Oblivion no longer closing in Atmosphere no longer growing thin Clouds advance, beginning to spin Moonlight glowing in the night Shadows dance in the fire’s fierce light Earth is a snake of molten steel Spinning about like a spinning wheel Moving in the best direction Seeking a spirit world connection Manifest in space and time Seeking harmony And, rhythm and rhyme Knowing there are no day glow stars Not on this lovely, bright, green planet Not on Mercury, Venus nor Mars Flowers brighter than the sun Filling the empty spaces Dragons springing out of the void Filling the empty places Changing everything Autumn and Spring Though the devils sill dance And, the angels sill sing The Wind’s always blowing, Water is flowing Fire is transforming, Earth’s always growing The bright Day is always fighting with Night The dark Night forever is fighting with daylight The North fights with South The hot fights with cold The East fights with West And, the young with the old Now, how is the future going to unfold? There are thousands of stories To still be told
Sometimes it is just that a ghost got caught. Went too far. Stayed later than she ought. Should have kept on going. Wanted just to wait. Unfinished. Frustrated. Just could not let go. Sometimes that’s the way it was, and, sometimes, Well, no. Sometimes they really tried, but just could not get in. Too weak, too tired, too lost, too thin. Sometimes they were fighting, but just could not get out. A ghost, you know, can’t make a sound. Can’t scream or shriek or shout. Maybe a scratch, or an icy wind, A knock, or a click, or a rattle. Just finding they really are out there, Is sometimes half the battle.
It is a thin line, the line between here and there, Between understanding and bewilderment, Between life and death, Between reality and spirituality. No one knows where it is. It is an indefinable line. It is an invisible line. It is made of nothing. Reinforced by nothing. Sometimes you think it has been crossed, But, it’s just your imagination. Sometimes it’s your imagination which has been crossed, One way or another. Really. Sometimes, it isn’t you going, It’s the other side breaking back in. And then, you have to be really careful. Because, Everything is different when you are dying. It’s not that you are going to give up trying. It’s more that you know you can’t possibly win. After all, when you are going away, On which side, Are you going to be, If everything dies in the end?
I am wilder than anyone. Please, don’t leave me alone. I dream about you all of the time.
Sometimes I am in the darkness. Sitting on a park bench. Sometimes I am waiting for a train. Sometimes I am waiting for the rain, for the moon, for warmth, for growth, for tranquility, for mobility, for nobility, for something to happen, for the stars to be lit, for my next song to be a hit, for the sky to come tumbling down, for the sun to smile or the stars to frown, for you to come to town, or, for time to come kicking in.
Sometimes I am celebrating the start of life. Sometimes I am shedding my skin. Sometimes I am learning how to dance. Sometimes I am fighting with my desires. Sometimes I am lighting candles and fires. Sometimes I am deciding which way to go. Sometimes I am trying to say yes or no. Sometimes I am wanting to recollect. Sometimes I am thinking I will connect. Sometimes I am welcoming the butterflies. Sometimes I am hoping the lotus will bloom. Sometimes I am looking for the sunrise and the sunset. Sometimes I am singing to the moon. Sometimes I am wishing on a star. Sometimes I am wondering where you are. Sometimes I am following the comets over head. Sometimes I am watching the scarabs follow the light. Sometimes I am remembering Atlantis. Sometimes I am listening for the pronouncements of the seahorses. Sometimes I am counting on the Dragons of Change. Sometimes I am trying to understand what my dreams have to say. Sometimes I swear, I don’t dare to care. Sometimes I am just moving forward.
Today I am just trying to think of something to say that will make you remember me forever.
The Everglade's are lots of fun
Buzzing bugs and burning sun
And now, this is the season
When another hunt has just begun
Everyone is on the run
Everything is bright and green
The liveliest place you've ever seen
Everyone's looking for something
Something to eat
Someone to beat
Birds on the wing
Or, trying to sing
Mosquitoes are looking for someone to sting
Claws that catch
Paws that snatch
Maws that crush
And, jaws that gnash
Flash, clash
Don't crash
Quick
Bite
Flight or fight
Get it right
Watch Out! Don't get Caught!
