Slippage

Darkness
leans toward me
like a lover
for a kiss.
So difficult
to resist
her charms.
Darkness,
sleep,
respite.
Perhaps
this time
I'll simply
relent,
surrender
and disappear
inside her
forever.
 - mce

Recycling

I am burning
rotten slabs
of my deck
for kindling.
Slowly,
but surely,
Serenity
recycles
and consumes
herself,
as,
in the end,
we all must.
 - mce

Infidelity

If I betray
my heart,
who is left
to leave me?
  - mce

Encountering Emptiness

I'm waiting for a message.
I'm sitting in a bar.
I've flown 10,000 miles.
I've journeyed from afar.
The stranger who would meet me
is no one that I know;
I dreamed her voice in Paradise,
she told me she would show.
Oh where are you my only love,
when will you dance with me,
step from the crowds into my heart,
I long to set you free.
When will you stand before me,
when will your face appear,
I'm sinking into loneliness,
I'm sinking into fear.
I want to lift your flouncing skirt;
I want to touch your soul;
I want my hands to trace your breasts;
I want to make you whole.
They're wiping down the tables,
it's time to disappear;
I guess that you are far my love
and yet you feel so near.
But I will haunt this table,
each long and empty night
until you finally show up,
until the time is right.
-mce

My Cold

Cold without
and cold within.
I light huge fires
in my stove,
but the embers
of whole forests
do not warm;
I pour the output
of entire distilleries
down my throat,
but the spark
does not catch.
I think
some essential
kindling
is missing.
Perhaps that
is You.
- mce

Hejira

I'm running from the thought police,
I'm reaching for my gun,
the parasites are wriggling
and the madness has begun.
I visited the jungle once
and held onto my heart,
I never knew the reasons why
the darkness fell apart.
Oh take me to your tower
where the ruins of love exist,
I'll pound upon its broken walls
my puny little fist.
But I've no time for poetry,
no time for women's charms,
no time to light the fires of love
or feel its red alarms.
I'm running from the thought police,
I'm reaching for my gun,
the parasites are wriggling
and the madness has begun.
If everything was clear to you
would you tell me what it means
and let me enter in and feel
the wisdom of your dreams.
The sun is thin and chilly,
the dawn is bleak and cold,
the birds have ceased their singing,
my bones are sad and old.
I want my wasted limbs to feel
the power of the dance,
to fling my arms and fall into
a deep ecstatic trance.
But I've no time for dancing,
no time to dream and pine,
the day is broke, the way is up
and they are close behind.
I'm running from the thought police,
I'm reaching for my gun,
the parasites are wriggling
and the madness has begun.
- mce

Thanksgiving

Be thankful
for your breath.
Everything and
everyone else
will leave you;
when your
breath departs,
it won't matter.
- mce

The Definition Of...

A man sits
beside a dry creek
in an unmoving desert
with a fishing pole.
Every day he returns
to that bank,
drops his line
into the sand
and catches nothing.
The sun does not blink.
No water flows.
Not a cloud
disturbs the sky.
He continues to fish.
This is the definition
of hope
and
of insanity.
  - mce

I'd Just Like To Know

Where is God
at four AM?
  - mce

No Port In A Storm

The true Pirate
plots no course.
He knows:
the map
is the wind.
Hoist the sails,
let them fill;
the way
unfolds itself.
Wave crash.
Gull cry.
Always alone
at the helm,
an albatross
stitching
the swells
just ahead
to the sky above.
No destination,
only onward,
only further.
  -mce

Consumation

 - for Leonard Cohen

Sex and death
are the portals
to love and life.
They burn,
they are dangerous,
we are taught
to turn aside
and look away.
And so we do.
Only a few
have the guts
to face
these twin fires;
only a few
find the courage
to cross
these thresholds
into celebration,
ecstasy, madness,
transcendence
or come what may.
These are the lovers,
the poets, the pirates.
They long to see
the naked face
of creation,
to hold
the burning universe
in their open arms,
to penetrate
the Mystery.
They are not afraid
to be consumed.
  - mce

Buttons

How I long
to unbutton you,
Lady, to slowly
peel off the layers
of your being
and feel you,
body and soul,
naked and true,
beneath my
exploring hands,
touching the core
of who you
really are,
there where
you are hidden
beneath it all.

I think, Lady,
you have
been buttoned
against the world
too, too long.

Open the inside
to the outside.

Take a chance.

A world at bay
is no world at all.

Nothing of value
can be learned
at a distance.

Direct my fingers;
they are willing
if you are.

Bare hands,
bare hearts,
bare bodies:

to open,
always better
than close.
- mce

Gratitude

Breaking small,
fallen branches
into kindling
for my stove,
I am grateful
to the wind
that dropped
them,
the trees
that bore
them,
the sun
that nurtured
the trees,
the earth
that fed
those trees,
the rain
that watered
them,
the God
the made all
of this.
So much
magnificent effort,
that one
insignificant man
might be warmed.
  - mce

The Goal

To stand alone
before the Burning Bush.

No Jesus, no Buddha,
no Muhammad,
no intercessors.

