Heiligenschein (or The Glory of Halos)

On a clear morning with dew on the grass,
Nearly spherical dew drops,
Focused and reflected back toward the sun
Along almost the same path that it took originally,
Retroreflected like memory.
But light doesn’t travel an exact path;
Spreads out just enough to be seen as bright white light
About your head on a damp lawn.

Sunlight enters the small water droplet,
Along its edge
Is refracted, then reflected
off the backside of the droplet.
If I could only remember her face,
                                                        her figure.

Light skims along the surface of the droplet,
A surface wave for a short distance.
Diffraction drops in off the edges of meniscus,
Blows the ring of light recast as glory and the brocken bow.
That split crescent descended to the floor,
Tipped an arrow into the dark, off-target.
Collecting my wits with a quiver,
I cast my spectre to the headlight of the moon.

the sketch (version two)

a shaded line
can be illuminating
by adding layers
of surrounding shadow,
echoing history, passing
hollow notes of a harpsichord
permeating the evening air.
peaks of poles
at five o’clock attention,
the masts rendered
with single strokes
of pencil.
drawn in this light,
the shadows fall out of frame
and out on to the floor
that once was a harbor.

Dogs in the morning light

Dogs in the morning light,
Paws marking the floor,
Tongues lapping at the door,
Live lives in tiger’s eyes.
Dogs in the morning dew,
Streaks the window pane,
Streaks cross the fertile plain,
I cannot name but a few.

Should I unlatch the gate
Closed since two thousand one?
Should I go unleash the beast
That calls to me to run?

Beyond this homely hound
Of jaw-hawking dusk,
The nose-diving husks
And pockets of teeth
Scattered in the pink light
Of cloud-infested sky,
The mockery of shyness
Diaphanous as the night.

Would it please you to wait
For eternal permission?
Would it likely endanger
Your personal mission?

A cat in the midnight light,
Beyond hearing, beyond sight.