The sound of a phantom's shadow in the dark

The voice of the breeze
unspoken whispers
the secret language of the trees
conversations in dreams
what unwritten poetry sounds like
the scream of sleeping cars
lyrics in a silent mike
the song of unstrung guitars
breath of the planet's dark side
the swishing winds past talks send
the hidden tune you have inside 
 words of an imaginary friend

The touch of the sun

 soft stuff of clouds

 the cold steel of the on-screen gun

 crush of yesterday's crowds

 the warmth of a flying kiss

feel of a vacuum 

 the pang of a near miss

 comfort of the womb

 a hug shared over the phone

 lingering fingers of someone gone

and someone yet to come.

The daylight stars

faces in exposed photos

 images through broken binoculars

the ancient sculpture's lost nose

 shapes on an untouched sheet

the unseen night rainbow 

 springtime footprints left by winter feet

the dead light-bulb's glow

mirror people on the other side

the smile of the maker of the universe

 the painting you have inside

 conjured-up character's features

At First Sight, Or.

They walked past each other on the street

opposite directions, separate lives

They shared one glance

something in his eyes

made her look back, just to make sure

and she saw

that he had done the same, just a moment before

and nothing more.

she wondered what might have happened

had they both looked back together,

glimpsed what they were looking for at first glance

and saw that it was there at the second?

And then they walked in opposite directions to their different lives.

Prospect

Sky
there is sky, and burning sun
And road
road trod below and shop crouched beside,
Woman drinking tea
nice-looking woman, alone
on lazy, late afternoon street.
And man
man across, doing something else
Well suited to the atmosphere,
light dances through his hair.
Landscape,
to each the other
mild detail in unfocused
landscape.
Not sentient more than that three legged chair
The odd grey wood
or the trimmed wildflower framing right foreground
And left.

Then they drop their eyes in sudden kinship
Startled at catching their painting staring back.

Aug 23 2009