To stand alone
before the Burning Bush,
to hear the Voice,
feel the Fire,
to be penetrated
by its Light.

Madness,
enlightenment,
realization,
revelation.

To stand alone
before the Burning Bush.

To become One
with the Am that Is.
  - mce

Sometimes

Sometimes
my heart
feels the kiss
of ecstasy.

Sometimes
my toes
brush the abyss
of madness.

Sometimes
I can't tell
the difference.
  - mce

Petition

Lord, make my mortal heart
like a berry patch,
green with new life,
blue with abundant fruit,
red in the autumn chill,
appropriate and fitting
to your time and season.
  - mce

The Blueberry Bushes Of Autumn

Why This Pirate Life?

Because
I don't want
ever again to be
a businessman
stuck at a desk,
selling shit
to morons.

I'd rather be
Han Shan,
cold and hungry,
uncertain,
but joyous,

writing poems
to the void
on cave walls,

laughing at vanity,
chuckling
at attachment,

wandering the woods
like a happy ghost
riantly doing real work,

struggling
up one mountain,
down the next.

No path; no plan,
but never lost.
  - mce

Leonid Meteor Shower

Four A.M.

Nothing, at first,
then clouds part,
and stars fall
like showers
of seed pearls:

perfect white
particles
of creation,

God's tracers,

tiny droplets
of beauty

raining
on a still,
dark world.
  - mce

Pirate Economics - for Ezra Pound

I have often
been told
I have
an unhealthy
relationship
with money.

Hmm...

America
is reduced
to money
and we now
call that
civilization.

Everything,
including souls,
for sale in the
inescapable
marketplace.

Oh mighty Ez!
You were
so wrong,
but so right.

Where
money rules,
usury follows
breeding filth,
corruption,
decadence.

How do you
have a healthy
relationship
with a disease;
why would you
even want to?

Wash your hands
often.
Keep your
distance.
Avoid infection.

Pick up
your tools.

Think with
your fingers.

Find a better
way to live.
  - mce

Embers To Fire

Beyond the edges
of the dying cities
the human
reasserts itself.
Shacks and gardens,
hermits and wisemen,
woodsmoke rising -
flickering flames
of a new dawn.
  - mce

Consolation

Jesus weeps;
Buddha laughs;
Sufis whirl.
Are we waves
or particles?
Many masters,
one Way.
Listen to
your heart.
The answer
is always
yes.
  - mce

Genesis

The Divine
resonates
at dawn;
rise early -
don't miss it.
Would you
refuse a kiss
from God?
The sun
explodes atop
the ridges:
perfect fire
of creation,
the world
made over.
Embrace
this day;
enter it
like a lover,
yours for
the taking.
  - mce

Kent Nerburn

It is the same for all men. None of us can escape this shadow of the father, even if that shadow fills us with fear, even if it has no name or face. To be worthy of that man, to prove something to that man, to exorcise the memory of that man from every corner of our life—however it affects us, the shadow of that man cannot be denied.

Decision

Three roads,
a wood,
nexus.
The son
stands on now,
behind him,
the past,
the way
to the future
blocked
by his father.
To move
forward
he must take
his father's life.
His question,
the riddle
he must
solve,
that will
forever
shape him -
what to do
with that life,
once taken?
 - mce

Night Watch From A Pirate's Deck

Three A.M.
Standing
on my deck.
No sleep.
Something calls.

Still and frigid,
waiting quietly,
I breathe in and out.

My breath rises
in misty, white
mortal plumes.

Inspiration;
expiration.

Beyond my cabin,
I feel the deer
dancing
in the deep night,
chanting the old
secret songs
of their antlered clan.

Exaltation.

I watch meteors
drop on
the ridge top
like God's tears
streaking the sky.

Clarity.

Two coyotes
howl a duet
in the darkness;
the creek whispers
and I understand.

Revelation.

I think
of your flesh
warm beneath
a thick quilt.

Expectation.

So many marvels
attend me.

Surely I am
a lucky man.
  - mce

The Fabric of Creation

Lovers know
the fabric
of creation.

Entering you,
I return to Paradise.
When your flesh
surrounds me,
the Garden
is restored.

Together
we become
much more
than each other -
one tapestry
woven
of two threads.

How many
existences
to arrive
at this life?

The particles dance,
rearrange, renew;
a universe
constantly reborn.

All of this
endless majesty
that my head
might find
the pillow
of your belly,
that my ears
might feel
the beating
of your heart.

Every breath,
divine
and precious;
each moment
a new world.
- mce

A Prelude To Silence

Pretty words
do not make
a life;
pretty words
do not
make a man.
I am good with
pretty words.
What have
they made me?
No wife,
no kids,
no home.
I have bought
a good deal
of nothing
with my
pretty words.
More;
there must be
more.
I want to sing
meaning
into creation.
I want the stars
to dance
to my songs.
I want
nightingales
to envy me.
I want God
to hear
my breath.
I want trees
to smile
at my syllables.
I want...
I want...
But all
that happens
are more
pretty words.
  - mce

String Theory

Five minutes ago
a chopper beat low
over the valley
above my head.

Thirty Five years
vanished
in an instant.

