Math Homework with my Son

for Julian

The perpetual questions of this son
spark and twist in the evening
as algebraic concepts curl exponentially
over our heads.

His voice is moving deeper into his chest,
closer to the earthy self to which he is called
to live and breathe and find his own
immortality.

I watch the edge of his lip
where the faint darkness of his new self
is a shadow of endless love
turning with the spirit
of all the generations.

Infinity is unfolding before my eyes,
in this moment, as we silently consider
the distance between our hearts
while erasing the answers
to the math homework
that will be due in the morning.

Wild

The field was empty white
with not a mark on the secluded ache
of this January day.

Even the wild turkeys making their marks
as they filed quietly
like old monks toward the brightest hill
looking for apples
under the snow.

The monotony of the wind and biting cold
wore us down today until all that was left
was the urge to sleep.

The fire crackles and huffs up the chimney
drawing the will for more heat
to rise.

All we can do is throw on another log
and pray in our humble shawls rocking a
nd look out at everything wild
past the fortress of this old house.

Every Day Ocean

The brine of this day's deep work
is fresh on my lips,
tingling and chapped
from the winds and cold
encountered in rough waters.

My mind billows with ideas
that always come as I chart the course
for a new year.
The certainty I'll see the stars
and know where to go next
is a blessing
if even for the moment.

Let the current of hope take me
into the wide open ocean
where love and kindness
are the leviathan we wait
to behold and follow
if we are steady
and strong enough.

First Day

On this first day
let the moon
carry you on her back
laughing at what the night
thought he could get away with.

Even children know
that magic sits
on the fingers
of each blessed flake
when the silver strands of love
drift to hearts, lonely and waiting
to sing.

On this first extraordinary moon
hold her tight as she runs
free and with the strength to make it
all the way home.

Shadow

This year
there was a shadow
that blocked the view
on some brilliant and usual days.

Even when the sun was bright
and the moon launched silver
into the night with mystical happiness,
the shadow, it seemed, was always there
like some sort of dark eclipse
no one wanted to see.

In the new year
we will find joy in all the right places,
around every corner;
a new shadow of light
over the corners where cobwebs
can't imagine crawling with their long
and invisible legs.

This sparkling blue snow
under flashing fireworks
and wide-eyed hope,
already shines unashamed on faces
that blush, smile and offer us
a kindness we almost forgot
when the shadow
distracted the seekers;

a passing cloud
and a storm we endured.

So Much More

We gathered under one roof again
just before the turning of the year.
My children are home.

Christmas was late this year
according to some other calendar
for families sliced and divided by
another kind of love
and loss.

None of it matters when we laugh
and open our gifts with each other.

It is enough to sit around the table
with fresh and home made food
we picked up from farmers at the local market.
French bread and cheese,
chicken and potatoes,
eggs and butternut,
carrots and chocolate.

We are warm in the cold.
We are loved for who we are.
We are so much more together.

Cold

Below zero
doesn't happen in Vermont every day.
December dips lower than the horizon
and we shiver to the center of this darkness.

It is cold
with the moon bright
on the icy pack of the last snow.
We walk, crunching loudly
toes stiff and stumbling
toward the fire.

Look up at the sky
and see the Dipper
and the Belt of Orion.

Feeling the sting on my face
is an awakening to all that is beautiful
if I can open my eyes.