Day's End in the Lake Country                     Birds in Hurried Flight

 Solemn sway by lapping water                      Each bird describes a wingéd "V"
 Breathe the trees the dying wind                  Etched upon the sky
 That frets among the unstirred boughs             Party to a larger "V"
 Like sparrows nestling in.                        On the hurried fly.
 
 Fading light on leaden waters                 Carried on the wind.
 Await the lakes the crying loon                  
 To plaint away the lowering sun                   Wingéd "V" carried high
 That sinks so soon, too soon.                     Over prairie plain
                                                   Flying high as they cry
 Hush upon the majesty                             We'll be back again.
 Of Northern sky as darkness brings            
 The quiet boom of endless stars                   Each beat upon the wind.
 Across eternal shadowings.                    
                                                   In moments they are out of view
                * * *                              Gone into the white
                                                   What a fleeting moment this
     In one drop of water                          Birds in Hurried Flight.
     There are oceans of power
     I am the sea.

                * * *

 Journeyed Over Mountain High                      Shadows and Sunshine - Walking Erect

 I journeyed over mountain high                    From LSD to ESP
 Beyond the forest till one day                    I chanced upon the open door
 I chanced upon a stately tree                     Of an odd minority
 That rose with awesome majesty                    Yet on the threshold I perceived
 From swaying fields and flowers gay               Life is stranger even more
 Into the summer sky.                              In a lost majority.
                                                   
 I reflected on the utter peace                    Tired of "bread" made out of "dough"
 Though soon beheld to my surprise                 I joined with others in the know
 Alone among the flowers wild                      To be as one who's on the go
 A gaily-dancing spirit-child                      As I wander through shadows and sunshine.
 With impish smile and laughing eyes                
 At home beneath the tree.                          
                                                   From bondage to bonding
 She bubbled at the sight of me                    From mythical to mystical
 Though soon began to my surprise                  From latter days to ladder days
 To press for answers Eve desired                  From final to financial
 Till suddenly I grew so tired                     From tooty fruity to nitty gritty
 She peered at me with solemn eyes                 From gridlock to wedlock
 And hid behind the tree.                          From work-a-holic to sex-a-holic
                                                   From tied down to tied up
 Half resolved to end such strife                  From alter to altar
 I edged toward that bowery lair                   From bewildered to be wild
 Till: "Naught to come!"                           From Plato to Pluto
 She struck me dumb
 With the daydream and the nightmare               Whoredom is boredom
 Of my adolescent life.                            When "think" is "agree"
                                                   But "bore"-dom is "whore"-dom
                                                   When "agree" is "to see".
 Prairie Girl                                      From madness to gladness
                                                   From learning to y earning
 Follow the wind across the plain                  From 666 to XXX
 The whispering wind that calls the name           From "sin" to "sin"
 Of delicate strength and easy grace               From woe to woo
 Of prairie sun on a freckled face -               From over think to think over
 Yvonne.

 Follow the song upon the wind
 The beckoning song that calls to him
 Of casual warmth and kindly ways
 Of guessing the end on summer days -
 Her love.

 Follow her home across the plain
 The prairie girl that carries the name
 Of lyrical song and simple taste
 Of smiling glance from a freckled face - 
 Yvonne.


From/To - From kingdom to kingdom come, From high brow to low brow, From query to theory, From utopia to euphoria, From sunup to sundown, From insight to hindsight, From landscape to moonscape, From tied down to tied up, From altar to alter, From whoredom to "bore"-dom, From holiday to holy day,

Prude as a geek
Shy as a nerd
Flushed like a bashful prig
She yelped like a dog
Purred like a cat
And squealed like a flying pig.
 
>>

They got married
Had kids
Two moms, one dad
Both kids
Grew up
Dad gone, moms glad.

R. Hoffman, Dec 21, 2017
updated May 08, 2020