there is nothing like a choir

there is nothing like a choir 

a kind of confluence of rivers 

    of blueish thought 

    reddish feeling 

    greenish beauty  

    yellowish freedom and 

    purplish imperfection 

flowing together as love

lasting a moment and forever 

in the universe of this space and time 

a kind of lifting 

    of the heaviness 

    to the heavens 

that can’t happen with one 

or even five 

or with a cast of superheroes 

a kind of graduation dance 

    fills a room with light 

    from the twirls 

of accomplishment 

and possibility 

a kind of window 

into the heart of God

no fly zone

Putin’s missile found a maternity hospital 

on a terrible day 

in a terrible war 

and we watch from here 

three dead and 17 wounded 

this senseless war on decency goes on 

wind drifting dreaded snow 

across flat prairie

invades our shallow peace 

and Zelensky asks and asks and asks 

for a no fly zone 

to protect the babies

Putin's war

flakes feather down 

white on white 

at end February 

a mountain of peace 

created on the lawn 

and my thoughts scroll to the Dnieper 

half a world away where 

my tree families 

down 

into fertile earth 

and now endures 

incendiary attacks 

missiles pointing down 

flames on flame 

at end February 

a chaos of war 

cascading contentious

country

war and peace

they jam the jails 

these brave Russians saying 

no war 

to Putin 

filling streets 

holding signs 

because what else can you do 

as Putin’s army pushes into 

Ukraine 

where so much blood has leeched 

into the ground 

through centuries of back and forth 

with might is right logic 

but still 

peace asks a different question 

demanding an answer out of weakness 

an answer that is a question 

what else can you do 

Bambi

brown and black Shepherd

Rottweiler cross relaxes

entire leather couch

aftermath

in the after storm time 

this bright chill 

deceptive calm 

but just as deadly 

for the straight tone 

loneliness 

enters the bones 

of the soul 

and the drifted snow 

invades and deadens 

cracks in the ribcage 

of feeling 

but listen to the 

voice of praise 

create a quinzy 

in the quiet snow 

a dome of 

shelter 

in this harsh life 

of fury and freeze

 

white winter

bleak beauty curves earth 

this day at end January 

pandemic year two 

snow settled knee deep 

on this unhilled plain 

far to west and east north and south 

clean clear white 

bear witness 

for this is the winter 

of widespread wishes