the cold

if i had ice skates
i could slide across this lake in no time
but they say it's not as frozen in the middle
as it is along the sides
how would it feel to be sucked up
under the ice

i don't know
i only know
i like the cold
when you breathe out
and the droplets turn to mist
to see the air
is something else

my nose and fingers feel it most
the cold
is keeping me moving
keeping me looking
to the edges of the sky
hoping i smell snow
and see the dense coloured sky
that predicts it moving in

then we could stay off school
build forts
have snowball fights
and dip toast
in hot chocolate

the only way
i would become an angel
is by making one
in the snow
on that hill over there
in the cold
i want to stay out all night

and tobbogan down the slippery hill
at the side of my house
until the snow has turned to ice
and it becomes more dangerous
in the cold

the crystal flakes
under the street lights
look like lacy diamonds
falling soft
against my cheek
and everywhere you look
the dry cold snow is sparkling
like glitter sprinkled everywhere
in the cold

and isn't it sad
when you wake up
and find your sweet white paradise
is melting in front of your eyes
as the warm front moves in
and the snowman's hat
is resting in a pile of slush

the cold
has gone
again

vision

oh to meet people with vision
makes me feel awake again
away from the games
and assumptions
away from the tame
happy to watch
and not join in

oh to see a bit further
than your eyes allow you to
to have a scene in your head
to follow it through
what a wonder
and joy it is
a blank canvas
that can turn into
anything you want it to

oh to cherish this
opportunity in my hands
i feel i have been given a boat
to save me
from the drowning waves

and thank you
so inadequate
is there no other word to fit
the way my heart is bursting out
the way my life is growing up
and out

oh hold and wonder in this
that life could be so unpredictable
that anything could happen
no
that anything will happen
we cannot determine
how this wind will blow

oh vision guide me
let me not be afraid to follow
what my heart my hands and head
contain
the beauty of which remains
to be built upon
even as we speak
i feel excitement mounting up in me
and every day
a chance
that what i dream
can be created
now that i can see

flying

over these mountains
and the quilt of fields and houses
i feel somehow spiritual
like in a church of sky
with nature's monument
below me

i am
flying
nestling in these clouds
this metal bird will carry me
home

all this time i've spent so high
travelling place to place
looking out this window
over the wing
your spirit rests in these clouds
i feel you carry me

i am
flying
nestling in these clouds
this metal bird will carry me
home

as we start our descent
and the roller coaster stomach
starts-I grab a strangers hand
and blush-I didn't set out to do that!
and suddenly i see
the snowcap ice cream mountain
and the lakes and ocean slotted in between
penninsulas and housing tracts
Seattle comes up to meet me

i am
landing
this metal bird
has carried me home
from a church of sky
where your spirit still resides

spirit lake

the black and white photo
of us wet in our bikini's
at spirit lake

a flood of memories
how cold the water was
a fish nibbled at your toes
you screamed
you didn't want to go in

i thought mt st helen's
had filled it up with ash
deleted it from the map
but someone told me
they had recently been
to spirit lake

we went out in uncle Darrell's
salty dog-he let us drive it
speeding over the service
with the wheel in my hands
captain in control
of the dark blue pool
called spirit lake

at night in the camper van
playing cards-i never win
your strategy's too good
and looking out the windows
at the pitch black night
you think it would be scary
but it seemed kind of exciting
will the spirit come out
of spirit lake

and waking up to aunt harriet's
coffee and pancakes
and the sky that named the colour blue
we couldn't wait to get dressed
go out
on that soft bed of pine needles and scent
and hope we saw some chipmunks
on the way
to spirit lake

how the memories flood
back just from looking at a photograph
i am so lucky that
we went
to spirit lake

fortunate

fortunate
that you once stopped by
and still are coming back
to rest a while and listen

fortunate
that i have got to know
the you on paper
anyway I have seen your face
on video
and heard your voice
but never been in the same room with you

fortunate
to have made your aquaintance
right now
the world seems small
it always was
and always will be
space is an illusion
the world lets us live with

fortunate
to have you in my life
for any time
in any sort of place
the words
define the meaning
in my mind
the defining of feelings
is a tender business

fortunate
that we seem to be
on the same wavelength
silently travelling
down the glass cable lines

fortunate