Orchard

Posted on December 8, 2011 by Wayne L. Miller

Sunset reflecting from your cheek
Onto our red wine

Last week there was snow here
But, that was a different here

Other lovers on distant shores
Do not concern us

The tree behind us wakens and greets the season
With green and gold

Our world ends at the edge of your blanket
On the grass by the still lake

Your eyes reflect my want and desire

Our world ends at the edge of our touch

I waken the stillness in me
We are two beings in our own orchard

Flowers opening
Apples growing

The sweet taste of the harvest
A winter of the soul

The season’s opening of our hearts
A budding of love in the still cool early spring

We see each others eyes
Reflected in a glass of red wine

Snowlight

Posted on December 7, 2011 by Wayne L. Miller

Winter calls us to our mountain
Just you and I
A few cold white months in our year
The low sun has a pale glow

Dinner with your favorite wine
Just you and I
Warm pie and hot cider are there
The roof protects us from the snow

We’ve settled by the fireplace
Just you and I
Laughter and smiles forever near
Always yes, we say, never no

Resting under a wool blanket
Just you and I
I stroke your face, sleep now, my dear
Let’s think of tomorrow, just so

Shoreline

Posted on December 6, 2011 by Wayne L. Miller

Fog protects me from the heat of your stare
I struggle to keep pace with the ground cloud’s movement
Lest I be exposed

Water surrounds me
Walking barefoot in the surf
Over clamshells and smooth stones

Rolling waves from the horizon send
Whitecaps flowing through my toes

Yesterday I saw your face
Flushed red with sorrow
Accusing eyes reflected my own turbulent sea

I had tried to tiptoe through your world
But I am clumsy and I broke your shell

Morning mist hides my shame

The fog lifts
The surf recedes
I see my shadow on the sand outlining hot sorrow
So now I must go into the brown grasslands

My back burns from your gaze

Moving towards the forest
I clean the sand from my feet
And dry off my tears

I walk the muddy bank of a narrowing river towards a distant rise
A stream up a hill
A brook up a mountain
Touching the waters that flow to you

I climb to the top and turn around
Straining to see your shoreline beyond the horizon

Imagining your cooling anger
And knowing myself a fool

Sleeping inside a morning mist
And dreaming of your beautiful shell
I will stay until all my seas have turned to clouds
And I can hide no more

Thanksgiving memories

Posted on November 24, 2011 by Wayne L. Miller

Parade on TV
Cranberry sauce cookin’
Aunt Lalla’s wet kiss
Mom in the kitchen
Football hoots and hollers
Too many vegetables
Crawling under the table
Dad carving the turkey
Crowded table
Mom, I need more soda
Grandpa telling stories
Pecan pie
She got more than I did!
Grandma helping clean up
Really tired

Walking

Posted on November 23, 2011 by Wayne L. Miller

She walked with me
and then I turned away

Embers

Ocean Storm

Posted on November 22, 2011 by Wayne L. Miller

Ocean storm
Moves the clouds
My boat sails through blustery seas
Rough waves cross my path
And cause me to change direction

Your love
Moves my soul
My body walks across the windy shores
Guilty memories cross my mind
And I run away

Tree Poems 2

Posted on November 21, 2011 by Wayne L. Miller

only tree in the wilderness
two lonely birds call it home
three times they have met
strangers

your thought of leaving me
is an earthquake that shakes my world
many apples fall
i am hungry

i crossed the sea
following your voice
    and found you
    in a desert oasis
        kiss me beneath the one tree

cherry blossoms
    a subtle surge of spring
flowing from the ground and sky
    into color and beauty
        and my eyes

Clouds

Posted on November 20, 2011 by Wayne L. Miller

Evening at the lake
The streaked red clouds hide the sun

I cannot follow you over the horizon to your home
Where the clouds are white and the sun is high

Our places are disjointed
Our time is fragmented
Our love is stretched
Beyond my heart’s shadow
Beyond my sweet whispers
Beyond my loving dreams

Soon your sun shall hide
And mine will be gone

Every night, my dreams stretch out to touch you in your dusk
But you have moved on
To your dawn
With clear skies

Mountain

Posted on November 19, 2011 by Wayne L. Miller

the wind drives down the mountain and blows me off course

first one way
then another

the summit is in sight
but i can’t see you anywhere

i tell the wind it cannot dissuade me from my path

you are there
you are there

but the wind drives down the mountain
and does not hear

i’ve heard nothing from you as i look towards the summit

your voice is lost in the air
    scattered in the winds
        diffused in the updrafts
            diluted in the vastness of the sky

the wind drives down the mountain
    i stand my ground and guard my directions
    i kneel and face towards the summit
    my legs are stone and my spirit hardened
    i close my eyes to remove the distance
    i close my ears to the howling lies

i will not believe the wind

never believe the wind

you are there

i know that you are there

Road Poems

Posted on November 18, 2011 by Wayne L. Miller

Your love is distant
I cannot see your eyes
Your heart took the open road
To destinations unknown

I’m stopped at the crossroads
Where I cannot feel which wind to follow
If you look back, beyond the horizon
Know that I am waiting

On the desert pathway
I see you beyond the next road
But it is another mirage

Your love has sped down the gullies
With the last rain storm

I wait for the clouds