THE PALETTE*

To make a landscape...

borrow from earth

sea and sky.

Mingle these elements, 

pour them like paint

from a painter's

palette. Give the terrain

a contour that suggests

the longing and desire

of human bodies.

Add in the wind's song,

her aria, and the fire

of the sun and the shadow

it casts. Now, lie down

in the soul of this soil.

In the possibility of its path. 

In its vast horizon and the thresholds

of what's there to claim or reclaim.

Then pray! Bless the topograpghy

with the water of your tears.

With the joy of your open

and undefended heart.

*inspired by the artwork of Leslie Rein