FOCAL POINT

You were merely a snapshot,
a moment in time preserved,
reserved for random viewing,
your candid doing, frozen.
Had I chosen to snap a second
sooner, your expression
would not be as expressive,
and your movements
may have been in motion, but excessive.
I took a flyer on your
ability to dance across my mind
in floating steplets two and three
ahead of where you were, for sure
a fortunate accident of a slow trigger
finger, had I lingered an instance longer
the moment would have gone and I would
be longing for its replay. This is a day
to celebrate in constant exuberance,
a mystic circumstance; a chance moment
frozen in the album of our history.
A mystery preserved in time, yours and mine.

BY CHANCE

A quick glimpse was all it was.
A hesitation in my focus that caught me.
All I could see was what I spotted, by chance.

A fated glance as it became
a prelude to finding out your name,
putting it all on the line in my mind. By chance,

did you see me as well? Do tell
if familiarity breeds consent? I think what I meant
was, do you believe in things coming together by chance?

In the great expanse of a universal truth,
what struck me in youth was a step toward eternity,
this serendipitous happenstance, a twist of fate by chance.

You signed your signature with a smile
and it was while your teeth gleemed that it seemed
we were a destiny waiting to transpire; an inner fire. By chance.

An extended hand, a stand closerthanthis, and a kiss;
a bold expression of a newfound emotion. A building
devotion to a love long languishing enhanced by chance

and a feeling you get. And yet, you know when you know,
that love will grow despite the obstacles, this optical illusion,
this passionate confusion has taken root. All by chance.

IF YOU'VE EVER BEEN A LADY TO BEGIN WITH

Luck, be a lady tonight.
But be good luck. I've had it
up to here with your sister.
I'm a stand-up mister, but keep falling
flat on my face in this place.
Quit stalling, I'm calling you out.
Do you need me to shout it?
Can I do without luck? I doubt it.
So, would it be fine to you, if I wine and dine you,
candle and moon light, dimly bright?
Dancing, romancing; chancing all I have?
You could be the salve for what ails me.
Lady, don't fail me. I'm the fella
you came in with. Luck, be that lady!

JANUARY SNOWS

First comes the thaw.

A heartless tease from a gentle breeze,

bringing showers and hours of warm.

No storm in site; just the right temperature

to make a nice White Christmas

a fond memory. Every sensory stimulus

is less provoking as I stand, choking back

my enthuiasm. A wide chasm between

reality and what I know to be an illusion.

It is this intrusion of this lake; unfrozen and

enabling, labeling these shores as

the snow capital of nowhere. Glancing to stare,

aware that the forecast calls for resurgent flurries.

You scurry to catch a quick glimpse of the skies

and there before your eyes you realize.

The snow machine is well in tune.

I hope it ends before we hit June!

BEGINNING ANEW

Starting from here;
going on from now.
A fresh start is at the heart
of all that is to come.
A brand new year
comes to call, and all
that transpires grows
from the seeds planted
in the twelve month prior.
That fire in your belly
spurs you on, a prodding
giving the nod to better things.
A fresh start is at the heart
of perfecting your art.
It all up to you
to begin anew.