Is hiding something you can do?
Do you think that you ought to?
Get out of sight!
Maybe that's the thing that's right
If you want to make it through the night
Wet leaves are dripping
And, smell of rain
Clouds rolling in and out again
Camouflage and colors dance
Duck when the wind blows
Or, you take a chance
I will return to the Everglades
Because that is what I always do
And, I always like to go there
When I can go with you
Someone I can hold onto
My solace and companion
When I get the urge to travel
Because the DNA of the world
Has started to unravel
Never empty, never alone
When I am holding your hand!
Walk with me
Talk to me
Together we really are grand!
Sunburned and wind tossed
If you leave me behind you might get lost
A thousand things happening all at once
Blazing light from here to the horizon
Buzzing flies and perfume sweet
Snakes are underneath our feet
Turtles under the green, twisting vines
Under the cypress and green needled pines
Palmetto, lantana, caterpillars
Anhinga in the skies
Rainbows in the clouds
And, in the alligator's eyes
Shadows full of ibis
Blue tailed skinks and butterflies
Hummingbirds are flying by
Like a flash of light
Fireflies are starting to glow
In the misty, evening night
Music rises out of ant hills
The frog in the tree top sings
Of flowers made of feathers
Of lichen and insects' wings
Somewhere, behind the Everglades
Inside the Everglades
In territories unexplored
The jungles are painted
In the one thousand
Incomprehensible colors
Of Paradise
Every one of them green
I will be waiting for you there
Jacaranda in my hair
Under the moonflowers
Under the magnolia tree
You know the one
You can see it from the porch
I will be wearing my favorite bathrobe
The green silk one
Green as the Everglades
With embroidered dragons
You remember
The one that burned up years ago
I will go in bare feet
Because I no longer touch the ground
I no longer disturb
The stars nestled in the black mud
I will tell you fairly tales
Unfamiliar
Never told before
Written by the marks of the heron's feet
And, the tales of lizards
Green eyed turtles
Golden spiders
Spinning silver spider webs
Imitating the galaxy
Left over from the beginning of time
Violets and primroses in the grasses
Frogs under the black eyed Susans
Iridescent beetles hunting
Through yellow pollen and red bromeliads
Singing silent, invisible, perfumed songs
White dust in the air
Falling leaves
Full of magic
Catch them if you can
Never let them touch the ground
They will lose their magic if they do
Look at what has already happened
To me
And, what's going to happen to you
by V. Castellanos - May 18, 2022
Eclipse, eclipse A moment of bliss A blush, a kiss Perhaps a chance Perhaps a dance A moment to embrace romance The end of waiting At last a mating A merger of souls Entranced, vibrating A wild flirtation An invitation An undertaking An earth shaking, agitation A penetrating, fascinating Joyful, new awakening
What a collaboration! A vibrant coordination A vision of orbiting collision The culmination of an elation The intention of a capture Made of wild and rampant rapture A revelation, the best sensation A sweet invocation To moths of the night And, to owls on the wing For stars to shine brightly And, planets to sing
An accident, a destiny A time of love, a time of fate Time to destroy, to hate or create What is this moment of mating creating? Is it for loving? Is it for hating? Tell us, oh, tell us The whole world is waiting
The hot sun is growling The cold moon is howling This magic conjunction of powers, is scowling Announcing the birth of a minatour monster A human imposter An apple with thorns Or a songbird with horns Is it time for a demon or wild flower To prosper?
A time to take care, And, to be most aware So, turn and see who’s Standing right next to you And, do you know why they are there?
