Riddled

Light bellows from the open shed;
A spinnaker sail into the deep night.
Invisible skipper, lite up inside and
Bursting stars from his fingertips,

River narrow and shallow, tortures
Depth. The far reaches gain nothing
By deep keels and strong motors. Tactics
Tells all. Barely disturb and let the wind

Cradle us up, on the cheek of the bow,
In the cup of the underbelly, Uncharted
His path, full of dragons, and the
Only passage home riddled with sirens.

Succumb and Last Hurrah

Succumb

Starved stems
brown and bitter blossoms
beset by vermin,
overcome with
pestilence and disease.
Even a hardy
plant withers,
is better dug out,
truncated, than to
linger.



Last Hurrah

Amid withered limbs,
anemic spent blossoms
and aphid savaged leaves,
is the tender blossom.

Blushing blaze red
and flourishing
bud, on paltry
stem. Dew nestled
in delicate
folds, promising
one last hurrah.