I took a Walk at Sunset

Tonight I took a walk at sunset

Down a wave soaked shore.

For a time I walked along side a man, the sunset reflected on his face.

Step by step we walked together singing poems we knew

And for that time our footprints echoed behind us ’til the waves washed them away.

Before long we came upon a tree that blocked our path.

One step, two steps. I stepped over the tree

And there I was one step behind this man, my friend.

As we continued down this beach more came to block our way

And with each double step I found myself step by step behind.

As it happens the sun soon set and in the darkness I lost site of my friend

But continue to see his unwashed footprints

For they were well made

S. Grant

To the gods I turn and face, and heaven lies before me.

A thousand earths hang on gossamer thread, and now traverse the sky;

A day, a night, a week a year float across the tale-time blue

Passing day, I’ll let you pass and wait with want for that precious gift: a day that doesn’t pass

A day where time doesn’t clock

A day that hangs in silence

A day broken with sound, with song

With laughter, music, poems and wine.

Facing to the skyward heavens I can see the celestial gods as they watch me wait

And wonder what they think of waiting.

I know a man who drank life to the lees

Who never waited

Who knew the profit of self indulgent melodies

Of songs, of poems, of tales, of times

Of rich and and complex characters

Of sour grapes and ripened berries;

Mulled and aged with bitter flavors, savory notes that sing in fermented keys.

Who shirked the banal call of day and yearned for cries of night.

For tears of rain; harsh and unpredictable

For breaths of wind; soft, alluring, sensual

For laughing grass to dance and tickle at round, pink nubs

Sure he wondered, sure he wandered

But he never waited.

To the lees he drank until he came upon the dregs

And no longer knew the taste of it.