Lost

a lost memory
soft perfume on a silk scarf
fading to nothing

February Ends

cadaverous skies
gaunt and cold between the clouds
mock the coming spring

Refuge

I seek an altar
a sacred refuge of light
for my darkest dreams

Breaking News

each morning
of late
the devil wakes
and sighs
with resignation
at the prospect
of yet another day
dancing
with humanity

The Whisper

this scarlet whisper,
breath afire with lust,
hypnotizes my flesh
with a voice near unheard
yet unable to resist,

it takes hold of the heart
and steels my passion,
tumescent desires
waiting, waiting to be driven deep
at her command.

les perce-neige

the fairest flowers
paint the earth in simple hues
for the briefest time

Let Swallows (unfinished)

let swallows bring my resurrection
resurgent spirits on the wing
from their winter resting nests
to flight in heralding the spring

Lost Breaths

the room was naked
save for bohemian rugs
and skylights curtained
only with our lost breaths

The Lane of Last Year’s Leaves

I tread a dark path
black relics of former years
touched by winter’s kiss

Liturgy

the western sky burns a barren flame
and chases home the robin cold
the eastern wind sees off the day
its hours now burnished into gold
high in the branches of the beech
dark in his winter’s livery
a lonely brambling sings aloud
his hope of heaven’s liturgy.