Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Windows...




I’ve looked through
so many windows
since the moment
you were birthed into light

through the glass view finder
of my video camera
shaking, from tears
of delight

or through thicker glass
at the hospital
to your tiny crib
at a Santa Monica sight

Or our stucco home windows
on Curson Avenue,
through tall bamboo curtains -
it was perfectly right – but now.

Look here -

think about the stain glass windows
on our front door -
where a tiny boy crawls his way
to standing
                                                                                   
the windows of my eyes
demanding to capture all the joy
that was there for you
crawling through Christmas mornings
tracking your sister – mister,
you were something to behold.

And the days race by for me
the caterpillar becomes a butterfly
young and handsome, beautiful and loving -
the window of the car, dropping you at school.

Then the vista widens to Van Nuys
when we create out of heart – Valley Glen
we build a tree house, we paint graffiti,
we make our own windows to look into
our future but we don’t see it all –
we have an adventure for a back yard
and a wonderful pool and some fine friends
- we have what no one can take away
from us – some extraordinary memories
 – we swing and swim and live.

And there are the round windows of jets
where we see clouds and reflections of
Japan, and the hotels in Mexico
for all of us to see through.
They are magic – and forbidden fruit.

The windows of suburbans
on cross country trips –
from motel rooms and funky places
making funny faces along the way
we played and had pure fun.
                                                                                   
And oh the skies are gray with rain
sometimes – but not today.
And oh the skies are full of sun, and hope
yes, today – and we know,
things will always change
And O, the sunset is warm and gold
today – and we know,
things will always change.



 
I’ve looked through
so many windows
since that day
you birthed into light.

Seen what I have seen
learned a few things
it is not how many windows
one looks through,
as each one is different.

Each window
has something to say to us
it seems – for it is what we take away                       
from what we see in that window
that makes the difference
that is key.

One window view may perhaps be
even more beautiful
than the last,
but the message is not the same

Oh I’ve seen grand sunlit vistas – high above the earth
clouds forever, stars and painted skies
and learned nothing -
yet I’ve seen through smaller windows,
less ornate,
and simple views of no seeming significance
and learned everything.

These are the windows of our changing landscape
the changing world
they are yours to discover, inherit,
love if you will – touch in some way.


There are some covered by thick glass
others open to a cool breeze
windows are your
places of discovery -

an open tent flap in Africa
a small room in Rabat, Morocco
an apartment in Santa Fe
or Brooklyn NY – or a beach view
in Venice – something simple,
seemingly insignificant
where you may learn everything
from the view – through
an open window.








Doug Claybourne – for DRC my most beloved Son – 05.20.2013 on the occasion of your 25th B Day.

Copyright © Doug Claybourne 2013 All Rights Reserved.

The stars...




The stars
all line up
for you –

it doesn’t rain
the sun comes out
for you –

It’s the perfect temperature
no wind – latitude nor longitude

clear skies forecast
you win the bet, alas

you look great
by the way
not a day older from the past

and

you feel wonderful
I’m told
if I may be so bold

full of excitement, enthusiasm
a real zest for life –
and a perfectly New York attitude

and you feel
good about you
and your chances –

as you know
It’s all down hill
from here out –

It’s been a
great right ride through out

therefore

Wow –
this is really
as good as it gets for you.

The future
looks bright
for it’s true –

and the world
is your oyster
too –

that color really
looks fabulous
on you -

and

the meal you cooked
was truly extraordinary
as good as it looked

Just one of those people
are you –

that
captures my imagination,
that positively makes
this life a sensation
just knowing

that all the stars
line up for you
all the planets
revolve in their orbits
somewhere around you

And you are
I know humble
thoughtful, quite
honorable and delightful
that is just
the you of you
and I’m told by some – insightful
but most importantly

you are a lovely wife,
and a one of a kind and generous mother too.
You are just
the fabulous you,
just a one of a kind you
and that’s why
we admire and adore
the you of the fabulous you.






for Sandy – Doug Claybourne – 05.08.2013
Copyright © Doug Claybourne 2013 All Rights Reserved.

Soft...





Soft body
warm heart
a Valentine
to my daily waking

Soft heart
warm body
a Valentine
for my every aching

Soft body
your body
my Valentine
dear heart and ours never breaking

Soft warm
your body and heart
certainly you are my sweet Valentine
of each and every day as you deliver
my most divine remaking.


