For Amanda (it's a surprise)

 How do I write write a love poem for a poet?

How do I describe a sunset when you

Invented red? Before I ever knew it,

'Twas on your lips I first saw crimson hue. 

I swear the stars shine dimmer then your eyes

I swear the birds song strives to match your voice

So sweet, I swear I'll think up some new lines

Less tired, some new metaphors, more choice.

If I said I were speechless would that be

Too trite? Even though I can't, (this is true)

Think of any more ways to say: "you see:

I'd write a hundred thousand poems for you."

For all my borrowed words and turns of phrase

I love you so much, have a great birthday(s)!

Hornets

Hornets

 I will love you fiercely, 

I promise this with my yellow and black body, jagged and whole

My eyes will break the world apart

And put it back together again

I will make us a home with dust and spit and hope

And we will love it

All our friends and sweethearts will share in this vision,

And when they finally come to take us out,

Call us pests and spray their poison down the hallways of our home:

We will aim for their heads.

Climate Change Climate Summit

 The maples don't come to visit

In the fall

They shed their vermillion leaves 

And took of for Maine or Canada

They missed the cold like a lost brother

The maple trees have made it clear:

"Listen!" They shout, "We are telling you what you need to know!"

"Live simply. Live in good relation to each other. 

Work together to break the storm. When one of us falls

It makes us all weaker." 

The Nipmuc and Pocumtuc

The people who listened to this land for generations

They remember these lessons

They know the maples teach us, they remember how to listen

But we've done all we can to silence them

We've done all we can to wipe them out

The trees,

They leave their leaves in bold letters

Spelled out on the ground

They do not give us the sweetness of their lifeblood in the spring any longer

But they would help us any way they can.

They shout from their stretching branches and tired roots

"THIS IS FUCKING POLITICAL. CHANGE YOUR STORIES NOW"

The trees challenge me to imagine a future 

A future without greed 

A future with out trillions of dollars in annual fossil fuel subsidies

A future where we all know the land and can hear the trees

A future when the maple trees feed us their sweet sap again.

To love a fairy queen

To love a fairy queen 

I'll make you a crown of golden maple leaves stitched with stories of falling in love

And you can wear it to command toy soldiers to die for you

I'll weave you a net of metaphors to catch the winter

And you can tangle yourself in it and watch as men who would help you drown

I'll hand you matches crafted from my own wooden heart 

And watch you set the forest on fire