slender shimmer

i saw a slender shimmer
dangling above the dawn
were it any slimmer
its visage would be gone

hovered above the cacti
it danced with fronds of palms
day shall steal it from the eye
yet this glimpse brings such calm

behold the bringer of tides
seen and unseen beauty
who every month still hides
but never shies from duty

data lake brew

my data lake
has turned to tea
this data brew
needs glue to be

i let it steep
far too long
this ripened lake
is all too strong

it’s time to drain
and dredge this
putrid data swamp
decompose the bits

now my new pond
is all too empty
this nascent lake
needs to be like tea

slowly collect
the data dew
channel together
all that’s new

unleash the filters
curate the brew
balance too many
with far too few

forsacken

i used to visit you
several times a week
sometimes every day
for years upon years

parts of you
i knew by heart
sweet essence of life
you would give me

i needed you
for dear sustenance
to survive and thrive
thrilled by your delights

what did i ever give you
but my daily devotions
homage to your glories
and one more thing

i traded money
for your gifts
gave my dollars
for deliciousness

but now i no longer
visit you myself
i do not pay you homage
only send my wealth

tonight i visited you
after weeks away
in for a quickie
to snatch your drugs

you felt like a stranger
who for so long
i once knew intimately
every inch of every shelf

there were always aisles
i would pass by
some I would ignore
but now you are a stranger

oh have i lost my love
abandoned my muse
forsaken my beloved
long ago grocery store

waking wind

when i was four and twenty
i wondered where the time went
since years of dreams before
i was just three and ten
oh not so long ago

then as my slumbery fog
lifted its cozy veil
i swiftly dashed awake
as i quickly realized
i’d hit snooze an hour and ten

once precious dreams
were whisked away
by the winds of waking
morning burns asunder
slumbery spell i’s under

how many dreamscaped aeons
was i stirring beyond the veil
how countless varied lifetimes
have i eluded oneiroi’s jail
when the waking wind shall prevail

brambled grove

it’s been a year
since we drove
across the desert plain
to Pima’s peaks

this is the longest gap
in twenty-odd forevers
since we’ve trekked
to seaside haunts

i miss the mountains
different than our own
i miss the ocean waves
lapping at our toes

we kiss the clouds
before they’ve flown
we memorize the songs
the wind whispers low

slowly as daynight ebbs
and seasons blend
the dayyear flows
without any end

if we could steer
this brambled grove
somehow explain
this year of antipeaks

perhaps we could prune
such a thorny tangle
avoid the further mangle
and tame the growing throng

how do we train a year
not to bite
how can we steer
toward what is right

never waning

the overcast
didn’t last
no more rain
in the forecast

dear midnight moon
you are such a joy
those clouds have parted
since your journey started

i venture in
to find some warmth
stick to the floor
need carpet more

the pythons wriggle
through the room
weave their strings
and numeric things

no sugarplums dance
as i drift off in clouds
the moon’s romance
sails on sans shrouds

when i peek out
the carpet is down
the hall finally finished
since the tower had drowned

six months had passed
but you always there
cycling on through
your changes a-were

hello morning moon
you still make me swoon
though i am not baying
and you shan’t be staying

i waited for you
for so many forevers
and still you watch over
our many endeavors

two nights later we see
your face visibly waning
but still feel you here
in our hearts ever remaining

papel’s puppy-pages polka

story spins slowly
sees its own reflection
since puppy paws arrived

papel puppy pounces
upon this year with glee
time with puppy flies

two weeks in
the puppy wins
really no surprise

little waggy tail
gets all the attention
with sweet imploring eyes

but still papel’s story
flutters on the keys
appears strong and wise

but as typing ensues
for all attention
fluffy paws vies

and so the dance goes on
papel’s puppy-pages polka
as cuteness and fingers fly

Welcome 2021!

Rabbit! Rabbit!! Rabbit!!! Happy 2459215.5 ≤ t < 2459580.5!!! (i.e. Happy New Year 2021! (for the Gregorians))
Goodbye to the twazzy twistical 2020. Let’s celebrate a new year and a fresh decade ahead. Welcome to the #tantalizingTwenties!
With hopes that you and yours have a healthful, happy, prosperous, productive, plentiful, bountiful, blessed, magical, marvelous, splendiferous, scrumdidliumptuous, super spectacular next orbit (year) ahead! Best wishes to you in all you do during this coming year, and all you become. May you manifest more of your dreams in the year ahead.
Love, Brad, H, P, and the rabbits of well-wishing
(NB: See http://numerical.recipes/julian.html or http://www.onlineconversion.com/julian_date.htm for a converter, or search for “Julian Day Number” if the date-time values don’t make sense. Or just ask.)

kindle your inner pilot

beyond tiled rooftops
to the dawn

beyond the stuccoed
walls of time

hope emerges
like a fawn

wobbly at first
then stands sublime

we have lost
so many loves

flown and gone
like darling doves

into the future
we still fly

where shall we go
in spheric sky

our course not set
by winds of past

with fledgling wings
we push down fate

we steer toward hope
until our last

our feathers sing
sweet sky our mate

beyond tiled rooftops
to the dawn

beyond the stuccoed
walls of time

our wings raise us
to new heights

carry us forward
from heavy plights

the gift born in us
on this day

dwells within us
is here to stay

the candles we light
remind us of this night

may we learn
to kindle this flame

this pilot light
within our souls

it burns away
that old fateful rope

become our own
angels of hope

guide each other
to the truest gift

we all are saviors
when we follow

this pilot light
within our souls

beyond tiled rooftops
to the dawn

beyond the stuccoed
walls of time

we have been given
a gift with no ribbon

it takes practice
to learn to fly

let’s start today
and share the sky

snow stories

years of memories
precipitate
like newfall’n snow
we stare and wait

beyond tiled rooftops
to the dawn
stars are strewn
upon the lawn

baked in the recipe
of the season
rustling through mind-drawers
searching for reason

beyond the stuccoed
walls of time
clouds sail by
wrangling rhyme

snow stories fall
in endless sheets
rumpled and folded
with chaotic pleats

all meme and trope
they defy
the wind picks up
the memories fly

now we walk
into the fray
fresh snow stories fall’n
to start this day