All Hallow's Eve Valentine

On the night of the not-dead souls

We dress the children up as ghouls

Or disgraced presidents or ballerinas

All manner of sheets and swords

And send them out on a candy bender

To defeat the monster death

You have to look like one

To pretend you're not afraid

You have to go from house to house

Scaring the bejesus out of the neighbors

Laughing in the face of their fear

Or bejeweled and swathed in silk

Pretend to be a princess angel

Freshly risen from the grave

Has This Ever Happened To You Valentine

At twilight out walking the dog

The streets empty and quiet

Lights on in some of the houses

The others dark and dreaming

She said she was overwhelmed

By a state of deepest silence

A soundless rapture

Of pure smiling peace

That stopped and seemed to lift

Her out of herself

A stillness she didn't want to leave

And when she tried to describe this

To her husband he looked at her

Like she was a child

Or was maybe finally going mad

Death Dream #79

I wandered through an empty school

And came into a great hall

Clouds melting on the walls

I went backstage and stood

In the doorways where the actors

Make their entrances and exits

Ghost children there were singing

And past the darkened dressing-rooms

To a door that locked behind me

To find myself in a dessicated

Garden and a grove of apple trees

Ripples of laughter in the leaves

I was alone as I had ever been

And could feel the earth invite me in

Daily Valentine

Yes I'm eighty but you don't

Have to push me around

Let me borrow some of your busy

I love the sound of your voice

Railing at me about all the things

That have to get done in the yard

And don't forget to put air in your tires

Last night the temperature dropped

But did you come to put a blanket

Over me or tell me the story

Of your daily disappointments

How the world is still so ignorant

And cruel let me wrap you

Safely in my dreams for you

Dear God Valentine

Not a God we have to invent

But ourselves with him here

Or without him there

She they it together

We come in with so much adoration

Starving for something to worship

Someone to hold dear

That feeling alone could be a God

Who has nothing to do with temples

Of death but an impulse

To invent a body over and over

A force that tunnels through it

And just goes on and on

Holding everything dear

Stray Valentine

Some cat sits at my feet

Adoring-suffering in its eyes

We cannot commit

Fully to one another

We keep to our ways

But she insists

On sleeping on my chair

So I'll feel guilty cruel

Chasing her off it when

She's keeping it warm for me

Our differences run deep she glares

It all comes back to the eyes

You know so little about love

But I can teach you stranger

With so much left to learn

Chosen Valentine

From the windy grave of Moses

Which God himself dug

So there must be such a place

You can still catch a glimpse

Of the Promised Land just there

Past the Plains of Moab

Past the festivals and the laws

To be carefully observed

That it go well with you

Like a father to his child

I bring stones to his tomb

Who knew I would doubt

And disappoint him the only way

I knew to become myself

Anticipatory Valentine

Moon on the sea

Sun on the earth

Sometimes they hold hands

Moon on the earth

Sun on the sea

Wait for it

The moment always coming

The moment always gone

And wedged between them

Your life so small

It hardly seems to matter

The way the moon does on the water

Or the sun does on the wall

Wait for it

Even you they call

Rapacious Valentine

We argued in the kitchen

Which was hungrier

The body or the soul

Whether there were two kinds

Of thirst or just one source

That the body could thrive

And thicken while the soul

Grew paler and thinner

Or the other way around

He was the cook for the children

And we stood in the forgotten

Emaciated garden of October

Make me kind chef the recipe

For my rapacious soul

Lest in terror it consume the world

Carried Valentine

A presence I was only aware of

When I felt pleasure or pain

And I admit humiliated

By your limitations your ugliness

My proud soul could not accept you

Always flaunting your innocence 

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry

How could wisdom have made you

And then placed you in my care

When I was a thief and a liar

Forcing you to carry me on your back

Lest my feet get caught

By this river rushing away

O plant me on the other side

You I learned to love too late

Arduous And Luminous Morning

Arduous and luminous morning

When the new moon we never see

Slipped from its lair to stand

Directly in front of the sun

A full black disk haloed

With radiant fire as if

The darkness of the past

Was trying yet again to overwhelm

All the future's light

And though the finches keep on singing

Through the minutes of muted light

We couldn't help but feel

This was the sign and seal

Of some momentous new beginning

In the biography of the light

What Is Human Work Valentine

The first organizing principle of the world

As every morning proves

Is the warmth of the sun

Out of its willingness to return

To the darkness it leaves behind

Our only source of the future

A little flame that bursts

Out of the ashes of every human heart

At least that's how I picture it

Each a sun with its own horizon

Hurriedly rising dressing for work

In freezing cold and humid heat

That something anything get done

Hating or loving our little lives

But is this really what the sun

Has in mind for us today

That so much light produce

