CATERPILLAR

It seems safer to inch along a proven way,

refusing to look up, refusing to hope.

I can expect nods of approval

if I stay inside comfortable lines.

Others might favour me

with a smile and ‘thank you’

if I follow instructions.

It seems expedient to gorge

and keep busy

spinning a silken cradle

to hide my unkempt self.

 

Death awaits, a soothing resolution

to unanswered questions and puzzles never attempted.

But some insist it is a door to Mystery –

not restful sleep, but psychedelic dreams,

unanticipated reconstruction.

 

When I awake, must I begin again?

Biting and pushing

to release my wet, uncertain wings

to unknown winds?

                                       February 2014

FIRST LOVE

First love,
however ill-advised,
is a gift
that never comes again.

It shimmers like a dewdrop,
vanishes too soon.
We move on,
older, wiser,
chasing sparkles
dancing in our memories.

What might have been
is a potential nightmare,
but cold, hard facts
are powerless to change
our dreams of retrospective bliss.

                                            Northern Ontario Speaks
                                                                  Northern Ontario Poetry Collection
                                                                  Volume 19, 2014.

to be continued . . .

to be continued . . .
the never-ending story of our lives
folded accordion style
from the beginning of time
as far as we can see and more
beyond our wildest dreams
there are no periods
just commas and suspension dots . . .