fly in the now

Let's all just fly in the now

Put out your wings and I'll teach you how

We can dance this bird to the ground

---

They say you're dreaming your life away

They don't see any other way to play

It's only a matter of time before they'll never hear the rhymes

So just pick up and go your own way

---

Let's all just fly in the now

Let's all just fly in the now

Put out your wings and I'll teach you how

We can dance this bird to the ground

---

So...

Come on my friend, look up

Today's not as bad as it hurts

Because tomorrow's got wings

And we know how to sing

So let's all just fly in the now

Part of a Creative Writing Project: Letters to Geographer 2015-2016

Like an Old Rope That's Been Cut Off

Love's souls intertwine- they twist together like an old rope that's been cut off

floating in the sea for years

weathered and brittle

salty

collecting seaweed

barnacles

shells

mollusk attached

When they pull our rope out to find the anchor

I hope they can read 

all the signs

showing the intricate

miraculous

gatherings

upon our braided line

I believe in this story

like I have no other

Will you join me?

Let our line form a circle on the dock

resting

coiled neatly

while the other ships sail by?

Part of a Creative Writing Project: Letters to Geographer 2015-2016

Perfect Wave

---

I didn't expect to find you there

Your beautiful song filled the summer air

I watched you from afar

Knew you were something of a star

You swept me into your current

Into a whirl of blue and white

I can't swim out

You sucked me into the light

There is no doubt

My life's forever changed

You're a picture perfect wave inside my brain

You saw me dancing in the dark

Stories painted from hands like art 

Smiling uncontrollably and free

I couldn't explain what happened to me

But everyone could see I was acting like a fool

There's a secret he's hiding

he can't possibly love you

What should I do?

I can't go more than a day with out writing a letter to you

Help me understand what's happened to me

I'm wrecked upon the rocks

Clothes ripped and shredded 

You're splashing me with songs

I feel like I'll never forget this

You've washed me up 

upon your shore

You're a singing pirate siren

and I can't take it any more

Lift me up and float me home

I'll never live again

I'm broken and fore lorn 

Part of a Creative Writing Project: Letters to Geographer 2015-2016

Song and Free Write at Millerton Point

I Want to Spend a Day with You(song)

---

I want to spend a day with you

Collapsing under a sky of breathless blue

I want to hold your hand

Lay down happy on the sand

I want to spend a day with you

---

We all just want a little piece of sky

where we can rest our weary aching eyes

and watch the graceful birds soar by

We all just want a little piece of sky

---

since you've come into my riddled life

every day seems a little more bright

dancing, singing and happiness

are my new addictions for which I feel blessed

I want to dance and sing with you.

---

i'll make myself a nymph of the sea

you can float you're pretty eyeballs out to me

sing your siren songs of myth

be my never ending kiss

i'll make myself a nymph of the sea

---

Fashionable host of my Stage

You kept me searching and praying

With arms outstretched as if to fly

You welcomed me to go find mine

I'm hot-blooded and I won't let chance slip by

---

All's well that ends well here

I won't let a day go by in fear

Inaudible and noiseless feet of time

Won't keep me from living in perfect rhyme

I want to spend a day with you divine

---

So bring me down your favorite city streets

Find us a newfangled place to eat

Love's labor is not lost on us

Poetic pageantry comes into clear focus

I want to spend the day with you.

----

----

Free Write at Millerton Point

---

strips of bark like belts

hanging

leaves frosted like winter windows

Bows swaying, creaking in the wind

like a rope swing from our favorite tree

push me you say

I push you as high as I can

hoping your feet will touch the top bow

you say stop, 

I'm going too high

we stay awhile and watch the sunset over the mountains

then we wander down the trail home

grace smiles and follows us too

We miss her

we miss the joy our animal spirit brought to our days

tears come all too easily when we stop to remember her love of a simple walk

and returning home

Part of a Creative Writing Project: Letters to Geographer 2015-2016

Bike Commute Poem (from Nutiva to Clif Bar)

