July 2021 – Aremyfeetofftheground

Becalmed

~You must pay attention to what calms the animal. If you are afraid, stay back. But if you will, approach slowly. Let them see that your hands are low and open. Note if they are nervous. Stay still a moment in your patience and your scent. Judge whether the time is right to stay.~

Commandment

Said the floating head: ~ Tonight, look out over this rippling lake. See those who swim on their backs, just beneath its surface. Their eyes are alight. Their spirits bright. Gilled as the fish, they drive the night.~

Photo by Anthony Constantine

In memory

Were I to gather
the rarest of woods,
matchsticks in multitude,
and vintage amber lac,
I would set to the building of that Strad,
its secrets laid bare by an angel.

And in its voice would be your intonations.
And in its resonance, the beat of your living heart.

***

Photo: Eastman Strings

Nautilus

~That night of cold rain, drizzle-trickled on my windowpane. The dark car, half-noticed at first, circled the block like a slow and ominous fish. Dimly lit inside. A Nautilus of the night. I knew her by the curve of her eyebrow, the shadow of her cheekbone. Away. Gone for good, now.~

***

Image credit: https://onceuponatime.fandom.com/wiki/Nautilus

Saucers

To us they come,
as elusive as vision’s veil.
Osmotic they seep into clear blue sky,
cocooned in the wombs of their dream-home
and, as quickly, wink out.

They know what we did last summer,
and want to close the portals once and for all.

***

Image credit: https://pixabay.com/users/kirillslov-8058952/