The knife of love sharpened itself on my heart
I traveled in a narrow redvalley of lightly shining trees
Relief found me and I knew
We would meet again
Though we were so far apart
It was chancy
Angels sang in body of a cat who longed for consuming  affection
A bright blue light appeared by my
side proving my spirit
I hope our meeting is soon
They say I’m old
The knife of love sharpened itself on
My heart

The Knife of Love

It becomes the dark season
Yet now the day’s ablaze
With fortitude and fiery leaves
Golden light within and without
Scent of pine and evergreen

The day’s ablaze
How love reaches us so tender and miraculous
As if spirit abides, finding us at last.

It becomes the dark season

Who knows or what comes
When this giant power doth seize us
The glorious white-black flower
Is delicate in its strength
Fear replaces logic
Until I recall the flower’s source of radiance
Blood runs freely in its cage
Powering us onward

Who knows or what comes

Pounding waves echoed my screams
From our dwelling, primordial love cries
Echoing lightening skies
Yellow struck among redwood beams
My passion is as it seems
Dripping liquids from bodies sighs
Natural blood came from your body's
Cavity, I sang our moss grown rocks
As rhythms that never mock
Flesh's spirit's energy red
My love that's never dead

Pounding waves

It’s all held in balance
The sky streaks, the stars’
Scars. The multitude of galaxies
Wondrous planets.
Ocean’s breath
Sun, moon cycles.
We are a part of love’s blazing light

We Are a Part of Love’s Blazing Light

I washed my hair in rain
Hoping I would meet you
I climbed green hills praying
You would find me
I’ve gone miles, passed farms, orchards
Till fatigue takes me
For years I’ve been doing this
Where are you?

I washed my hair in rain

Labyrinth of tomorrows
Haunt my todays as if blinding bright stars
Move my senses, keenly aware of flesh
And blood surrounding me. Hear my plea oh
Sound of ocean’s breath, that peace and love
Will come to me forever

Labyrinth of tomorrows

Whisper within into intuitive listening
The masculine, feminine trust being
Ready to hear beyond primal needs
Cry of the soul moving to the surface
Divinely guided home. Whale calling
Messages long ago newly needed.

Listening

In darkness we plod toward
Days lending golden light within and without
Smell of pine jars my senses and I wonder
How love reaches us so tender and miraculous
As if spirit abides, finding us at last.

In darkness we plod toward

I glance at the delicate light orange lilies,
Bright rainbow overhead.
Each moment we have
Looking away from fear
Heart pumps toward
Hope and beauty

I glance at delicate lilies

I see visions in the orange-green mountains
I smell fragrance of the yellow rose
I walk among red poppy fields
Listening to sacred spherical music
The slight mist provides a token of heaven
This nature becomes my chapel

Nature's Chapel

Between summer and fall
There was a dream alive in the night
A momentous change carrying force
From electrifying storm to wild fire
Carrying our spirits back and away
We defy nature yet nature defines us

Between summer and fall

Sumptuous deep blue salty sea
With all its miracles beneath
Whale, keeper of the sea
Humans only on the small
Island with ocean surrounding it.
The tides with their changing breaths
In and out
Quiet, then furious
As the moon changes water to and fro
We are just beginning to comprehend
Grandiosity flowing around us.
Even with our destructive natures,
This underworld seizes us in its manifold , its never ending courses around us.

Sumptuous deep blue salty sea

A forgotten rusted rose petal
Days that stretch to blank
The sun filters all
Racing to catch the misbegotten
Feasting our eyes on deep blue lakes
Red winged blackbird brings spirit
Back to cherish, courage to believe

A forgotten rusted rose petal

Under the oaks
I find solace and healing
Branches call to me as the roots
Begin to blossom
Crying out for the freedom of growth
Towering over beings reminding
Us we can’t survive without
Their green spirits

Under the oaks

Awaiting night's darkness
With hope and joy
It comforts me, envelopes me in sweetness
Black beautifies my moments
Angels ecstasy in motion
Spirit transcends all
Moves the universe
Light illuminates through us

Awaiting night's darkness

I awake to the bright red center of the Rose

Day emerges from dawn’s stronger rays
Mother Earth comes into view, shining,
Transforming from Father Moon, reality is balanced

Light within me comes from feminine masculine acceptance in harmony
I am one with the divine
I accept your divine as precious, invaluable

During this horrific crisis, I turn again to the bright red center of the Rose where life’s beauty is crystallized.

I awake

Disease overwhelms
Memorials of the dead bring deep tears
Bright flowers follow them to their destination
Fragility and preciousness of life shine down from their heavens

Disease overwhelms

White camellia in the rain
Cradled by its green leaves
Just as we embraced by spirit
Feel the love sheltering us
While in the midst of impending storms

White camellia in the rain

Through high winds and low fears
Don’t hold back tears
We are all blending one
Brightened by sun
We have been here before
We sometimes want more
Beautiful blue seizes our heart
We are always a part
Of love and compassion, winter and spring
Holding courage as bird on the wing

Through high winds

Hold on! Hold on!
For there may be
A particle of truth in eternity
The fear of letting go is always lingering—
Slow tearing of unity
One feels dubious even with tangible beauty
Somehow ringing

Hold on

Still another war may break the balance
Maniacs scarring nature once again
Sacrificing innocents with pillage and destruction,
Repetition without end.
Of thee we sing.