She parked her car at the coconut factory and lifted her bike off the rack

Rode 3 miles over the deep train tracks

Turned at the Marina 

Bumped over wooden planks

rounded the fountain

without any brakes

The warrior poet was moored in it's port

She gave a nod to it's effort in the stationary resort

She smiled at the party, dog walkers and tai chi,

Cruised through the park and out to the sea

There, over the bridge 

Marshes, reeds and white egrets

She felt absolutely no regrets

Her heart open to it all

San Francisco, Berkley, Emeryville and Marin

Cycling everyday was keeping her thin

And smiling, cheering too

As she raced over the hill at Golden Gate Fields

She felt like a jockey, driving her horse to race through

Green shack to green shack,

then over the hill,

fly down along the Bay

Left at tennis courts of play

Right on the Frontage Road

Passed girls playing soccer

A little bit farther and she's back near the water

Pedal right by the fruit stand and up over the bridge

Fields of Gold to behold

San Francisco in the distance

On top of the bridge, she looks down in amazement

Why are so many stuck in a haze when this path to freedom exists up top-

Over the rainbow and through the park

By boats

By strollers

By Frisbee Golf

By the Youth Theater

and exit back out

A little bit further, and cross the tracks

to Emeryville Tech Center and Clif Bar Bike racks

She smiles, feels 10 years younger

Can't understand why she didn't try this sooner

Life is good, but it would be better

If she could convince more people 

to follow her efforts

The highways are clogged and trash is everywhere

But the SF Bay Trail offers something much better

Nature, water, air and sky

Birds and rushes flowing by

Couples strolling hand in hand

Children riding bikes

Runners and kites

It's a better world here, by far

With hope and dreams away from cars

Join me, grab a bike

With electric assist, if you'd like

You won't be sorry

Don't hesitate

because the earth needs this change

or it will be too late

----

Bike with me

Come fly away

Feel the joy in this change

Wheels spin smiles, relieve pain

Bike with me

Come fly away

Feel delight on natures' pathway

Part of a Creative Writing Project: Letters to Geographer 2015-2016

4-Sided Poem

Black Ink

---

He's not moving at all

he's so skinny and sleek

I don't even see him blink

just a stroke of black ink

on this trail I am walking along

i'm thinking of writing you a song

A dream comes to me

I touch your hand again

I see your smile sweet friend

I watch your lips open up 

to sing of ghosts and love

but then you just wiggle away

salamander streaks into golden brush

he doesn't have legs but it's enough

But you, 

waving away goodbye is not enough

----------

Black Hat with Flowers

---

Why do you wear a black hat with flowers?

Whose accessory to remember the hours?

is it really to hide from the cold

or to recall the old

someone dear who's not here?

what kind of words does a hat speak to us?

I am a cover

A top

A peak or a curse

I can dress you up

or spin you around

although I'm up on top

I can still fall down

i'm a clown

A witch

A worker

A tourist

A cyclist

A racer

A climber

A muralist

A hat you can remember from a time and a place,

a pretty little memory sitting on a perfect face

-----

Life in the City

---

Tell me about life in the city

is it as fun as it is pretty?

do you make music in the studio every night?

what inspires you to read, dance, or write?

do you listen to my words that I write for you?

do you enjoy games and rhymes as much as I do?

when do you think we can stop pretending?

Will this stranger story have a happy ending?

-----

Ascension from Shell Beach

---

as I walk up through the trees

I see squirrels and birds at my feet

The trail is covered by bending boughs

colored lights filter like stained glass windows

Ambrosia's vine strangles evil king

Dionysus lives on and sings

I feel the perfect bliss of heat from the summer day

An ocean swim that took my breath away

A sailboat with a yellow sail

I watch from the raft as it tacks and flails

The waves- motion moving from many directions

Intricate triangle shapes reflected

just as you compose shapes too

these waves are pictures 

but yours will move right through

Sound waves who's beauty cannot be seen

but felt inside of me in concert, screen or dream

Part of a Creative Writing Project: Letters to Geographer 2015-2016

Paranoid and Freaked Out

I'm paranoid and freaked out

I definitely can't sleep

cuz this crazy hipster band

has made a fool of me

They're messing with my tunes

They're messing with my car

They put a dead battery in

And made me drive it far

They cranked up the heat in the driver's seat

They turned off the defog

They spirited away through the moon roof

Where I could finally see the stars

I'm feeling like a rag doll

Now put through the wash

My clothes are wet and ragged

My skin practically worn off

Love is like a carrot

buried in the ground

No matter how deep you bury it

it's color will not drown

It's "Orange you glad I love you"

"Yell-ow, it's time to go"

"Green with envy, honey"

Sweet bands of Indie-go

Tell me why the house feels haunted

Wanna buy a used coin?

David is a Goliath salesman

All the Mike's are running away

My friend wants me to pack the car up

Make it disappear

They want me to do a puzzle

See if I will drink a beer

What in the world is going on

I don't get it at all

My flight leaves at noon tomorrow

And I can't sleep a wink at all

The kids are going to miss me

They really need my help

I am stuck inside my own mind

Hyperactive by default

I can't slow down very easily, but singing helps keep me calm

I hear the words and Rythm and then I'm not afraid at all

Singing in my car

Dancing in the dark

Spinning at the concert

All alone with a busted heart

But my head is full of colors

Lights are my dearest friends

They shine and keep me moving

I'll never be out of work again

Part of a Creative Writing Project: Letters to Geographer 2015-2016