Dusty prairie open wide

From the land stand side by side

Trust Mother Earth and  treat her well

Reap and sow as time would tell

Came a force that took apart

All you built and broke your heart

Ripped the child from the mother

Couldn’t save or help your brother

While they tried to fix and save

All they did was just enslave

To your knees they made you fall

They ignored your anguished call

Still you danced with colors bright

Will not let them win this fight

Culture strong and drum beat loud

Voices rise above the clouds

Cannot erase the history

But still can come your victory

Use the pain to keep you strong

Plant your feet where you belong

Autumn

Trees on fire
Leaves float like embers
To blanket the ground below
Damp and dewy with morning
Blue skies glow
And marshmallow clouds overhead
Dangle precariously
Breezes rise and fall
Warm with the memory of summer
And chilled by the crisp air of winter
Lungs inhale the smoky trace
Of fireplaces beginning to burn
Blankets yearn to warm
Feet that scamper
To hide beneath
Rubbing themselves together
Like sticks
At summer’s last bonfire

Stampede

Hot summer sun
Burns down on damp mud
Clumped and trampled
By gladiators
Human and animal alike
Candy frosted sticky air
Rises and drifts
To cloudless blue skies above
Dust flies
And hats soar
Cheering and clamoring
The crowd goes wild
The beast within is freed
Dangerous chances taken
As warriors stride
Confidently among jesters
Challenging fate and gravity
Longing for the next battle
Heroes rise and fall
Under thundering hooves
of dreams

Thick and brutal green
Chokes the landscape
And hides ghosts of summers past
Menacingly swaying
Over the dark damp underbelly of youth
But a symphony of ghostly voices
Rises just above the din
On harsh stifled breezes
Where summer begins
Shadows dance until early evening
When the ghosts come out to play
Leaving traces of themselves
On wisp of fragrance
Or taste of summer bounty
Hiding the nature of their desire
To keep you here
Stuck in this place as they are
Shrouded by overgrown maple
And foreboding lilac
Beauty as treacherous as evil
Not revealed until long after
Night falls and the breezes chase away

Sun beats down
But is blocked by darkened lens
Eyes that squint and strain across
This field of grass and play
Where athletic ghosts of youth
Banter and steal base and run
Dive for flies and swat them away
In the deep sweaty heat of summer
Mirage puddles fool their eyes
Across this expansive field of dreams
Perched atop this wooden splintering platform
Where just below young lust is born
Watch now as these creatures
Chase and dive through softened grass
Thick with the sweet scent of summer
Ice cream promises drip across the atmosphere
And time stands still in this moment
Slight and evasive tender breezes
Just out of reach of those who crave it
Drift aimlessly across a sky too high to reach
Like the game that tumbles through this landscape
The breezes and games will fade
And summer soon to be nothing more than
A whisper once again

Night sky
Make shadows bend
Sun fades
At day’s end
Stars shine
As wolf cries
Moon beams
On owls wise
Trees quiver
Swift and soft
Clouds climb
Up and aloft
Dreamers dream
The night away
Stars dance
While angels play
World sleeps
When night’s awake
Darkness fades
When sun breaks

Salty sea air
Moved by hot and musky breezes
Down road after road of sanded gutters
Bare feet on hot road
Longing for the ocean
Pine needled lawn
Longed for soft green grass
But soaked up the rays
Of the hot summer sun
Cat crept up the wall
Destination unknown
Just outside the modest garage
Beyond the lush garden
Lines of peas and radish grew
Feast for the senses and the soul
Almost hid the path beyond it
Cool house with ocean hues
Wooded floors where breezes caught
And wrapped ankles and knees alike
Front porch breezeway
Perfect for lazy afternoons
Below an attic full of treasures
This place unlike any other
Still haunted in dreams

The days were long and dreamy
In the lush green forest of youth
Gravel road lead to wide cavern of mystery
Surrounded by raspberry bushes full
With sweet and ripe offerings
Back down the road to that cottage
Up that slanted driveway
Past the hammock swinging lightly
Under the canopy of trees
Woodshed garage perfumed with cedar
Stacked high to the ceiling
Well water rain barrel leaned lazily
Against the quaint and quiet homestead
Birds fluttered and the jack rabbits played
Chipmunks crossed great stretches of green
Soft and lush beside well worn pathways
Picnic table perched facing afar
To the red roofed farm house miles away
Checker table cloth flapped happily
Awaiting the feast it would host
Sweet corn sauced with fresh dripping gold
Hot within the hands that held it
Drifting into evening where fireflies danced
And stars brighter than the sun punctured the sky
Slumber in the night air
Dreaming of the day

Ancient waves crash aimlessly
Against modern tar speckled sands
Birds skip towards the foamy white water
That hypnotizes in its quest
Gulls dance and sway above
Their hunt for the feast is unyielding
Breezes are cool against flush skin
Painted with the brush of the sun
Leaving evidence of itself behind
In the places uncovered
Sand granules scrape and buff
Areas never meant to be exposed
Distant breakers on the ocean
Only prove to expand the dreamscape
Majestic and unending
Over cresting waves that will never
Crash this beach again
Damp sand, dark and softened
Sketches the outline of each step taken
Waves hurry back to erase every trace
And to grip with foamy phantom fingers
Greedily coaxing you back towards the sea

Sounds of laughter rise
Higher than the tilt a whirl
On this warm summer morning
As fog lifts towards the heavens
The scent of sugar sprinkled on the air
Overshadowed only by the deep fried mystery
You should have said no to
The slow climbing coaster
Terrifies with every click towards the sky
And defies logic in the freefall
With your arms in the air
And your lungs empty you scream
Stomach turns with every twist
And childlike confusion is all you are sure of
Midway games seem like the perfect break
But tell that to your wallet
The night sky sneaks in
And colorful explosions
Leave traces of themselves behind
Brilliant color gives way to sweet smoke
As the cool grass below you begins to chill
Later as you drift off to dream
The haunted coaster will still move you
Even as you lay silent in your bed