Still another war

Edges of light creep toward
The dark season. Redwoods loom
So my vision is marred yet scent of pine
Trees fills my joyous heart
Even as winter comes.

Edges of light

Bird song bursting into autumn music
A hummingbird outside window seeking
Nectar as force of spheres thrust me
Into magic flight soaring with earth's
Rotation.

Green, yellow, red leaves scurrying
All around as I dance below
Wings of a dove.

Bird song autumn music

Crisp autumn with red-orange leaves
Shining days lead to darkening nights
Morning birds chirp, night birds sing
Children believe
Play with all their might
School bell rings
Great teachers carve a path
Teach thinking, not just math

Crisp autumn

Delicate nuances of changing light
Clouds drift hiding sun’s brilliance
Brazen summer moves to bountiful fall
shorter days, lingering inviting nights

Delicate light

Startling change from day
To dusk as if each love experience
Comes sacred precious with Time’s
Great force

Startling change from day

I want to hold those I love
Close to my red heartbeat
So the purity of the moment
Will flow deep and cleansing

I want to hold those I love

Beyond the multitude of bright flowers
Lies a heart still seeking your love
Beating in red rhythm to the spirit
Of the unknown

Beyond bright flowers

Many of your friends and relatives
Have perished
Wild red and yellow roses
Grow near your house
You take pails of water
To nourish them
Somehow this assuages your heart

Soft tan bark of eucalyptus

We’re created star dust
Saving spirit we must
Behind dark clouds miracles burst
Far beyond fear power greed and lust
You saved yellow breasted bird
Before she could fly
I held you nursed you there is no “to die”
There’s changing from flesh to freedom great golden dust
Merging to goodness courage-trust

We're created start dust

The sky was red-pink
Clouds drifting over the brink
I just returned from you
Sunset’s blaze
Defines us.

Whirling in a fantastic universe
Sky seemed to split in two
Cavern seized me could I get through
Nature’s process gracefully or die
Overcome by age?

Or can I dive right through to the center of the chasm
I let go
Spirit remains

Photograph by Jason Fishman

The sky was red-pink

The waves are wild and ferocious
Like an animal caged too long,now set free
I hear them this day through the crack
In my window, sounds of their crashing
Tells me I’m alive, that once my heart
Raced and faltered, now blood flows
More evenly through my body,
Healing renewing with the night

* Photo by David Clapp

The waves are wild and ferocious

Having left his skis outside the door,
Darkness has set up camp in a corner
far from the fire. He spreads out.
I am uneasy; searching for more light,
I throw my heart upon the fire.
Your kiss burns hot, quick, and bright

Nancy Gotthart

Having left his skis

Deep in the ashes
I found a flower
Made from granite
Was it created currently
Or long ago by native Americans?

Fire and rubble seem endless
My mask no longer protects me.
Only left is for me to find shelter,
Depending on loving kindness.

The Camp Fire Paradise, California
November 2018

Wild fire

Golden glow comes when sun
Begins its descent flowering
My wondrous window like a new
Bold brazen birth, lovely fierce
Flowing light.

Golden glow comes when sun

My garden is at the blowzy end of summer.
September’s song closes in,
Night lengthens as light slips away.
Another year has passed. And what remains?
A fearful heart thick with desire.

by Nancy Gotthart

My garden is at

The flowers you gave me last forever
Even on the spilled red side
You gave them to me again last night
Sacred, over and over. Don’t think
That I will ever lose you. Time is nothing.
Their petals ring like the fragile beat in my heart.
Don’t think that you live through me; it is the opposite climb:
I will meet you there as I do each moment of my life.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdVr4R550ro

The Flowers

Our passion moved as dusk
Goes slowly, then irrevocably
To darkness, lightening sparked
Through us as we were seized
By love's fragile force

Our passion moved as dusk

Soft June light
Marks our shadows in sand
As the heartbeats of trees’ cores
Strike rhythm with their wind blown leaves

Soft June light

I come to the edge and cry
Ocean!
Magnificent blue penetrates my senses
Cry ocean!
I walk along the shore
Salt and eucalyptus overcome sadness
Cry ocean!
Rejoice!
I always return here
Cries
My house is on a hill above you
Always lingering
Ocean

I come to the edge

Red blossoms shine through
Stained glass window
Finally
It’s spring

Red blossoms shine through

For Anny (2000-2015)

Yellow roses orange roses
I went back to find you
My graceful dog
Buried in jasmine and gold
Longing for your kiss

Yellow roses orange roses

Sun sinks slowly heavy glowing light
Then quickly beneath sea and sound
Waves breathe as dusk arises
We are held between death and birth
Till morning comes

Sun sinks slowly

Somewhere in deepening night
You will be found among networks
Of trees, meadows, rivers and streams,
in wild ferns and yellow red flower's core:
I'll fall on you and be reborn perhaps
Again.

