The patient need

The patient need waits

with bare feet and shod soul

for the space between

When it hurts

for Jack Leo Amelia Eva Molly and Charlie

Climb a tree

see your pain from a distance.

Lie on the ground

watch the weather morph in slow mo

for today’s clouds

are not tomorrow’s.

Dig a hole

not to trap yourself

but because it feels good.

Dig deep in wet sand at low tide

dig to plant a small tree

for the future.

Take a shower

let the warm water sing

to you, massage your shoulders

and soften your frustration.

Prepare a meal

heal what’s fresh and raw

with spices from a world of colour.

Eat with pleasure, taste each bite.

Love your skin

wear it with pride.

It is a memoir

for scars bear witness

to what life is

and what life does.

Walk somewhere

wearing your mind inside out.

Read the sky

read the season in the gardens

that you pass

for seasons too will pass.

Then walk back home

for home means family,

family where hurt sometimes starts

and where it often ends.

Villanelle for Ukraine

A bear has mauled the dove – we say our prayers

as clanking tank tracks crush the city streets.

We give but feel no pain, the war is theirs.

We hear concussion of explosions,

see the hollow stare from skulled apartments.

A bear has mauled the dove – we say our prayers.

We watch families flee with muffled faces,

backpacks stuffed and hugging their stuffed bears.

We give but feel no pain, the war is theirs.

At the border, men of fighting years

turn back to learn arms, bag sand, dig trenches.

A bear has mauled the dove – we say our prayers.

A white-bearded Ukrainian pities

the doomed young Russian conscripts.

We give but feel no pain, the war is theirs.

News bites grip, we scour our screens,

pay more at the pump, but sleep in peace.

A bear has mauled the dove – we say our prayers.

We give but feel no pain, the war is theirs.