Crab, Kraken, Eel; Bear, Badger, Ghost,
Were stopped in their great clash
By sudden knowledge that the most
To gain here would be ash,
The mountains were now of the sea,
Right there in each wave’s splash.
No mountains had been stolen these
Gods all fell on their own.
Their loss could not be changed, undone,
It lived on in their bones,
But Mother Nature’s never done
And mountains start with stones.

Crowned Kraken was a mountain once
And could be so again,
So he packed up his glacial haunts
And left sea to ascend.

Crab, Kraken, Eel were of the sea
And fought with their hearts full
Of pearls and peace and ships set free
By tidal push and pull
That brought their cannons up to warm
Their enemies’ thick hulls.
Bear, Badger, Ghost roared up a storm
To meet what myths may come,
And world fought world for mountains washed
Away as dusty crumbs,
Claw, tooth and tentacle were crossed
To see who would be chum.

Crab found her claws where flame met sea,
Deep in volcanic scars.
Her eyes were all anemones,
Her shell a fallen star.

Bear, Badger, Ghost reached shores in wait
For all who washed on down
To meet a rather wetter fate
Than those who never found
Their way to one of world’s betweens –
The last of solid ground.
Crab, Kraken, Eel were all called fiends
Though each one swam in grace,
They promptly threatened they would eat
The whiskers off their face
If they were there to try and cheat
The sea of mountains’ taste.

The second time that Ghost was born
Was sweeter than the first,
For Ghost now knew which paths were worn
For reasons bad or worse.

Bear, Badger, Ghost came to the sea
Still wrapped up in the frost
Of winter morning’s leafless trees
That clung to them like moss
All having come to find out where
Their mountains had been lost.
Bear bent his world to woodland care
And Badger followed close
Or went ahead to scout about
As they came to the coast,
Though, truth be told, this walkabout
Was led by little Ghost.

Sharp Badger came collecting claws
From sharper things than she,
So the world softened in her paws
For those behind the three.

Bear, Badger, Ghost were of the woods
And came now to the sea.
For all they’d met of mad and good
They’d never met the sea,
Had never touched, nor been touched by
The deep and vengeful sea.
They heard a crashing, cracking cry
And clack of crescent claws,
They felt a flash of lightless eyes
That promised deeper gods,
They rushed to see through sea’s disguise
And meet the older laws.

Bear was a hillside that awoke
From dreams of ferns and fens,
To find both Ghost and Badger poked
Inside him in their dens.

At least there’s brooks that bubble
In hidden forest nooks
That aren’t so hidden if you should
Pick up to go and look.

At least there’s buggled bats
Along with those all flowered
Who’ll fly to the ends of night
To claim a cave or tower.

At least there’s honeyed bears,
At least there’s growling bees,
At least there’s color stealing leaves
Adorning thieving trees.

At least we have a world
Where anything’s a drum.
At least there’s ugly ducklings,
Whatever they become.

At least we have the least,
If it’s all we’ve got.
At least we have the least,
‘Cause it’s an awful lot.

Who wants a hug?
Who needs a hug?
Who earned a hug?

Here’s another way to live –
Who gets a hug?
Whoever has a hug to give.

I never run away from home
Without a good excuse.
You want to have a reason
That you’re out and on the loose
So folks don’t get too worried
Until it’s far too late.
This time I think I’ll tell them
That I just couldn’t wait.

When searching for a cycle
Not any one will do.
You must find the cycle
Most suitable for you.

“The unicycle’s just the ship
To captain!” as they tell it.

“The bicycle’s the finest trip
With two feet to propell it!”

“The tricycle will never tip!”
Is how they like to sell it.

You could add a hundred wheels
And never touch the ground again!
It’s a lot of fancy wheels, I feel,
And may not be the win
That wheelsmen claim for cycles,
They’re caught in their own spin.
So I think I’ll ride an icicle
Beside the winter wind.

Sometimes your skin falls off,
Just drops, self-doffs,
Slides down onto the ground

And you stand the perfect nudist,
The tried and trusted, truest
Nudist ever found.

More naked than you’ve ever been,
All nerves and heart, no skin,
And nothing has a hold

On you for you’re unknown!
You’re free! Unowned!
Though it can get rather cold.