Somewhere in deepening night

New moon calling from my window
White light leading me to unseen territories of the soul.

Perhaps the body renewed will lead me to myself, whole
Unblemished by guilt, terror or rejection.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKFAUeHV1AA

Photo by Gary Hart

New Moon

Small red flamed flower
Crept on its vine like the dream
You were dying again
The hole in the ground deepened
My great love for you clung to me
Like wet clothes in rain

Small red flamed flower

Golden branches glistening in rain
While deep and tall wild waves
Sweep over beach torn logs
Spread random and free

Golden branches glistening in rain

I moved to perennial night
I am calm and usually alone
I speak a foreign language to foreigners. Here I speak
Their language although it is not my own
Forever colored lights in the distance give me some hope though
I am partially blind in the dark.
Come find me. I am as close
As your fingers. My heart
Rhythms like yours
Even as I am hidden
I am easy to find
I could be you

https://youtu.be/1QtE_S7NdDw

Perennial Night

The birds sing
Always morning, sounding
Purple dawn’s litany
Even through fields of blood,
Throughout time.
Birds recall blue round possibilities,
Sky’s burning light.

https://youtu.be/yhzYwPW0Y2o

The Birds Are Still Here

We slaves of nature cast before we’re born
Limited life and no real time to mourn
Whether monsters or those with dignity
Some find kindness, some levity
Most are given colors ecstatic earth’s mountains sky desert and the sea
We flounder some and then we cease to be.
I found love and laughter reasons to exist
Causing people’s pain to desist
I’m glad you’re here and I am happy
Too
This precious second in this great
Milieu

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrmcW_hWbpo&feature=youtu.be

We Slaves of Nature

Lying prone and suddenly alone
I rest my outer and inner injury
Twirling with red scars of stars
Purple skies envelope as I wait
Cocoon of hope charges from above
Dreaming waiting for my love

Suddenly alone

Cyclone coming
Wind milled patterned green leaves
Even when wintering weaves
Wild withering withdrawal

Cyclone coming
Lightening fires the rainbowed ravaged
Ringing silented Sky.

https://youtu.be/o1UeR9nMpiQ

Cyclone Cantata

Under the sun
Yellow daffodils climb the hill
Purple roses surround them
Somewhere it is always
Flowering Spring


Under the sun

Bird song

Stark white scathing sky
Searing silently surely succinctly
Heart healing, harrowing history
High light hissing hunt
Lust life lingering, loathing
Cruelty, ignorance

Wind wavers whirls wheels
Wearing wildness continues
Carrying cries creation cremation
Cutting concealing

Embracing my grandson we become
One tiny twosome spun second by second
Surviving storm.

https://youtu.be/7elcaEcyeRc

Twisted Tornado

I see her riding
Past failures, frights, fences, frames
I see her riding
Black locks breezing bright
I see her riding
Bringing graciousness, gratitude, strong hold, set sunrise set
Gold
I see her riding, speeding past
Bringing someone who will swiftly last

https://youtu.be/DmSiDhrCJ8I

I see her riding

Luminous clouds cradled by startlingly light blue sky
Slowly darkening to night fall
Ocean waves breathe I am carried forth
In a reverie of all of you as my love lights
On a thousand different hopes that lessen unnecessary pain.
Colors form in the dark
Forms with substance of spirit dancing to and fro
magic of the unknown. -

Luminous Clouds

On the soil with flowers and trees
Ancient redwoods take me centuries back
Lost and found I do not know my name
I am me and you are just the same
I watch branches trailing in the sky
Memories gone destined now to die
It didn't matter now in eternity
Fragrant branches formed my crown
Red black clouds drifting all around
Rhythm and sounds became my language then
I was alone yet I was in my den
Animal now a higher ape
I sang laughed knew I had a family
Somewhere in silence there was another me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpV2eTCxjjY&feature=youtu.be

On the soil with flowers

Dark long stem of a black red rose
Thundering rain leads it through gates
What is it I should take?
As leaves fall in orange brown
Symmetry
Whatever our sex, body creates child
And mild our songs sung
To overwhelming stringent pouring storm
Dream's warmth

https://youtu.be/FPFuGHjcQMY

Black red rose

Bus's boarded window Crop Pickers -
Old womyn in stooped labor Luscious fields
Overshadowed by brown cracked
Hands.

The sun was bright
My back ached in harmony
This blue blazing coast
Still green country, rich manured
Soil accepting ashes of lost people
Found through easy wages.

https://youtu.be/vFJU4MFYrwI

Bus's boarded window

The flowers you gave me last forever
Even on the spilled red side
You gave them to me again last night
Sacred, over and over. Don't think
That I will ever lose you. Time is nothing.
Their petals ring like the fragile beat in my heart.
Don't think that you live through me; it is the opposite climb:
I will meet you there as I do each moment of my life.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdVr4R550ro&feature=youtu.be

Hunter's Poems