Rock and Ice
It’s raining diamonds up there, a many faceted delight I imagine
The drops sparkle brilliant and tickle as they fall and bounce away
Tick tick tick they sound as their fall ends
Tick tick tick as they strike and they lay
Where now silent they reflect the filtered light from the moons by Saturn
And become the treasure beneath the planet’s rings that orbit always
Bling bling bling from the center
Bling bling bling they shine out through the haze
Iconic and beautiful like all the billions of starry horizons
Speeding apart exponentially — fleeing one another in a counterbalanced ballet.
Far far far into the distance
Far far far beyond today
Raining dalliant upon the drama of a human focus cast toward another world
While the warm and salty water that floats my life slows and cools
High above this world’s constant bother
High above the pain endemic upon local fools
Ancient landscapes with their swirling storm fronts tracked by brilliant inventions
Fulfilling disciplined students of atoms who gaze longingly into the synchronized eternal afar
Wishing for fulfillment
Wishing upon each star
While I bleed down here as my old bones shrink and my weary eyes dim.
Looking out there instead of healing here — instead of supporting provincial life, focused above
Not the best use of your effort
Not the best way to show your love
When I look up to where I am told the diamonds are falling, I cannot see the rocks nor the ice.
The face that looks back at me from the cold and the darking void expects compassion here
Life surrounds and we must shelter
Life surrounds — love those who are near.
Enceladus
Death Is So Little
Death is so little in my hand
Cool as the air, yielding to each consecutive step
Furry and loose, yet impossible to ignore,
Seeming darkly anomalous on this bright colored day.
I bring death to the backyard to bury it
In the shade of the fig tree
Beneath the arched branches
Where no summer sun will disturb.
My shovel from the garage splits dirt easy.
The light work reveals the space
In which rest may come out of sight
And beyond the embarrassment of blood.
This one will lie near the others that steadily fill
The corners of my life.
A solemn task but necessary
Here where all are measured by the day, the year
As moments dissolve slowly into the earth.
About the Author
Don Edwards lives & writes in Seattle. He is a founding member of True Gospel Bookstore which makes songs of his poems & streams them everywhere.
