Children and Dogs Together

Children and dogs together have dozed off;
Silent, the sky settles over gratings.
More shy than death
Votive light caresses
Half of the grass,
Half of the moon,
The half-loaf of sleeping bread.
     The grave-digger grumbles my songs,
     Measure by measure,
     Spade after spade.
But on the roads of night I goad
The chalky-white buffaloes-for-burden
Circling hills, climbing, descending,
Seeking answers, breathing.
     Time after time snow sweeps away my song.

At a distance, other nights away, in his night,
My lover is calling me, softly,
        by name.

Peace

I was explored by a new peace
And I smelled of the earth of flowers, of rain --
Space danced with a doe's feet,
Slim, sensual;
I took in the world as light.

A new understanding,
Perhaps known earlier,
Forgotten once --
I recognized your name
Without shaking the gates of sleep.
Beyond the senseless verge of memory,
I rested between seasons,
Smiled.

You Have Come

You have come, I hold you in my arms
You bloody flower, my son,
Flower out of stone, flower out of cloud,
So little, so much.

I am afraid to utter the happy words --
For that sun I hold today in my palms,
Most-mighty gods, kneeling
I ask forgiveness.