etween trees
is fortress and manor,
blockhouse and Maginot Line
careening between the branches
much as a sloth
toe ambles
across the roof of a forest
gingerly stepping on noise,
clinging to velvet footpads,
sitting between shadows
within the roar of a clearing.

AIRBRUSH

Iced coffee,
wedge of toast--
the sun poking thru
cranberry glass
delights exquisite Duchess of Berry,
her decanters & an hourglass.

Halo-hello in your fingertips
I said,
to a cadaver of light
boldly striking a tuning fork
to ring an engagement
of gold flecks
by your bed.

Limoges vase
for lace and pretty underthings
for outside the stream
steals my interest,
wearing tumbledown silk pyjamas
and a peek-a-boo smile that points
thru reed curtains.

A rustle from her chemise
and sun parasol parts green boudoir
draping shiny, black rock.

The muddle of this earth-time puzzle,
brief flutter to the eyelid's butter--
I saw match-flare
crocheted into the snake eyes
of your dress.

SWORDS AND ROSES

Some lives have themes.
Goldfish that stubbornly die;
compatability only with distant lovers
--flowers (but no sweet-breads)
that wilt to the touch.

Waiting. Charcoal-grey cat
agreeably on a green linoleum table
with light basking in....
a tad playful,
paws up,
(classic boxer stance)
but no one notices.
Others oblique in their transparency,
are unmindful of even the empty closet
and greeting cards that smile hello.

In the dark
this room shimmers below
life-raft status;
chairs are buoys
bobbing under waves
of congealed fright.
In the morning
the first pigeons
rifle over rooftops,
mad flutterings like your eyes
stabbing gables looking curiously
like your heart.
A tree bandaged in wood
manages a feeble handshake
with sky cajoling winter.

But it is the moon,
large and eerie,
a golden earring
mindful of a Chinese panda
that plies its trade.

Mandarin-like, a snout
so cloud-entrenched
soft night barely resembles
willow and bamboo shoots
the universe left to feed her.

Nuggets or nougats?
Should I call you "opaque",
use coke-bottle glass as a
symbol of light-headedness, transparency?
Keen vision?
Could it be more is known of outer space
than your mind
or that leaves,
frosted with cold,
are conducting interviews
malici