So little good and our suns

Not shine the way they could

The Pleasure of Life Valentine

Some accept pain

As pleasure's payment

Of its debt but life's

No bargain and the cost

Of love accumulates over time

Keep your receipt he said

They'll want to scan it

When it's time to board

Marked with the date time and place

Each item clearly described

With its price in the right column

And the total at the bottom

Gratuity included not to worry

You'll never live long enough to pay it

No Excuses Valentine

Being afraid to love

Took up a lot of the time

I've lived I see that now

The fear meant love

Had already damaged me

That at one time or times

In the distant past

I had learned the need

To protect myself from it

Enough was enough

Though it made no sense

But somehow despite time

I've kept that memory alive

Of having once loved without fear

So I know I know how to do it

And have run out of excuses

Beholden Valentine

Human body earthly flesh

You live in the stirring

Of light and warmth

A little chaos of water

Turned blood a fish

Of the air with limbs

In no case does some love

Not stand behind you

A heart not beat for you

Breathing you in and out

Leaving you free to struggle

The poorest and the richest thing

On earth the only creature

Designed entirely by hope

Gone Before Valentine

For several years now

In the spring and in the fall

A single Flicker bird

For a day or two stops by

My yard here in the desert

On it way north or south

This must happen in other yards

But it seems unlikely after

So much time it could be the same bird

Who visits so consistently

Shrieking me to attention

Time to move on he calls

Time to find our real home

But he's gone before I can follow

Then Valentine

When he told us we couldn't take

Our heads to heaven with us

But only our naked hearts and deeds

That even our brilliant ideas luggage

We would have to leave behind

I suddenly felt foolish and afraid

Lifting my heart from my chest

Throwing the dice of my deeds on the table

It was then he said you would come

Plunging my hand in your side

So I knew I was truly dead

And though still no angel

Could sit with you and eat

All your food of love I was able

Mary's Valentine

In the stars begin divinity

A placement and a movement

As sure as nerves or sense

A meeting in and out of consciousness

Like pilgrims on a journey

Crowds and crowds of stars

Rushing past and suddenly emerging

One you can really talk to

One you have met before

At a wedding or in a dream

An open earnest joyful face

Once felt you can't forget

Who has been to Venus and back

And comes to you like morning

Eager to join you on your journey

Keep Going There Valentine

It's still astonishing to me

Our clever scientists don't see

The obvious morality

In every cell and star

Not just the stark intelligence

In the structure and design

Nor even the artistry that first

Led them to a shell or stone

But the essential goodness

In every natural thing

Revealing its true origin

In a superior world

I'm astonished by their fear

I know I share to ask

When we come to the dark abyss

What's there responsible for it all

Dismantled Valentine

In the manual for the dismantling

Of the delicate body from the soul

If you can't bear to read the text

Skip to the illustrations in chapter 3

Where a blameless gown is sketched

Unbuttoning a shattered bride

Next to the diagram of a second option

A bandage ripped off all at once

No time for the hurt to happen

Unmasking the wounded soul

As the real source of hunger and thirst

Look to the final pages if you haven't had enough

They're all in musical notation

And the beautiful body is humming along

Where Are You Tonight Valentine

The soul of the world is reaching

Despite the body's ancient lore

Just eighteen years old

Remember those days

When you were still cutting yourself

Sex and shame and alcohol

And yet bursting with potential

What did it mean to have a soul

Let alone entertain its secret source

The sense that something wants to destroy you

And you'll have to fight for your life

Because it could be you yourself

Having lost it poor soul

Who has come to save the world

Of All Valentine

Of all I was capable of doing

And all I would never master

Drawing music loving diving

Cooking praying kissing climbing

Overcoming my fear of flying

All I wanted to be for you

Which turned into a disaster

A phoenix rising from desire

Who knew only friendship cures

The disease of being only me

All I would never accomplish or achieve

Persisting in my narrow ways

To you the only one I leave

I feel certain will forgive

I Take The Cup Valentine

Our own hands were the first cup

Scooping the cooling water to our lips

Until our leaky fingers were struck

With the idea of a solid bowl

From which so many goblets

Trophies vessels have evolved
Even a chalice and a grail to hold

The mystery of the wine turned blood

And still I plead to take this cup

From me this sorrow and this pain

But who to give it to

The world refuses to take it up

I am myself the cup I drink

Which only your fine will can fill

While I Was Gone Valentine

You just couldn't help yourself

From harrowing the tired yard

Summer's dead removed

Leaving empty graves

Planted now with new

Flowering arrivals small

Hopes desperate to fill in

The few feet between them

The hard work of it

Humbling you proud

And our blue-flowering tree alone

Christ in its leafy branches

Heavier than you expected

Must have taken you days

Untangling his body from the dead