Teachers, family, friends, artists, true leaders, I honour you.

~~~~~
When you speak I am 
heard,
not only hearing

Your tongue pulses and pulses
funnels and funnels
what I've been waiting for

and what is overdue
to arrive in my own mouth

and what I've been knowing
but not enough

Thank you
for finding 
my losts

and for re-giving 
my world to me
~~~~~

rising wind
clouds nearing, here they come barreling in, feel the hush
the moist pure angelic softness of air the closeness
ah the brush the touch the thick generousness in your mouth
​
rising wind
clouds rearing, here they come racing over, see the dim 
the sun a great hot eye
closing bit by bit, then all at once
as if belonging to a sleepy baby
ah the relief of shade of less of quieter of covered

hey did you know
clouds are a web

soul-catching web
wispy billowy graceful soul safety-net up above
for those moments when
you jump out of your skin

when you bounce out of your bones into some hovering space
of shock or dismay or worry or 
terror flash-freezing
grief like glass powdering

don’t worry because every single time
clouds will catch you and send you back
for sure, for sure
infinite times

faithful ever-forming and ever-cleansing
those darling, irreplaceable clouds
catching

faithful and ever-forming and ever-cleansing
darling, irreplaceable you

i release the fact that i often do not walk my talk
or even walk my thought

i release freely and without a hint of self-punch the fact that I have never 
taken up the torch
or taken off all the clothes 
required to do this thing called writing seriously
not even enough torch-taking or clothes-peeling
to have maintained a decent blog or whatever they're called now
perhaps you have an equivalent 
in your life
one, two, three, open hands, let go

i release conversely
and perversely 
the fact that i am letting myself be hugged tight by the Muse
until I'm all done writing this
instead of preparing supper at the proper time
as a truly good mother and competent human would

and finally i breezily - i said breezily - release all self-judgement 
related to enjoying songs like this in the afternoon
come on you know the kind
oh, you do
i know you do.