Soul Keening

dawning
open morning
mouthing last night’s silence
making off with dreamlike distance
owning

little one
in whose keeping am placed
place in your keeping
that which is understood
less than bread un-torn
left soft crumbed on the table
for sake of mercy or unknown brother
or sister
soulparts
gathered up crumbs
thrown to the four winds
married by storytaleing
to driftwood on the beach
hearing crash of wave on shore
hearing you call
hear you calling
sink beneath the rolling breakers
wash the weight from tired eyes
be forgiven if unforgiveness is your geis
know love now
if late in day
if unlovedness be your geis
amble down the valley with a swaggered gait
into the promised land
pick a thread of grass for good measure
with wry smile remember taste of summer love

Shamefaced

months of inactivity
during which so much has taken place

unrecorded
perhaps unconscious intentionality
knew best

but it still bubbles up daily
wellspring

Now comes breakfast and all sorts of nonsense.

touching
touching the smell
tasting the weather’s gall
sensing the rain on the west wind
knowing

come and listen a while
at the hearth of the ancestors
they come if you maintain silence and sit quietly
invite them
they need to be given a place at the fireside
they are cold wanderers
universal symbols
characters in a play/dance
drifting mummers
mumbling doggerel verse
crude but easily remembered
in comes and in come and in comes I
wondering how and wondering why
but hail and well met and give us a sup
i’ll tell thee a tale if you fill up my cup