Monday, November 24, 2008

The Dancing Spirit


On polished floors as lights swirled around the ballroom
You, entranced by the sound, followed your passion
We watched the sway of skirt to bouncing rhythms
Saw you laugh and delight in your partner's arms

All to soon the dance is done and we've said our adieus
Parted as the lights dimmed to black
The music has stopped, the band has stepped out for a cigarette
But sweet memories remain and floating tunes linger in our ears

The ship has passed into the night
As sultry sounds wend their way to heaven
And we know of one who still dances the night away
Who is swinging among the stars

For when we look up to the night sky
See the motion of the heavenly bodies
We will hear the laughter
We will remember your music

It was a pleasure to know you, Mary.


Ron Eklof 2008


Tuesday, October 21, 2008

CAT / MOON


The cat doesn't mind the moon
Outside the window
Where he sits

The movement of small critters
Of that
He is aware

The moon gives shine
As, in the day, the sun

But, the cat doesn't mind
How many times the moon appears
Nor count his trips around the sun

Ron Eklof 1997

Thursday, October 16, 2008

FOOTSTEPS


The sound of footsteps in the darkness
I walk through the misted gloom
Pass under a streetlamp and pause
Still hear the sound of shoes
Now they stop
In the darkness beyond the circle of light
I cannot see movement
I feel the presence of danger

I start walking
Feel the wet air on my skin
Hear my own scuffing shoes
Change direction and move into an alley
Into a doorway
And wait
The sound of footsteps continue
Now stop
I stay motionless
Looking for a glimmer of movement

Nothing
I look at the day glow watch on my wrist
5 minutes pass
No sound
10 minutes
A cat meows

I'm walking again
My footsteps echo off the walls in the alley
If I can't see anyone, they can't see me
Didn't think of night vision goggles

I feel the hand on my shoulder
Turn in a defensive posture
Feel the knife enter my ribs
Fall to the wet cobblestones

Hear footsteps echoing as they fade in the misty darkness
A leaf blows against my face
I smell the chill damp
The silence deafens my ears
My eyes close

Ron Eklöf © 2008

*

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

WANTING


There are those
Who want all
That money can buy

And then

There are those
Who want all
That money can not buy

Both are found wanting
Not satisfied with what they have

It's not all the one
and not all the other
But,
a little of both,
perhaps

What do I want?
What do I have?

Enough for today


Ron Eklof '08
*


Monday, May 26, 2008

MYSTERIOUS PATH



As we walk this mysterious path

We see that everyone is on one

The difference between us is

With whom we choose to walk


Those who have gone before

Return to tell what they have found

Yet, when we round the bend

We find our own path

Our own riches and delights


To rely upon other eyes

Is to miss the sights right in front of us

Distracted by what others said would be here

They have their ways

They have their wherefores


I chose to walk with you

And share this adventure together

I chose to walk with you

We had some fun, didn't we?


Ron Eklof ©2006/2008



Thursday, May 08, 2008

For Neda



Attend your heart gently
With all your mind and soul

For where the heart is there lies your love
And the one with love blesses the whole world
In every act of kindness
In every sharing of love

ron eklof 08


Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Don't Act Your Age



Don't act your age
For that is but a number
And maturity is not
A numerical value

Rather, act your heart
For this is an unleashed spring
Watering the arid land
As does the oasis in a desert

It's not how many times
We've gone 'round the Sun
But if our heart has opened
Even once


Sunday, April 13, 2008

COME UNTO ME


Come unto me O vapors of earth and I will fill the sky
With brilliant whiteness
To spread in the Sun's heat and stretch across the heavens
My crisp edges bend and flow into new shapes

I reign upon your parade, push up the daisies
And fill the hills with daffodils as far as the eye can see
Fill your ponds and aquifers to sate your thirst
Make rivers that float your boats to the sea

Come unto me O vapors of earth, give me your energy
I can be soft as cotton as fierce as a sword from the sky
I thunder your doors, flash light through bedroom windows
Where kitties scurry under the bed and children cling for dear life

Now, I disappear for days on end leaving blue skies all alone
Then come floating back to cast overcast and hide the sun from you
I darken the day and make everything shadow and grey and gloom
I let loose sleet and snow by the shovelfuls for this is me in winter

Come unto me O vapors of earth and fuel my engine
I cool the hot summer day and let my brother wind free
To blow the hats off gentle men and lift skirts with gay abandon
A willful rascal, he, with no respect for laundry nor ships at sea

As a cauliflower I billow in summer and reach the stratosphere
As cumulus and nimbus and wispy stratus
Look at my theater; you may see faces and bears, a witch on a broom
For I am a screen to your fantasy
Before the curtain closes with the advent of night

Come unto me

Ron Eklof '08


WHITE EMBERS FALL


White embers fall
Grey Moon, white sliver
Grey smoke smudge
Thump
Flash white streak
Red burst
Faces shine red
Upward chins
Eyes glisten
Ooooo
Wowwwwww
Thump
Falling white spirals shriek
Flash white streak
Green burst sparkle
Red thunder
Oooooo
Wowwwww
Blue dissolve
Falling white embers
Grey smoke smudges
Parade across black sky
Below white moon sliver
Do it again
Thump
Ron Eklof 08


Friday, April 11, 2008

SHINE ON


There are those who walk ahead
And those who walk behind
But those who walk side by side
Oh, they're the bestest kind

Through hard lessons we have learned
And shared our fresh insights
That joyful mirth and warm embrace
Make our burdens light

From the shambles of our past
Lived on desperate streets
We came to know that that dark hour
Was a lamp unto our feet

To help others on this road
We meet on common ground
With common problem, common solution
Impart the commonwealth we found

I'd not have tread this road so well
Were you not by my side
We shared the wonder that we saw
Each the other's guide

Shine on, Nicky, shine on

Ron Eklof ‘08
In remembrance of Nick Natale


A WEAVING


On a loom are we created
And have our breadth of days
Our web fashioned by unseen weaver's hands
Deftly spun we become the woof
Now the warp
Slowly turned into tapestry

The filaments of our lives entwine
Each strand touching others
Soft wool, hard jute, supple linen
A spectrum of color and feel
Amid the rough fiber find gold thread
Blended with those of common mettle

Each sees their texture but dimly
For we busy ourselves in being the yarn
Yet, in heaven's time is revealed an artful plan
A fabric woven from laughing hearts
From joyful love's embrace
And, too, of sorrow's tears
On the humble trail we trod

Shall we now lift our hearts
In sweet appreciation
For a life well lived,
For a life well spent;
Fashioned from recovered cloth
Into a weaving made divine

Ron Eklof ‘08

In appreciation for Nick Natale


Friday, February 29, 2008

Cherubim of Snow

asnow2 c

Thanks Chicago Jim
For the sideways view of snow
Imagination

I had turned the photo on it's side like this and saw Botticelli's works: The Madonna and a cherubim.
What do you see?