Lamppost by a Bridge

      so many things
we'd never seen,

things we heard of,
      things we never
   dreamt we'd see.
  
      antique everything,
everywhere we looked.


but nobody seemed
   to care about any
      ancient ways or
the artifacts.

   canal water is tidal,
flushing twice a day.


      under the water
a roman causeway
   connected venice

to the rest of europe.

      history said
   that barbarians 
would or could not
   chase refugees
   into the lagoon

but there was
      a causeway.

Green Bulb and Snow

      after dark this 
      time of year,
many coloured 
   lights appear.

our emerald light 
   may remind us
of future green,
      due in spring.

   now it brings cheer, 
when short dark days
make many of us sad
   as darkness weighs
      heavy on us

because we need
   such light to see

      and feel alive
as we should be.


      this green light
   borrows colours
   we see with blue
in snowflake reflections
      in the dark of night,

we may be green;
      we may be blue.

winter chill approaches
   as we sleep our dark
   cold winter nights 
      clear through.


(and fail to remember 
   heat like we had
      last summer)

Lily in Autumn

   decreasing daylight
triggers a few changes.
leaves lose the green
   colour that reveals

a kind of life is present

before i hang up
   the telephone,
      i have to say:

"that's more than 
      i know"

   it seems that 
   every day now, 
conversations are 
      getting shorter.


      canna lilies
were growing
   in her garden.

we dug them up.

   water was coming
in basement walls.

   so the lilies would
   not thrive when we
cut irrigation (water).

in this climate,
   everything
      is thirsty.

Water’s Edge

some say that it
was different

nine hundred 
years ago.


from here,
thousands of
merchant ships

dominated in the 
mediterranean.

sea traders
roamed where
romans had once

roamed and ruled.


it's black and white,
sharp and clear.

across a large canal.
we see so far!

but all the water's
putrid in our noses.


between our senses, 
here we choose 
our vision.

Burning Bush

Burning Bush

he never saw it coming:
a voice spoke his name

from the middle of
a burning bush.


was he delusional?

he couldn't know.
and that upset him.

looking into the flames,
he saw a face,

(not anybody he knew)


the voice was inhuman,
confident and strong,

accustomed to 
unquestioning 
obedience.

what he said was 
immediately done

a universe was born
from his thought.


a man might choose
his own pathways

as some did.
unruly creatures!

(who know better
but make their own
nasty messes)

There Be Light

There Be Light

short dark days
are with us now.

and so we need 
good cheer.


huge coloured lights
brighten our night.

we look at many
neighboring
displays

on our new street
and are amazed.


cold dark nights
try people's spirits

in the darkness
we bring cheer
and colour,


smiling at all
passersby

to brighten up
their worlds,

turn night to day.

Green Fringes

this leaf reminds us
of the summer
that has been.

when we see it
with green fringes
in the morning.

we had never
seen such heat

in our few decades
of experience.


some leaves
got so sunburnt

so badly that we
thought it looked 
like autumn

those leaves hung on

but the light began
to fail in autumn


so there we are:
green fringes

Made of Stone

      drag my feet;
it won't slow down.

   look for stone dragons
no gorgons go this way.

a mystery is played.

      the third act is 
the same

   something is made
of sand, made of stone.


   i saw the deer,
      resting in the shade,
sheltering from the sun.

again i saw her,
      eating apples
      from the tree.


who is she then?

      an antelope,
gliding over a fence
   almost like
it wasn't there.


   the apple smells
different when ripe.

      she knows when 
it is ready to be eaten,


and seldom if ever
      gets it wrong.

   i watch in wonder;
she's so beautiful.