In the middle of the night
I returned to the orchards of heaven
To greet what's ours with splendor
And remember each season with spiritual grace reached through the chasm

Dog-eared time brings us together
An acuteness of feeling through decades
Sublime! Ah, picture me
I see you crying by fire

Gutted machines, the criss-crossed thistle spines
Thatch across the char
Taut, desire snuffed, stress be damned
I'll follow you like a dog to rain-covered ruins

Beautiful scion, the young heathens we envy
Become ghouls at the feet of dark marble columns
Burning down for the sole arena of statues, suffering
With my head on yours, we are made sick from them

What appears as sanctity, we see sneers
Unseen agony, a tragedy born to be rupturing endlessly
Primadonna, liquor store sage wears off in vain
Our mornings still begin blistering with sedentary misery

Shadow, be my lover now
Soft green eyes, I'm sleepless
And I'm losing sleep by the dozen
I dissolve in thoughts of you

An olive tree is what I seek
The bird with only a branch cut from the almond grove
Hypnotic foxglove, it's you that I owe
After glassy-eyed drinks in Italian winter

Wondering how did I bring the blood
To my reason for being, light of my life?
Home again and a dive into traffic
Men wipe ash from their faces

Mothers bury their children
Plastics waft in the wind
I cry, cry, cry, cry, cry
Please release me