In that moment,
Serenity
became, again,
a landing zone.

So much
for the space-time
continuum.
 - mce

After The Fall

"God made Love; 
man made shame. 
Which do you choose?" 
- Nazid al-Quabar

In your eyes,
I see God's love;
at your touch,
I feel his Grace;
when you speak,
I hear his music.
Our bodies
are his reflection,
made in his image,
perfect as their creator.
Together, we make
a prayer.
Together, we sing
a psalm.
Together, we return
to the Garden.
Walk with me, Love.
The days are short,
but many steps remain.
Be the missing piece
that completes me;
I will complete you.
Together,
we are more,
than each other.
Together,
we return
to the One.
 - mce

Recovery

A Pirate
buried his dreams
like treasure
for thirty years.
When he
dug them up,
they had changed.
So had he.
Nothing to do,
but sail on.
  - mce

Mental Health Day Agenda

   ~ "God wants nothing of you
but the gift of a peaceful heart."
 - Meister Eckhart

Unplug the phone,
turn off the computer;
eight blissfully
disconnected hours.

Retreat.

Feed kindling
to the fire;
potter about
the cabin;
chop some wood;
read a little Rilke
and Rumi.

Grade some papers;
listen to Scarlatti;
sip a wee dram
of bourbon;
slip into violent,
fitful naps
on the porno couch.

Edgy, uncertain,
un-ease, dis-ease.

Seek the Way back.

Take a long, quiet
walk in the woods -
no noise, no people -
listen intently
to the leaf-song,
become the breeze.

Today, I am
more comfortable
with birds
than humans,
they squawk less.

Why this disturbance
in the field?

Let it go
live its own life.

I'm busy with mine.
  - mce

Potentiality

Damp wood
sizzles;
Dry wood
explodes.
Smoke or fire?
To discover
which you
contain,
you must risk
the flames.
  - mce

Zen Pirates

To capture the harbor
you must first
storm it in your mind.
Sun Tzu would approve.
Brute force fails itself.
Pirates must be
Zen Masters
with eye patches.
Patience conquers all.
Sit quietly, consider,
what will be, is.
  - mce

Reaching For The Latch

A harpsichord's
elegant
dripping notes;
oatmeal
in a simple
white bowl;
morning solitude
in a cold cabin;
chopping kindling
on the frosty deck:
where, exactly,
is here?
  - mce

Patience

Time is the only gift
I have to give.
Unwrap it
moment by moment.
You are opening
my heart.
  - mce

Zehn Aphorismus

Tending the fire
is tedious,
but necessary.

Money is very handy
when your tooth aches.

Everyone quits smoking
when they die.

Love hurts:
loneliness hurts
worse.

Whiskey may not be
warmer than her breasts,
but is usually more available.

When someone tells you
something is better than sex,
they are lying.

Every newborn
has the Buddha nature...
for about thirty seconds.

Asking if this spiritual path or that
leads to God is like asking
if a photon is a wave or particle.
The answer is always yes.

Death is the answer;
the difficult part
is figuring out the question.

There are no
Republican pirates.
  - mce

Another Dawn Patrol

Lovers live hard lives;
always in that no-man's land
between self and other.
  - mce

The Battle

I am weary
of being at war
with time;
take my hand,
lead me to
a country
without clocks.
  - mce

Reading Han Shan

When I die
my words will scatter
like fallen leaves.
All I have made
blown carelessly
to four corners.
This is both
heartbreaking
and amusing.
They are
not really mine
anyway.
Hold on to nothing,
you become free
to do anything.
  - mce

Leap Before You Look

Let me be drunk
on your beauty.
Let me be warmed
by your touch.
Let your arms
enfold my heart.
Let your grace
wash over me.
Do not withhold
yourself, Love.
Death hovers
wearing
a patient grin.
So little time
and none
to waste.
 - mce

What Is Required

Fill the cold stove,
strike a match.
Feed it small bits
of hard, dry wood,
carefully, until
the flames
leap and dance
with burning joy,
fierce ecstasy.
Life, like a fire,
must be tended.
  - mce

Bucket List

Visit Tibet
while it still exists.
Quit smoking.
Forget the war.
Complete
a pilgrimage
to Rumi's tomb.
Experience
the world
as an
Indigo Bunting.
Strike a truce
with the past.
Learn to cook.
Make
passionate love
with a nice
southern girl.
Find
the meaning
of life
and set it free.
Eat more
paw-paws.
Resolve
the mystery
of the Three.
So many things
remain
to do, to be.
 - mce

Aluminum Umbilical

Sometimes,
waking alone,
I read
my thirty-eight
year old dog tag
to remind myself
who I am,
that I am.
It is the umbilical
that connects me
to life;
all there is
that says
I was
even here.
  - mce

I'm Just Saying

 - for Judith

On a cold morning,
warm cinnamon buns
exceed enlightenment.
  - mce

Confusion

I bitched
because my path
was fraught
with obstacles;
now I see:
the obstacles
are my path.
  - mce

Waking to Reality

When you are cold,
don't whine,
build a fire;
the meaning of life,
always close at hand.
  - mce