Somewhere Along the Rivulet

Somewhere along the rivulet, I stopped trusting the ebb and flow
Trapped ego blood circulating conspiracies inseparable
From my body other than vehicle or vice
More a dinghy or raft, than a yacht or ark
I embark, I launch an undistinguished pedestrian

Lost and stuck in the marsh of a grey estuary we hear a whistle
Secret whispers of oral traditions, first river civilizations
The fiery sky chariot vessels of Hindu and Hebrew lore
Like a waterfowl alone in the reeds, a lost rune on the path
Pictograph scripts written from right to left on papyrus scrolls float past
The first sound expressed, a ripple on the wadi, funeral epitaph

My mind is the train in the distance, thoughts disappearing in mountain tunnels
Swallowed in ebony brushstrokes of granite cathedrals
Mine those precious metals hidden in the cauldron bowels
Wailing like a glittering newborn, a flickering candle in the dark
In the crumbling castle fortress commanding the view above the tributary

Girded loins on dusty tapestries hang besides gilded family crests, cobwebs, dusty shields 

Downstream reveal the lush valley opportunity, reduce me
To a greater majesty, unearth the essence of this vestal bucket
Evaporate like wavy heat in the horizon, where sky and earth meet
I see a chest with a lock
Find the key in the secret chamber of mystic union
Reduced to tears I smelt into the stream

Spring Monsoon

We're number one!
Flag-waving champions blown to shreds in the March winds
Blowing players off the board game, our turn has come
Up to bat, bases full, pandemic epicenter, invoking useless authoritarian powers
Trading one loss for the other
They make us think in the language of war
Invisible enemy growing stronger in the unknown, untestable
Like a Pacific typhoon grown preeminent
Our lungs are the target, organ of grief and of metal
Collective imbalances, expressed in microbic mushroom spores of sadness blowing
Slowing down together, a global chrysalis of shared personal introspection
On what is essential after all
Transforming this communal lamentation into something more

Take the dog for one last walk
While dark clouds collect on the neighborhood periphery
A known presence, Biblical plague,
With what do you paint the frame of your door?
Lock the shutters its starting to pour
Contaminated tears from the Atlantic
Tsunami rolling  quickly from the East
NYC, Detroit, all along the Mississippi
Coming from the Western California cities
Two tides from both sides run for the Rockies like a refugee
We are all asylum seekers now

Governors in their mansions race for time and hoard supplies
From each other like the shoppers in the stores
While the Big Apple rots by the sea abandoned
We ride out the hurricane with windows shattering, leaking
Flooded floors, whistling sirens in the cracks
Huddle together on the sofa trying to sleep
Find a little peace in the turbulent night

Wake up to discern
The typhoon hatched into a Spring monsoon

The Coronavirus Blues

The world's shutting down imploding extremes of
Want and gratitude, necessities, and greed exacerbating inequalities you're still in denial to
A revolutionary's wet dream of possibilities, the capitalist politicians the first to gain
As people sneeze openly, don't wash their hands, don't believe the TV when it disagrees with how they're feeling

Global typhoon germ warfare spreading like a sigh, last goodbye, a mist of fear
The collective atmosphere, cloud pockets of death, unknowns, and false news
Dolphins and swans have magically appeared
You made it somehow a battle between faith and science
Adolescent defiance, sucking the geriatric teat,  Dementia tweet of misinformation
Bury your primeval head in the sand of unawareness

God's grace is bigger than your cowardice, but that won't stop the people from dying
It won't stop me from trying
To be a better human being, we have to do our own thing together

Canceled our Spring Break holiday in DC
Cherry blossoms bloom alone at the Tidal Basin quite oblivious to
All those eulogies and white marble totems
Vacant cities, abandoned national treasures behind chained gates, capitol lockdown
People's vernal dreams flying in ghost flights, hollow planes forced to turn around

More people are praying, fingering the rabbit foot, crossing toes
The banker prays to his Bull market deity, while I cry
For nonrefundable travel memories that couldn't be, the fragile line of poverty
Toeing the line, the balance of panic and preparedness
Hoarders still take as they please, pitiful emptiness carried away by anxiety

Colossal mythology, end of the world pathology
A throw of the dice, of numbers, Russian Roulette when the governor just invoked
The Grim Reaper in his state address
And Kenny Rogers just died, passed the night before
His last hand as The Gambler, a reminder of chance

The cosmic dance, daily yoga practice of self-quarantine and community
Isolating for morality, connecting to the righteousness in me
Crossing to the other street when I see my neighbor
A radius of 6-foot bubbles, bouncing like ions charging either way

Taking care of me taking care of you
Coronavirus blues, under azure Rocky Mt skies