The Beginnings of Frost


In the start
of the voluptuous cumulus
moonrise

as if chemically
enhanced
with silver
or gelatin

recollection fires
in clusters
from family outings
in the transitional
seasons

of dry
cold
outcroppings
on the steep shoulders
of the Temblor Range
over the alternating
slopes
of chamise
and crippled oak

of still air
after weak storms
before the fog forms
in coastal
valley towns

how temperature
and moisture
alter scents
of smoke
decomposition
and clothing



Driving the lights
into the fields
of the university

showing the taste
of a brief shower
a few degrees
above freezing

there is an instant
of glow
over the inland mountain
from distant lightning

then the brisk walk
through feminine
night-youth
to the class

and here
sitting by
the crescent moons

faintly reflecting
the girls
of his childhood

in their remnants
of Mexico
the Philippines
Portugal
and Ireland

with their hip
adaptations

Creole
opens her cupid’s
lips
to speak
of works
and strategies

while
the nonverbal
minds
find nests
of honey
to reach into
having learned
the ways of bees
and how
they let you
take their waxy combs
without stinging
if only you don’t betray
your fear


Asleep
holding the waist
of love
and care

sympathy
and concern

bodily
acceptance
freely given

lust
has become
irrelevant


At work

rolling down
the window
a calm
blue woman (Ehvair)
calls to him

and finding her later
to talk
her eyes
are so large
he could fall into them


Asleep again
now she is Demeter
merged
in a synthesis of loves

 midnight
surrounded
   by the color
of full moon dusk

after the sunset
has completely gone

She starts to walk away from him
and he interrogates her
trying his best
to ascertain
      the problem

And she turns back
to him
        and shows him
             the buttons on her shirt
         over her left breast
                  where she has cut away
                     the extra fabric
             that had held it

He is worried now
a concern
as dark
as she

that the season
could take
      such a thing
and leave
               only black lesions

like the leaf scars
on the branches
after the sunset flesh
has dried
           and been carried
away to the ground


Rising from his limbs
                   and torso
held down
by the reindeer quilt
He tells Aiks
it is snowing
and goes
to wake his children

He tells them
of the history
of weather
and how
they are witnesses to it

because
it seldom snows
here
by the low coast
with its damp
            marine air…


…But when he wakes
the sky is clear
and the lawns
are white
with frost

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS


Some of these poems originally appeared in the following publications

Avocet
Dream International Quarterly
mojo risin'
The Muse Apprentice Guild (The MAG)
Transfer

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