Grace

The truly great divide
Between
Input and outcome,
Past and future,
Record and status.

Broken, I stand.

Soiled, I gleam.
Dead, I live.

 ©2011 Bob Mason

Light of Life

Picture I made of the scene using 1995
technology. Notice the oil platform and
the constellation Orion.

(On Luminescent Plankton)
 
Shimmering aqua blue
Flits lightly across
The invisible turmoil,
Flashing evidence
Of pulsating pressure,
Conflicting currents,
Crescendoing chaos,
And the power of life
In the face of tumult.

©1995 Bob Mason








Driving south on 101 toward Ventura back in 1995, I was so pleased to see the moonlight reflecting off the ocean wave tops. Then I realized that the moon was not shining. I pulled right over, completely entranced by my first view of phosphorescent plankton.

I Forgot My Phone

I cannot explain the feeling
        of utter lostness
        --so cut off
        --so unreachable

        bereft of connection

                after connection
                        after connection.

I was as if stranded
        on the proverbial deserted isle,

all alone with nothing but

        brilliant sunshine,
                cooling breezes,
                        soft warm sand,

        and quietness,

        interrupted only by

                that slurping sound I make
                over juicy pineapples.

©2011 Bob Mason

My Little Ballerina

Tiny pink wisp,
Full of turns and twists,
Earnestly leaping,
Artfully creeping
Right into my heart.

©2011 Bob Mason

Closer

Did you feel the lurch
As the earth sped up
Giving extra juice to spin doctors
Accelerating the urgency
Of a shortened day?

Did it jar you
To watch endless footage
Of sloshing yachts in Santa Cruz
While across the sea it was people
Being churned and battered in that miserable soup?

Even as we waited
For their tragedy to lap at our shores
They came closer
By thirteen feet.

©2011 Bob Mason

Simultaneity

Do you ever wish to be God,
Making all the laws,
Claiming first cause,
Even putting time on pause?

No, you don’t really want that job, do you?
Seeing,
Feeling,
Hearing,
Smelling,
And even tasting
       . . . everything
              . . . all together
                         . . . NOW.

©2011 Bob Mason