Enfleurage

I never met a flower
that loves me not
blooming transients
eager for communion

colored visions
shimmering palettes
ones hued to many
to enchant me

scented languages
spoken elliptically
by silent tongues
to entice me

botanical magic
exquisitely wrought
by gods unknown
to shape my soul

humanness clarifies
among these blossoms
distilled into
a finer essence.

Crystal Ball

In my dreams
he leaves
repeatedly

disappears
beyond my reach
without farewell

in each
I charm the gods
to no avail

startled awake
I break
this crystal ball.

Aging

The outside
matches less and less the inside

time corrodes
but not the view from inside out

as Future reckons
I spectate through younger eyes

until mirrored
metamorphosed in others’ gazes.

Family Transference

She expertly ferries
overfilled camping gear

his younger, stronger hand
takes the canoe’s tiller

Beautiful and Handsome
two mythic paddlers

across their Odyssean seas
to compassion’s home

newly observant
in our Stygian shallows

watchfulness shifts
from us to Them.

Immortals in Our Midst

Sopranos and altos
in cricket chorus

perennial heralds
of Autumn’s eve

ancient messages
from Paleozoic mists

transmitting to
human receivers

undecoded
for one million years

Olympian wisdom
in these long-lived genes.

Modern Hubris

Venues
overflowing with
egocentricity

corner offices
bankers’ quarters

money temples
main streets and malls

political places
executive lairs

as Midas-like greed
narcissistic folly
race

to topple this US of A.