The grass was soft there

Beneath the feet of my youth

In a picture perfect neighborhood

That held secrets as dark as the soil below it

Red clay nightmares

Under bleak grey skies

Time drifted and seemed to stall

Across that urban sprawl

I longed to belong there

Yet those feet itched for a world beyond

Wandering across prairie and field

to the wide open skies

Where time moved as swiftly as clouds and cowboys

and the breezes carried soft and light hope

roots grew there from those once youthful feet

and I belonged in ways I never dreamed real

Awakening the laughter and peace

Far from the grips and reaches

of my Hometown

Feel wet sand below your feet
Feel the sharp and broken shells
Taste the briny sea water
Hear the wave that breaks and swells

Breathe that sweet notion of summer
Salt water taffy and musk oil
Bodies lined up on the beach
Like fish under the broil

Salty crystals form
On your tongue this phantom sits
Mouth waters in confusion
As the breeze around you lifts

Deep within the memory
Transported to this place
Atlantic sandy beaches
Sunbeams warm across your face

It is a memory of moments
So far back there in the past
Imprinted on your soul
These memories will last

Blank white sky

Grey with its haze

Transforms in moments

On bright Winter days

Snow covered trees

Encased in ice glass

Their beauty so frozen

Held by the contrast

Spring buds fight the chill

To break through and grow

At night snow still falls

And time seems to slow

Each day that passes

Winter gloom seems to fade

Spring on the horizon

Like a warm breeze cascades

A labor of love

This garden of mine

Will dark rain pound the earth?

Or will the sun shine?

I stand and survey

Ground still yet unturned

As the back of my neck

Begins to redden and burn

Clay mud on my boots

Makes me a seed in the soil

Pulling me down

A plan I must foil

Black under my nails

And dust in my teeth

Begging the earth

For gifts held just beneath

The scent of crushed mint

Now hangs thick in the air

Every weed stain was worth it

As I lounge in my chair

Ode to the country house

With its vista’s so true

The wide open spaces

Of its southwesterly view

Clean and uncluttered

Without a pretence

Holds on to its nature

Within its silence

Tracks of the wild

Tread over the grounds

Munching and stomping

With such thundering sounds

Paradise in the country

So far from the fray

A place that holds dreams

That get lived every day

Each day the sun rises

Out from the edges of the earth pushing upwards

Battles the night sky for victory

Some battles are won

Some battles are lost

But each day the sun rises again

More powerful than a night of stars

The sun pushes ever onward

For its rightful place in the sky

Seen or unseen it remains there

Gleams through pink and grey horizons

Revealing the blinding blue in all its glory

The sun retreats only for the moon

But all the moon is

Is a reflection of the sun through the darkness

Sunflower, Sunflower

Gaze up to the sky

Your face seems transfixed

By the birds as they fly

Sunflower, Sunflower

Face any day

Standing so tall

You show us the way

Though rain and snow tumble

On your petals and blooms

Keep that smile on your face

Even when darkness looms

Turn away from the blackness

But rest safe at night

Tucked away from the shadows

To await the light

The night breeze through my window

Casts me back

To that place in the Rockies

Where we stood and took in the majestic beauty

I close my eyes and am transported

To that waterfall that fell with the ferocity

Of the wild creatures that roam this land

In my mind’s eye

My hand slips into the cold waters of Lake Louise

As I canoe through my remembrance of that place

How I long to be cradled in the arms of the Rockies

Mountains towering over and beyond me

Overwhelming yet comforting and compelling

I am standing on the shores of awe

In this

The world beyond my dreams