A Piece of Heaven

I am longing for beauty and warmth ~

For color and sunlight on this dreary

White-skied day nine weeks from Spring ~

After the glory of multi-hued holiday

Decorations ~ this season of the year seems

Like a penance or a punishment ~

With no time off for good behavior ~

I have already braved the icy winds

Once ~ fighting to keep my umbrella

Turned right-side-out and my hat on ~

And now I watch with jaundiced eye

As icy rain smears itself across the panes ~

Ravel’s “Bolero” pours from the speakers ~

Impassioned notes that labor to dispel

The chill of this winter-dark afternoon ~

I sit up taller and unconsciously my body

Turns and yearns toward the source of

All that liquid beauty, those singing

Strings, the spear-like bursts of sound ~

From the bright gleaming brass, with

The underbeat of the drums throbbing

And urging me toward an end I do not

Comprehend but am quite unable to resist ~

And while the chords rush toward the final

Crescendo, my soul is ravished and on fire ~

In a consummation of beauty and music

And the words that cannot describe it

This side of heaven ~

Moments

Crescent Moon

The surface of the

Water dances ~

As the wind

Passes by ~

The sky is a

Brilliant blue ~

With tiny wisps

Of cloud ~

Palm trees rustle

In the slight

Cool breeze ~

A bright white

Contrail ~

More than the jet

That precedes it ~

Draws my eye

Upward ~

And in its wake

To my surprise ~

The merest hint

Of an infant

Crescent moon

Appears ~

How lovely ~

I sit in my chair

And gaze up to

The heavens ~

So still I feel, as

I contemplate

My part in this

Cosmic journey

Undertaken by

Us all ~

Filled with a peace

I have never

Felt before ~

At one with

The Universe ~

As I have never

Been before ~

But the moment

Passes and I am

Myself once more ~

Waiting for the

Next moment

Out of time ~