Doug Claybourne - A Suite of Poems for L.D. 05.13
Copyright © Doug Claybourne 2013 All Rights Reserved.
 
 

Ouiet...

-->

Quiet

soft –

not quite surreal

this day is

Sunday

a gray day

a day to

cuddle up

on a sofa

as I steal some moments of

reading time

and thinking back

over the years

looking in the mirror

of seeing us

in bed or

on beaches

holding hands

kissing and laughing

perhaps me enjoying

just watching your eyes open

in the early hours

of another day -

we sleep in

before tea or coffee

on Sunday mornings

in Santa Fe

or Los Angeles or New York.



Later  now – memory

takes me admiring

the changing colors

of a sunset sky

on a hike

through mountains

and desert

then making love

mid-day in April

playfully beneath the innocent sky

near our black rock campground

walking distance from

El Malpais National Monument.



The badlands

is our resting place

for tasting the tastes

of lovers sweet kisses

and finding

long sought after companions.



I see discovery

on our long trek

along a dusty road

to the remote hot springs

across a broken wooden bridge

to a hand cut walk up

a hundred feet

above the creek.




 

Wet and beautiful

naked and shimmering

into the flowing heat

of warm bliss

you step

into my heart again

and again.



And the view

extraordinary



This is my ode

my whispering

into the night

that I should

live to walk

those simple trails with you

again -

back packs swollen with

camping gear – my lists

your truth

hearts on our shoulders –

eyes up to the radiant stars.



O the poetry of love

endless in it’s paths

a journey without compass

or map – we find our way

by touch and feel

and always kisses.



Doug Claybourne - A Suite of Poems for L.D. - 05.13 
Copyright © 2013 Doug Claybourne. All Rights Reserved.

We sit and watch...


we sit and watch…



We sit and watch
quietly -
the evening pass
leaves blow
sunset lingers, wanes
our daughter stumbles
into the wet backyard.
a light mist is falling –
in wonder
we observe
the quick steps to the broken bird bath
to get her tiny hands moist -
the same steps she takes daily.
you worry about the bowl falling
and I surround the first bath
with wire fencing.
the second bath,
a beat up ceramic base
and concrete top
mismatched
but oddly beautiful,
still stands naked, solitary.

Moisture in the sky
as in my eyes at just
the simplicity, the beauty here
in this moment.
I learn to appreciate
the snapshots taken
these days
when during previous years, hours
I would have been off
on some exotic location.

You are radiant
in your motherhood
wrapped in every gesture.
our daughter is ferocious
in her determination
and so fortunate.
she is a river of affection
filling you daily with pleasure.
And your generous heart –
sends that eternal flow back to her refreshed
like blood circulating through
a beating heart.

You are a silver ribbon tied around
the perfect small package
together you are floating down the Ganges.

Blessed woman
adrift in a swell of love
the earth drinks up your occasional tears
and I this lucky man listen
to the laughter of the two of you
as you eat
cherrios in bed
and I hear
the incessant optimism
of the woman I dearly love
teach our daughter,
this “love bug” of nineteen
exquisite months.

O the poetry of love – it is two.
The two of us – and the two of you
makes three – the perfect family.


Doug Claybourne - A Suite Of Poems for L.D. 05.13
Copyright © Doug Claybourne 2013 All Rights Reserved.

upside down….





Upside down
and backwards
love is –
upside down
and backwards
mixed up with
all the mystery
of misunderstanding
incomprehension
apprehension
tension in the moment
love is –
upside down
and bass ackwards
truly –
stumbling sometimes
to find
the firm footing
once heart felt.
Love is –
challenging
worthwhile,
no doubt
a marathon –
or iron man
at times
and those times –
the whole body aches
to quit –
when only
a wee small voice
some tiny whispering
voice says “stay”
“run on” –
fight the fight”
and somehow –
in that
last mile –
pain of pains
step by step
one crosses
the finish line.

And
no matter first
or last
one completes
the journey
learning it is
the journey
that makes us
who we are
not the place
we take
at the end
and upside down
or backwards
love is –
always worth
that extra effort.


And so –
upside down
and backwards
as love sometimes is
we go on
to find that glorious finish
that takes us back
to where we started from
that first kiss – that first glance
that love is.


J.E. Dorsey -  for L.D. on her birthday – 03.20.13 – And here is to keeping the door closed during the baby’s bath to keep the heat inside.
Copyright c 2013 Doug Claybourne. All Rights Reserved.