Andy Levesque 

time within me

it emerges like a dream
this memory
this primal ocean
portal to forgotten understanding

we in early twenties
with the restless urge upon us
to be anywhere but childhood home
to be on our way
to legend
adventure
to know the world so long imagined
to taste the rapture of the road

on the day we climb the ancient volcano
you stop before the summit
leaving me torn
driven to climb on
to see the vision alone
to touch the trembling hush
breathless vista
a glimpse across time
unchanged landscape from early earth
thunder lizards all but seen

on that day
we travel rugged country
stop in golden sunset
to shelter overnight
in ruins of adobe

i do not know what name
they call themselves
those who built this place
they tell their tales
in the contours
of their hand-shaped home
mud and clay of earth
turned walls of stone
the builders' presence
utterly still --
inaudible --
enduring
through the echoing silence

dazzling venus and crescent moon
clear in desert air
slow dance
in close conjunction
above the glowing horizon
where sun just sank

we laugh and joke
look forward to the road ahead

when full night comes
and the willful march wind rises
we crawl fully-clothed
into sleeping bags
on the sloping rock floor
gathered by the cold hearth

the hard chill and discomfort
of that night
i still feel
surging siege of wind
black roof of stars and sky
held up by crumbling walls
silent footfalls
of our gracious hosts
unseen companions
through shivering night

i toss in restless delirium
dreaming awake
weary and wondering

and now
this vivid recollection
swirls me
down the tunnel
on time
to fill in the details
silent knowledge
epic revelation
to know you again
as you were then

i dream awake
in wondering clarity
time within me
folding
and unfolding
like a fan
 

"You will never become a star if your face does not give off light"
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

like all perfect late-summer
evenings at home
-- times of laughter
music
poetry and art --
this one
winds down toward sleep

i pad barefoot
down three steps
from the kitchen
to close the back door

refreshing breeze
and cricket song
float through
the outer screen
as i pause to listen
to the night
soft fluttery motion
in the dark --
large moth rises
to my face
as if i were a lamp
caressing my cheek
with utterly tender wings
pushing eagerly at me
circling ear and neck
with what seems
lover's hunger
or pet's familiarity

for me
no fear
no terror
at this strange greeting

profound amazement
turning deeper wonder
yes
when eyes
adjust to dark
enough to see
amid the flutter of wings
beige to brown
the glow of dusky rose
with which to baptize me

i still careening mind
enough to click the latch
open the screen door
lean out into the air
where my symbiotic friend
lingers a moment
before lifting off
leaving orbit
plunging into night
of cricket song
and countless stars

if you get my drift

so this
is how it goes
between us
these channels
entwine

this poem--
if you read it
from the page
you find
you hear my voice
inside
the moment
you start
to get
my drift

if you hear me
speak these words
if you
see me
say them
if you read my voice
for further
meaning
and find it

echoed feeling
shock of recognition
rebounds like sonar
to the dark
glowing screen
of my heart

i image you
from across
the spinning galaxy
of the room

at last
this
is where
we meet
in the infinite
space
between the lines
in the field
where visions
dance