Onward

 -------Onward-------

Tulip 

Poplar

straight and tall

Leafless now

with Winter

I can see her branches

Like arms

beholding

The seeds

of Springs 

to come.

-------

We've Come To Heal

 -------We've Come To Heal-------

An elder alder

full of catkins 

and white

On a forest green of cedar,

sword fern, fir

and scotch broom

Convey the years 

have grown

since old growth

And that nature

comes 

to heal.

-------

Winter Time

 -------Winter Time-------

Winter time 

is slower 

time

Though minutes 

stay the same

As if time 

itself 

was nothing more,

And everything,

but a dream.

-------

Intelligence

 -------Intelligence--------

Seagulls trace 

the waters edge

Mussel-beaked 

observing

The stones below 

for one to crack 

Their catch

Falling

Open.

-------

Liberty haiku

 -------Liberty-------

Peace is destruction

When genocide 

is construct.

Liberty for all.

-------

Deep Water

 -------Deep Water-------

Near water,

where the Heron stands,

I can hold 

to time 

like weather

Like coldness 

calls

past hurt to surface

up 

and to this edge

Where I stand 

to face the water

and the depth

of who 

I am.

-------

Olive haiku

 -------Olive-------

Ancient trees cut down

The settlers cover 

their tracks

But roots never die.

-------

Learning to Trust

 -------Learning to Trust-------

A red road 

of pine 

needles

Meanders 

its way through cedar.

Setting sun

Dark night and moonlight

A new day

Afraid 

I once was of dying

Before 

I learned how 

to love.

-------

Growing haiku

 -------Growing-------

We all grow with Love.

Each to bear 

flowers and fruit.

Seeds awaiting light.

-------

In Love haiku

 -------In Love-------

Our joy 

and sorrow

Are flowers 

of the same earth.

All have roots 

in Love.

-------

Hold Me Autumn haiku

 -------Hold Me Autumn-------

Hold me 

Autumn 

in

The light 

of your becoming.

Let us 

both 

turn gold.

-------

Everywhere There's Laughter

 -------Everywhere There's Laughter-------

Fruit fall 

and forest chatter

The acorns 

and the geese

High above, 

within, below

Everywhere 

there's laughter

The light will gather

and carry on

As it does 

within a seed.

-------

Joy haiku

 -------Joy-------

Memory, 

a leaf

Falling

I run 

to catch it.

The child 

in me smiles.

-------

Seasons haiku

 -------Seasons-------

Neither cage 

nor chains

Can stop the revolution.

Autumn 

taking form.

-------

Goldenrod

 -------Goldenrod-------

Leaves turn 

their inner color

As the light begins 

to change.

Like them 

I trust the spirit

That moves us 

each and all

With the earth 

and to the rhythm

Of goldenrod

and Fall

-------

Heart Medicine

 -------Heart Medicine-------

To appreciate 

the rose hip

Is to give 

ourself to Autumn

To the song and sway 

of the ever-changing

And the medicine 

within.

-------

Free 'Em All

 -------Free 'Em All-------

There are some 

locked up 

because, like seeds,

they hold a righteous knowledge

A light within 

that shines upon

the source of pain and plunder

A politic 

of food for all,

a dream 

that each can prosper.

To fight for them 

is to prepare

the garden for the seed.

--------

Breadth

 -------Breadth-------

A culture that keeps me little,

stunted,

Like a flower in 

unliving ground

Will only see me 

for my color,

Never 

the roots or seed.

For the breadth of I, 

of you, of we

Is a threat 

to this breaking world.

Too much light,

too many dreams,

For the spectacle

to capture.

-------

Return to Green

 -------Return to Green-------

Dandelion seeds 

and clover

Remind me 

that 

the hurt I carry 

Cannot be fixed 

but rather

Healed 

like fields, 

once stripped to barren 

And left for years 

untended,

Can return to green 

when the flowers 

of dreams 

Blow in 

to land well cared for.

-------

Summer-Autumn

 -------Summer-Autumn-------

The season  

of the grains 

is turning

Golden 

like the sun

An ode to bread,

to summer-

autumn,

To death

and life beyond.

-------

Thistles

 -------Thistles-------

The sky is filling 

With clouds 

of seeds

Each, like I, adrifting

With nowhere 

in mind

But a purpose inside

Upon the wind 

adrifting.

-------

Lughnasadh

 -------Lughnasadh-------

The river sound 

of cottonwoods

Flowing in the wind

Rounding stones 

and the edge of seasons

As Autumn

come August

begins.

-------

Ancestors

 -------Ancestors-------

Never alone

among the trees

I feel 

akin

to a walking seed

Carrying all

of those I come from

And those

who

will someday be.

-------

Forward and Around

 -------Forward and Around-------

In the hot 

of Summer

As daylight 

begins to shorten

I can feel the Autumn 

slowly forming

From flowers 

into fruit

And in each fruit

the seeds of Winter

And in the darkness

Spring.

-------

Datura

 -------Datura-------

There are some of us 

who pray 

at nighttime

When the moon 

is new 

or full

Reaching,

it seems, 

with a heart in flower

To the stars 

and dark 

beyond.

-------

Living Hope

 -------Living Hope-------

There are moments 

now 

when sunlight

Finds 

its way 

through hopelessness

Touching these leaves,

reminding 

me

Of the gift 

I hold 

within.

The garden 

of our dream 

abounds 

With fruit 

from each 

our seeds.

-------

Today, I Live

 -------Today, I Live-------

I do not fear the dying,

the kind that comes with Fall

as summer flowers 

give to fruit

and seeds

enough for all.

