Time and Space

A lifetime ago in the blink of an eye

comes a memory, snapped in a flash.

As it hovers for ages inside a blank page,

Full of questions, it rides on a sash.

Connected in now with the glue of the past

and the smiles and the laughter of time,

it finds something real in the core of my soul

and delivers the moment sublime.

We were once lost in stardust, in mists of desire.

Time and space kept the stillness away.

We embraced with a knowledge known only to us

and you promised to come back one day.

Clutching desperately near to the place of despair,

turning ever the place of events;

letting go unfulfilled with a promised tomorrow

that opened the door to pretense.

In the blink of an eye and a lifetime ago

robs a memory born of the past;

when the laughter and smiles share the thief of one soul

and you captured my heart in a flash.

I am lost in this memory, lost in your soul;

I am lost in a moment of time.

And forever I’ll search for that moment of truth

that with you I shared, fully sublime.

01/12/10

Sunset

At eve when the earth shows mysterious glow,  
when the sun yells emotion while bending so low,  
for fifteen pure minutes, the colors above  
streak red, pink, and yellow - bursting with love.  

For those fifteen minutes, the colors that streak  
put ease to the minds of the brave and the weak.  
The strains and the pressures put through them at day  
dissolve as they gaze at the cloud full of ray.  

The world becomes golden; above there is life,  
a husband embraces and kisses his wife.  
The beauty of earth is once more exposed  
through the brightness of fire as the sky becomes closed.  

Circa 1972

Dancing

Hips in unusual spaces
Breasts bobbing unaware of themselves
Shoulders rolling to and fro
Hair in flight
Legs in flight
Heart in flight.

Smiles, smiles, and even more smiles
Framed by arms and curling wrists
Eyes with laughter
Breath with breath
Moving and dancing . . . .
Dancing and moving . . .
. . . . Alive, alive, ALIVE!

Circa 2005

Debut at the Bagdad Cabaret

The lights dimmed down. There was a hush.
The dancer rose; her face a-flush.
Her cold flesh ached, her heart beat low;
then music, soft, began the show.
She tried to think - recall the dance
to now fulfill this moment's chance. 

The Middle Eastern Arab tunes  
of camel caravans and dunes,  
of moonlit skies, of tents and veils,  
of sheiks and swords, and fairy tales  
that filled the air with past pretense  
broke through the room with sharp intense.  

The dancer trilled a zagareet.  
Her brass sagat began her beat.  
Her head tipped back, her arms rose high -  
she drew a breath and heaved a sigh.  
Then out she stepped to claim her fame;  
her chance had come to prove her name.  

Excitement swelled among the crowd  
as out she flew, her head held proud.  
The coins which glistened with each mood  
rang with each note strung from the Oud.  
Within the pureness of her flow  
revealed a truth of ancient glow.  

The skirts she wore caressed the light.  
They swung and lifted in her flight.  
With each one beat a step she knew,  
she did with ease. And movements grew  
to rapid beats which worked the drum  
until the awed-struck crowd was numb!  

Then 'round and 'round the dancer spun;  
Around and 'round she spun and spun.  
Her skirts were full, her hair out-flung;  
her body twirled to music sung.  
Then down she dropped with flare and grace!  
The clamor ceased without a trace.  

The snake-like figure on the ground  
swayed slowly back without a sound.  
Her body writhed; her hips were first  
to undulate as she'd rehearsed.  
She glided past her audience  
with smooth finesse which left them tense.  

With graceful ease she worked her form  
back to her feet. The air was warm.  
The perspiration trickled down  
and stung her eyes, yet not a sound  
she made, but smiled and danced and shook  
and made her audience look and look!  

The lights went on; there was a roar!  
The crowd stood up and yelled for more!  
The dancer bowed and gave a glance;  
she knew she had fulfilled her chance.  

Circa 1980

...and I Feel New

Sometimes lost and sometimes sad,
When life's the worst I've ever had,
When times seem blue and tears are shed
and turmoil blocks the light ahead,
I turn and find a smile in you.
It's meant for me, and I feel new.


Sometimes frightened, sometimes frailed,
When friends I seek have lied and failed,
When all the world has lost its glow
and my own thoughts have ceased to grow,
I reach and feel the warmth in you.
It's meant for me, and I feel new.


Sometimes dark and sometimes beat
When small mistakes seem to repeat
When fingers point my way at me
and future times are hard to see,
I know the love and strength in you
is meant for me, and I feel new. 


Circa 1998

Candid Candlelight

The night began with candlelight which flickered softly low

and let the shadows dance with grace, while magic crept below.

The room was filled unknown with warmth, secure in all its past;

and music also set the mood -- a perfect play was cast.

A glass of wine was poured in trust and tipped to yester's toast,

and tales were told and laughed about, reborn from flesh to ghost.

A silent sense had entered through the channels of the room

and there, unseen, a source reached out and plucked it from its womb.

Intensely calm, in want to say what each one seemed to know,

their closeness brought a tenderness denied so long ago.

A simple truth en-wrapped each heart and played about each mind;

a dizziness escaped its grasp to see what it could find.

Without a word an inner wish removed all plaques of old

and trampled down all fortresses and cut away their hold.

The candle flickered out but saw a silhouette of two

become a silhouette of one as if rehearsed on cue.

The night, unending, followed through and found a perfect peace

embroidered with a sense of hope and caring thoughts released.

A sugared taste of sweetness there unveiled a pair of one.

Amidst the darkness of the room, two lovers and begun.

05/05/80

Entwined

A single note produced a song and sang

   the Christmas tunes of New Year's frolic gang,

unveiling just enough to clear a thought

and set on course a lost forget-me-not.

A single wish retold a future tale

   which opened senses toward a moonlight sail

and caused a change in patterns unforeseen

unfolding just enough to set it clean.

A single thought unveiled a untold hope--

   a secret held in place with knotted rope.

Unleashed, its beauty settled back and gazed

at two new lovers lost in hunger, crazed.

Circa 1997