I fall in love with you
I fall in line with you
I dance in my romance
With you
And, miracles ensue
We resonate together
We become a laser
Focused into a single beam
Living our lives in a single dream
We become a poem
We become as royalty
We are a totality
You are my reality
I dance in a world made manifest
Through the medium of light
You are my guide and my vision
Your music is my sight
Your perfume and your hands
Conjoined
Illuminate and illustrate
My night
Your love enthralls
Encompasses
Enshrouds me
Floods my work
And, fills my world
Like sweet perfume
It fills my room
Covers my being
Covers my seeing
You are contained
In every speck of dust
That enters my illumination
Between now and my death
You are in every breath
I breathe or touch
My love for you is deeper than my dreams
It is older than my heart, it seems
Older than the unfurled world
Older than the dust
You complete me with your aroma
Your atoms enhance my soul
Your particles entrance me
Your aura makes me whole
I gather the dust you give to me
You complete me with your smile
I caress your skin
And, mark it with kisses
I gather you into
The corners of my being
Your heart completes my seeing
Your breath is my sail
And, I inhale
Your intentions are my guidelines
They clear the pathway
For my footfalls
To the dust of your radiant force field
I submit, I yield
And, I am healed
You are selecting
Collecting
The storms and stories and glories
And, molecules of metal and emotion
That generate my light
You are the sun ripened dust of my day
And, the star dust of my night
Love
Like the ubiquitous dust
In the air
Even when you are not there
My love for you is everywhere
And, all the dust of the world
That has ever been given to me
I give to you
Until it is reclaimed
Without you I am splintered
Scattered
Shattered
Fragmented
I am, myself, nothing but dust
Thus, I must
Rush
To find you
To cover you
With my love
Older than the galaxy’s dust
Older than the earth
To remind you of your worth
And, our expectations of rebirth
And, to keep you from falling
Into lies
Or
Into someone else’s eyes
Reality has become a tumbled mosaic,
Cut out of a thousand,
Cubist paintings,
And, scattered across the floor,
Heads and tails,
Nothing matching anything else.
My life has become a tangled series of constellations,
With a missing moon embroidered on the border,
A lost comet burning the edges of the clouds,
A thousand shooting stars trying to tell me a story.
I have taken off my veils and painted my eyes,
Oiled my body, full of expectations,
Become a sacrifice caught in a dungeon,
Without a key,
Without a door,
Dancing with destiny or tragedy,
Holding hands, fuming kisses,
A crown of dandelions in my hair,
Flinging off seeds in a whirlwind spin,
A waterspout, a tornado in my heart,
My footsteps close to the beat,
To the heat,
To the core of the earth.
I am curled up in the magma,
A blossoming flower,
A birth,
Hidden in the underearth,
Of the caves, under the waves,
Where flames rule and secrets turn to fire,
Laughter smoldering in dark corners of desire,
Hypnotic repetitions, sweat and hot flesh,
The passionate mouth of a sleek jaguar,
Panting in the red smoke of longing,
Mars rising, out of ferocity.
Saturn in opposition.
Mars in conjunction with the Sun.
Mercury combust.
The sky is no longer soft.
It is solid, made of mud and cold marble,
Rubble, rejection, on my knees,
Crushing reality,
Hung with hard, pulsating roots,
And, heavy bells,
Perfumed swells,
Sharp rocks, shocks, a tongue that mocks,
And, the heady spores of sensuous mushrooms,
A chilling maze of tunnels,
Tied together with vines and kisses,
And, wishes,
Whispering spiders spinning frigid, iron webs,
Wheels of steel, metal jaws, tearing claws,
Brass chains, silver rains, handcuffs,
Mosses with interlocking gears, Wedding rings and bitter tears,
Lichen with grinding teeth,
Copper tarnished to the color of mildew.
The mouth of the wild wind turned to blue,
Stuffed with sandstone, chalk white bone,
Ice and clay,
Weighed down with frozen briars,
Torn by barbed, ice cycle wires,
Unable to remember,
The innocence of yesterday's desires.
I have turned myself inside out.
I have ceased to fight, to shoot, to shout.
