the center holds
eternal eye
of the hurricane
vortex of the maelstrom
infinite calm
seen only in the gyre
the movement around it
sensed, uncontrolled
feared and called random
passion and conviction
pull reason round
a drunken spiral
the blood is in the turning
not in the pregnant
limpid shape of silence
compassed by jeweled fractals
and diamonds of distant suns
it is Sekhmet
who rises in the desert
head of a lion
body of [...]
The sun, steady in its season
warms seed, breeds the mayfly
ripens grain and dries the foal.
It rises daily to show its faithful head
earlier in summer longer to bed in winter
bright faced or cloud veiled
rarely eclipsed by the changeable moon
it pursues its duty faithful as the farmer
dedicated as the laborer
accepting the housewifely monotony
of its circle.
But the moon [...]
Fine furniture made in the late years
between World Wars and marked “Germany”
sits on tiny needlepoint rugs
Mother made one summer.
Rearranged first by me
and then by the careful fingertips
of daughter and granddaughters,
miniature dishes and lamps
have lost their tags and stamps
that said “Made in Japan.”
Two weeks after the bombs
fell on Hawaii
Mother and I went downtown
to the small shop
a [...]
Surprised by a rogue cloud
on a sunny day
rain splotches my shirt
and tosses huge drops on my hair.
I turn my face up
to catch sweet water in my mouth
and think about the water bearers.
For me there were five
who came from water
to teach me about poetry
and spirit.
A man taught me
how to catch lightning
from the storm
and coax it to [...]
When: September 19-24, 2010
Where: Northern Virginia, D.C., and Maryland
"Eye Chart" courtesy of the 