Hula Class

Four small palm trees
awkwardly twisting
under her tutelage

fan-spread branches
dancing with the wind
to tropical rhythms

finely fingered fronds
embracing each breeze
before gently letting go

grande dame of motion
orchestrating sways
into endless alohas.

Tropical Dreamscape

Swimming through thick air
heavy-footed
in slow motion

palm sails overhead
sinuous masts
bleached bone-white

gritty mineral bits
river of sand
sliding sideways

pancake-flat sea
alternating ribbons
turquoise and blue

mesmeric pull
abstract peacefulness
to its never-ending edge

awakened
gasping for air
I hold a coconut.

In the Dark

Images develop
in black and white
and touch tones

white vanity top
banister handholds
staircase steps

welcome waiting
to downstairs hush
lush in its closeness

intimate hugs
with familiar shadows
sharing the dark

convening
friendly genies
appear for tea.

Kneading Time

I hold time with slightly stiffer hands
kneading Christmas cookie dough

resisting diminished returns
kneading Christmas cookie dough

I grasp measured-out days
kneading Christmas cookie dough

adding more family increments
kneading Christmas cookie dough

bequeathing to fifth link in kin
kneading Christmas cookie dough

I embrace immortality
kneading this Christmas cookie dough.

Visitation

Peering out the window
into pre-dawn darkness
draped in silent white
surprising, spectral presence
to my conjuring eyes

four-legged shadow emerges
in statuesque proportions
antlered silhouette at forest edge
striding lustily across the snow
as Zeus’s alter ego.

Dialectic or What's the Answer?

Why do humans
love, eat, drink
maim and torture one another
go to school, go to work
ravish forests, obliterate the buffalo
mow lawns, wash cars, grill steaks
use every drop of oil
play ball, swim, climb trees and mountains
pave and pollute the planet
paint houses and masterpieces
run from rampaging armies
fly to the moon
demolish, destroy, annihilate
explore the oceans
think up concentration camps and killing fields
study the tiniest thing
rob friends and neighbors
watch sunrises and sunsets
burn books, despise learning
stroll a sandy beach, sail the endless seas
bomb cathedrals and museums
fly a kite, sing a lullaby
overpopulate the earth
gaze into space
enslave others
want to know more and more
disdain nature’s ways
live peaceably
die violently?

Is selfish greed evolution’s only answer?