I have given up.
I have accepted everything,
Allowed everyone to be a part.
Allowed everyone to enter my heart,
Ghosts to enter my body.
Looking for warmth, for love, for longing.
Waiting for the sun. Wanting to have some fun.
Everything is right now.
Time is suspended.
Space upended.
Everyone is real.
Everyone is alone.
Everyone stands on their own.
Nothing will be rewarded.
Enlightenment abandoned,
Tangled angles in every direction,
A cubist painting,
Confusion at the door,
Broken into pieces all over the floor.
Here you are as warm as I.
Here I try.
Still, I am yearning,
Trying, learning.
I want to be.
I think that you are just like me.
Desperate blood and flesh,
Flashing, boiling,
Eyes connected,
Hot bones and wet skin,
Tornadoes in our hair,
Cinnamon on our breath,
Willing to do anything, trying to do my best,
A wild rose blooming on my breast,
Beating, a beast, emerging,
Pulsating with the rising head of the hooded python,
Writhing to the drumbeat of tambourines,
And, merging with the music of eight legged scorpions,
On the edge of awareness,
Of survival,
Of satisfaction,
Of understanding.
Enter me, if you dare.
Take me, if you care.
Dance with me, I will be everywhere,
And, I will fill your otherwise empty spaces,
Yawning in the caverns,
Between birth and death.
I believe in the internal, chemical connections between belief and happiness
I believe I am made of light and I am happy because the stars sing to me and the blue mahogany catches me in her arms and kisses me
I believe I am made of songs and I am happy because I can catch the wind and the shadows of the moon before they reach the blue horizon
The blue mahogany believes she is made of shadows and I am the kiss of the wind She believes the moon is happy because I have been caught by the song of the clouds
The wind believes the mahogany is made of songs and I am the shadow of the stars He believes the clouds are happy because the light catches the blue horizon
The moon believes the light is made of wind and I am a song She believes the shadows are happy because the stars kiss the clouds
I believe you caught me in the song of the blue mahogany when the clouds were made of light and the wind was made of stars and the shadows of the moon kissed the blue horizon
You believe I am made of kisses and I am happy because you are the light of my life
I believe I am happy because you catch me in your arms and sing to me the songs of the light of the stars and the moon’s blue, horizon clouds and the songs of the wind’s blue mahogany shadows
I believe we are made of songs and light and happiness because we believe we are in love
I awoke with the land folded in on itself. A sky full of clouds, With open mouths, With tongues of sun, And, eyes of wire, Taunting the skies, With spears of fire.
Wandering with fireflies, What do you watch with moonlight eyes? Are you lost, tonight, in moonlit nightshade? In what darkness do you wade? Do you dance with Belladonna? Do you toast a toadstool moon? Are you tossed about tonight, By a hail storm’s tune?
The mist is mired, and maze inspired. The labyrinth is spinning loud. It sings in the opaque landscape’s light, Behind the steel gray cloud.
Eat golden fire and scarlet weed, Drink the tea of the dark datura seed. Laughter, tears and heart aches feed, Now, string another cold, glass bead. Dust devils dance in warm swamp gas, And, the Phoenix burns in the mermaid’s pass. Jeweled thoughts roam outside my mind, For the meek are weak and, the strong will shine. It is always so, it will always be. You must stand and fight or turn and flee.
Achieve and conquer, Gain and grow. Take the next glass bead, Then turn and go.
With dragons are you dancing, In the Hell-cat fires? Did you pick a fight tonight, With the tongue sharp liars? Begonias, pink, boom in the shade, With crooked sword and sharpened blade. Is all this just for a cold, glass bead? Does it fill your heart? Does it make you bleed? Is now the time to be afraid? Are you ready to go? Was the piper paid?
Did you wish on the wishing star? Do you know where you went? Did you travel far? Did you know yourself. Do you know my name? Do you think that you won the glass bead game?
The Four Faced Wind 