Remember This Place All Days Of The Year

Among the faces, we claim a sun to light a path and mark the run -

That holds us tight in fitful prayer; a guardian to stand steadfast there.

To keep the planets and stars on might
Our orbit together this sacred night.

Remember this place all days of the year

Remember this face in sight of your fear -

For all that has been remains with us still

In eyes and hands and vigilant will.

Make noise of your spirit, take care of your flight -

Laugh when you hear it - make merry your sight.

- bellini

They'll Be No Fishing Today

In the light of Sunday morning before the cars from the church
Pull onto the street and forget the word --
Before horns and hurry replace the breathing of leaves
Where thoughts float to the waking.

I wanted to say what it was at first that now lofts like sails
On a boat beached in the rush of foul weather.

Unexpected, like a jewel or shell picked while walking,
Shimmering with mercury and pure light.
Burning a hole in my pocket, waking hunger in all its beastly forms -
I followed its path to your door.

There, in the swirl of a receding wave,
In your kitchen, scrambling eggs-
Snaking through a crack in your gate the gleaming memory of idle summers,
The fresh water of discovery cool to the vein.

The dead reckoning of fog horns marking the spot where just maybe someone else heard it too.

There, in the deep sea of conversation James Earl Jones reaches his hand across chest high corn to the other side of a field of dreams.

Cruelly arrives your summer squall, in sight of land and measure -
The boat rocks steady and the sea shifts to the locking of shutters
And the turning of keys. They'll be no fishing today.

-bellini

How It Is Day After Day

All That Is Green And Blue

Walking through this cave of harkness
Stumbling over rocks and root --
Joseph Conrad and his Heart of Darkness
Was I so wrong about you?

Fumbling on the hieroglyphics
Strike a reed and flame the wall -
It matters little the specifics,
You climb, you slip,
You take the fall.

Did you think you would be different?
Find yourself another route...
God knows I was certain of it --
An apostle in scouts clothing mapping the truth!

'Til it had shown me squarely back to where I had started
Empty handed in the center of town,
On my knees disbelieving
Having lost such precious ground.

There I joined in the procession
The shoulders of my brethren round
Feet shuffling and hearts cleaving
As they knowing
Burnt their houses down.
It was my turn, I was no different -
The only way out was through
A hole in my heart seeping
Every sadness, every sorrow, every thought of you.

Until the sweetness I had swallowed
Filled this cavity in my soul -
Down to zero, down to nothing!
Down to whole.

Now I paddle the flooded river
In a dug out canoe --
Centuries at the gates of morning
Keep me steadily in their view.
Staking claim to forgiveness
And the dawning,
I stand firm on higher ground --
Speak your name, they stare
back blankly, stoke their lanterns, make no sound.

This our daily ritual, not much of it is new --
Along the misty edge of all that is green and blue.

-bellini

Seeing The Moon Tonight And Thinking Of You

Seeing the moon tonight and thinking of you -
The stars and planets say nothing is new;

The river meanders its way back to the sea

Telling stories of the dragon fly, honey and bee.

Gone for long, though far you have come
Carrying your nap sack, beating a drum.
A penny for your thoughts in a jar by the door.
A candle stick left burning after it all.











Call me crazy or daffy, silly or sweet --
I saw you returning one time in my sleep.
Ask the electricians working on the next block;
Love lasts forever, beware of the shock.

The dream sleeping quietly at the foot of your bed
Makes busy itself while whirling round your head.
Til one day it stands beside you -- mirror in the hall
Readies your rain coat, makes the phone call.

I have stood on the dock in the fog of the night,
Paddled my boat round the Isle of Wright,
Returned home and put up water for tea --
Forgotten everything you've ever said to me.

Thinking that would make it all right --
Until, of course, the moon last night.

-bellini