Bedtime Protest

Above our garden
Light took over ragged
Clouds,  tried for
Some time to hide
And still got dragged 
From inside -- down
Sky, as all light turns
Back around behind its
Dreaming eye of night.

Carmen Miranda Beet

Something to do with drought,
With heat, she goes out and
Digs a Carmen Miranda beet
Dancing under bees -- her
Husband,  half Portuguese,
Keeps time with his feet.

Of You Is

Over an olive tree
Is sky, and 
I reflect no 
Disturbance.
Is it dance or some
Illusion, some fusion
Of light and ideas?
In a really good house
Of mirrors, you only
Know where the
Inside of you is.

Whirlwind, Listen

[Normavideo backdoor garden pirouette]

Clockwise,  a whirlwind over me.
Its walls warm, center calm--
A memory of an old embrace,
Upturned face, a smile-- and
I walk with it a while, birdsong.
I recall a kiss and think, yes,
We were supposed to do this.

Last Train Inland

                       (San Pablo Bay from train)

Last train inland drew
Us late from the shore.
We could stay, do more
Or wait until dawn ahead
Of summer heat, move on.
Yet,  we delayed all  day
Leaving, found other things
To  do  --my  love  of 
Moonlit  evenings  is
Part of  loving  you. 

Out Our West

Out our west window
One plum and another
One appears -- in
An astragal  of spheres
Arranged a good deal
Like planets under 
Sun --to reel and 
Dance around a line.
I must conclude cosmos,
Chance and plum trees
Turn on a common
Axis, and share design.

Rock Point, 3 A.M.

An electric path--
To be what one was
At trailhead in
Night-sea crossing--
Under the moon
Between black crashes,
Incandescent corridor
Of not-to-be and west
Away from memory.
Something takes flight,
Swift, silver.
Rest of me turns east
And out of night.