Tyranny of Mind
4AM
and you a warm lump
under the covers
of Morpheus
Me wide awake
eyes moist with tears
I write
lest I forget
the vulnerability of you
yesterday
lest one day
you ARE no longer
a day of dread
so locked into desire
for your presence am I
fearful of the future
lest it tears me from you
or you from me
Not yet awake
to the wisdom
of the sages and the ages
to live forever in the present
“Until death do us part”
The import of those words
have begun to resound
with a fierce vengeance
now decades later
The treasure of you
multiplies like the loaves and fishes
I fear a famine
not of food
but of your presence
I try to hold each wrinkled emotion
on your face
in a forever place
lest you be torn from me
The specter of loss
hangs over me
haunting our life together
And yesterday
when you cried
when you disguised your tears
with embarrassed laughter
your eyes dripped diamonds,
sparkling as they fell
in response to mine
I crying because
there will never be
a “happily ever after”
at our age
sure as shooting
death will come
and rip us asunder
Perhaps our love
will be born again
in Samsara
but it is a “perhaps”
without a guarantee
My faith is feint
My heart shudders
and flutters
under the threat
of separation
as you lay
a lump of warmth
in the land of Nod
Our love a fairy tale
in a fierce steely reality
of endings.
“Unless we can discover that basic ground of goodness in our own lives, we cannot hope to improve the lives of others.”
Chogyam Trungpa
Alone Together
in total vulnerability
openness spread across your face
how can I resist
I am powerless
before such love
before your open heart
and yet you have to go
live life in your world
after all
though we share so much
we remain alone
we make love,
or not,
no matter
our foundation
is deep and strong
how can it be that
our two bodies
though sometimes
joined in union
remain separate
paradoxically
keeping us apart
how can it be that
our bodies
will break my heart
in the end
for we will die
alone
how can it be that
our bodies
vessels of union
will keep us apart
that one day two hearts
that beat as one
will leave this bodily union
alone
Death cannot sever
our binding bond
though it rips us
asunder
(Dedicated to Thomas, my husband of almost 25 years, with all I have to give)
MOONSIDE 
