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soot and iron
she dances with horses
as she draws her brush across the page -
thick black strokes and delicate lines
gallop and whinny their way over hot-pressed cotton,
muscles stretching with the fiber,
hooves beating on ink-stained dirt,
every movement brimming with power and grace,
responding to the gentlest touch.
sometimes i think she doesn't know the magic she ( Read more... ) -
ornithophilia
wind brushing against my face
far above the fields and farms,
a tapestry of loblolly pines and soybeans,
the fear is gone -
only peace now,
hanging from a kite
a half mile up in the sky;
i wonder what we look like,
my instructor and i,
a strange, two-headed, nylon bird, perhaps,
but the vultures don't seem to mind.
*
it's been almost two years since my first ( Read more... ) -
of dragons and generals
Ask a general
if a dragon would make a good soldier,
and he'd probably laugh.
But if you pressed
and got him to think about it,
he'd probably say yes
and talk about breathing fire,
possessing the strength of a hundred men,
and the tactical advantages of flying.
Perhaps, if he were the West Point type,
he'd contemplate what effect a company of dragons
might ( Read more... ) -
release
ashes
scattered,
flung into the wind
from a knife blade mountain peak
high above the redwoods,
one last act of love;
a grizzled bear
climbs down
alone.
(©2011 Cassander)
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autumn joy
big patches of bright, green clover
and heaps and heaps of fallen leaves -
Loddie, I thought of you,
and if I had the time, I would've searched
for a four-leaf clover, and maybe
rolled around in the oak leaves, too.
(©2011 Cassander)
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mountain climbing
whenever you climb a mountain,
you must always come down.
no matter how high the mountain
rises majestically
over the land and water below,
you must always come down.
no matter how hard the trail
on an aching knee,
up and down massive boulders,
stacked and worn,
you must always come down.
no matter how long you stay
standing on a sprawling, sunlit rock face,
( Read more... ) -
Dragon Dancing on Cadillac Mountain
They say the Moon's at apogee tonight,
but you wouldn't know it up here
on Cadillac Mountain
after the last tourists have gone home.
The only lights here
are Jupiter and the stars
and that big, bright, shining Moon
that makes the boulders just glow.
The whole landscape is illuminated,
and with a cold, cold, howling wind,
it all just seems so otherworldly.
But ( Read more... ) -
amber green
She tells me of all the days
she'd be walking along the causeway to the ferry,
looking down into the water from above
and just reeling in joy -
the clarity and the amber green,
being able to see what might be down there,
and listing into a lovely sense of longing
to be in that water -
the comforting, gentle pressure from all directions,
being able to move ( Read more... ) -
The Eastern Shore
I stand looking out at the horizon,
Water around my ankles,
And I watch the whitecaps come gently in,
Painted golden by the setting sun.
And I think about a year ago
When I stood with you in this same sand
And the big wave broke upon us
And ripped us out to sea.
Dragged down and half-drowned,
I nearly lost everything
To the wild, raging fingertips
Of a ( Read more... )