It is in 

this light

I stretch 

and bow

my branches

to the sun.

-------

Tending Revolution

 -------Tending Revolution-------

Blackberries 

start in flowers

Like worlds 

inside a dream

Becoming fruit 

from petals first

The ends 

within the means.

-------

Thanks Giving

 -------Thanks Giving-------

Honeysuckle, lilac and roses

A reminder shared

from early summer

To stop and smell the flowers

Everyday, 

to be grateful.

-------

Beacon

 -------Beacon--------

Sunrise calls 

the mourning dove

who calls to me 

each morning,

"Rise to shine 

and share that wonder

you touched 

within a dream".

-------

"Hands Off Assata"

 -------"Hands Off Assata"-------

There are some flowers 

who cannot be captured

A single Rose,

a field

of Asters

Whose presence extends 

beyond one body

Who gives 

the world 

the chance to dream.

-------

Back to Flowers

 -------Back to Flowers-------

I used to think

the season 

over

When our petals 

dried and fell

But then 

I watched

our fruit become

A seed 

and how the winter,

Blessed, 

held

our seed til spring

Could bring 

us back to flowers.

-------

Season of Promise

 -------Season of Promise-------

It's no small thing

to hear 

the birds sing

And the spring 

in children's 

laughter.

-------

Poetry Against Apartheid

 -------Poetry Against Apartheid-------

In the space between thoughts

A quiet 

remembers

What could be without the violence

That follows 

from minds

Empty of silence

And the poetry 

of wonder.

-------

No More War

 -------No More War-------

Not far 

beyond

the world 

we see,

Know 

and are 

with whom acquainted

Is a forest of trees

with leaves and dreams

each 

with a story to tell.

Empathy 

god knows 

softens the edges of ignorance.

-------

Legacy

 -------Legacy-------

Like a tree

in this lifetime

I plan 

to gather

Sunlight, 

warmth and laughter

So much so

that with my passing

My body

builds the earth.

-------

A Place for Everyone

 -------A Place for Everyone-------

There are no fences 

around this garden

No fear 

of losing 

to someone else

Just seeds the earth 

has freely given

A place to plant,

to rest 

and eat.

-------

A Dream Between

 -------A Dream Between-------

A small patch 

of green 

amid the rubble

Is enough 

to bring 

in hope.

Dandelion and plantain,

clover, 

dock and sorrel.

A space to dream

of worlds

between

To make 

believe 

and wonder.

-------

Patience We Plant

 -------Patience We Plant-------

Rain and wind

wind

and rain

Springtime's

slow unfolding

With patience

we plant

our seeds by hand

With thanks

we gather sunshine.

-------

Analogy

 -------Analogy-------

A cold day

in middle spring

Feels

akin 

to autumn

As Maple buds 

enlight the forest

Like leaves

of red

and gold.

-------

The Rose's Song

 -------The Rose's Song-------

Spring

is in the air

A fragrance of trust,

like planted

roses,

That war

cannot destroy

With bombs or fear

the people's

song

Their stories

and their seeds.

-------

Harvests and the Seed

-------Harvests and the Seed-------

On the western coast

where rivers meet

the sea 

and bend like cedar

Stories of this land are told

in the mother tongue 

of seasons

In birdsong, wind, 

and morning light,

in the harvests 

and the seed.

-------

Growing

 -------Growing-------

Daylight 

upon the roses

Not yet bloomed but budding

Suggests 

the flowers

Sure to come 

Through mindful, 

patient study.

-------

There Still

 -------There Still-------

Snow 

upon 

the northside 

Slope there 

still 

reminds me

To never take

the light

for granted

But hold it

with 

the struggle.

-------

Sweet Friend

 -------Sweet Friend-------

The birds,

sweet friend,

are singing

Springtime

in the snow

And seeds

in Fall

We planted

now

Begin

at last

to grow.

-------

(R)Evolution

 -------(R)Evolution-------

On frozen ground

A seed 

awaits

Patient and ever-ready

For the world 

to turn

In revolution

And call us 

toward the light.

-------

Spring Begins

 -------Spring Begins-------

Spring begins

within 

the shifting

Between quiet

and the song

The thaw

and thickness

of sunlight sugar

From Maple

to the tongue.

-------

Meditations on Winter

 -------Meditations on Winter-------

Something 

like 

snowfall

On the garden 

of my mind

Lets to rest 

at last 

the chatter

Of chores 

I've left behind.

-------

Lead Us Through

 -------Lead Us Through-------

Like an Oak tree 

who holds 

her leaves 

through winter

Through the cold 

and darkest 

days

Finally 

letting go 

just in time 

for spring

I trust

the stories 

we keep

The songs 

that we have sung

our prayers

our joy

To lead us through

the struggles 

sure to come.

-------

Blushing Light

 -------Blushing Light-------

Sunset 

behind snow clouds

Makes it feel 

like morning

Blushing,

like springtime 

When the world 

exhales

A mist 

upon the water.

But here

for now

Let us make 

believe

And cherish 

this light 

Of winter.

-------

So Many Stars

 -------So Many Stars-------

Starlight 

on a city's night

Reminds me that 

no matter

How lost we feel

we never are

So many roads

to follow.

-------

One, Together

 -------One, Together-------

Follow the thorn 

back to its root

And make the cut 

where needed.

Do not mind the branches,

The promise 

that politicians make.

For time has shown 

that words alone

mean nothing without action.

Anarchy 

is a trust in us

That we as one, together

Have everything 

we need to bring

Our dreams 

into existence.

-------