Best wishes

I want for you 

The best 

of health 

The palimpsest of injury wiped clean 

Humors balanced 

Wind sound 

Internal leys of energy aligned 

of spirit 

Hooks of doubt untangled from the mind 

Cessation and acceptance 

Inner peace 

Whatever faith might ground you in this world 

of life 

Success in your endeavors 

Fulfilling work 

An amplitude of joy 

A minimum of idiots who drag you down 

and for your blade 

A swift and sure attack 

Impermeable parry 

Wicked riposte 

Against all opponents, 

And yet (forgive me), when we step on to the piste 

I want to 

Crumple your defense 

Spike your attack 

Confound your strategy and 

Drive my offense home 

Afterwards, 

Outcome aside 

We hug 

Ok? 

And resume our sincere and mutual regard

A Baker's Valentine

Heart

            Heart

                        Heart

                                    Heart

Sharing almond softness

A jammy amplitude of love

Even those that do not

Quite work out 

Shattered fragments of affection

Still

            Taste

                        Sweet

The Giving War

You gift me a
Well-considered bruise
Bestowed with grace and
Chased with chaste massage to
Mitigate the pain

I reciprocate by
Nearly taking out your knee
Formidable contusion

This pacific interchange, this
Tit-for-tat
Yields dented masks, torn socks
--but rarely ends in stitches--

We're merely swapping marks of
Tangible affection
A catalog tattooed upon the hand and arm and leg
A testament to friendships sealed with
Just a little bit of blood

Third Place

("Third place" in the sense coined by sociologist Ray Oldenberg to refer to spaces--not work, not home--where we connect with others, known and unknown, bond over shared interests and forge community.)

Lending patient sympathy to woes of

Injury

Indignities of age

(youth and geezerhood—each have their tribulations)

Helping to untangle cords,

Straighten a blade

Test a bad connection

Lend a pair of socks

Finding one good thing

To compliment

Amongst the countless blunders

In our bout

Overlooking flares of peevishness

Respecting fallibility, recognizing it as

Common currency

Of practice

This is what we do, each of us for each

As clubmates, teammates, sometimes even friends

People find their families where they can

Chance-met assemblages of

Common cause

At home, at work, at play

The ferrous kinship of the blade,

Formed in the salle, is strangest yet

But forged in kindness

Even-tempered, strong, forgiving of our flaws

Teammates

I don't learn alone

We practice in entangled states

Each move you master

Forces me to counter, ensuring

We progress at

Somewhat equal rates

Your prodding feet push me along

Your triumphs

Buoy me up your

Setbacks add to my

Determination

As I forge ahead you

Keep me grounded in

Reality

Puncturing pretense,

With ruthless informality

When you level up my

Jealousy is tempered by my

Pride

("See, that move? She worked on that so long!")

Knowing that I I helped in

My own minor way

In this commensal state

We take turns to study & to teach

Proving what is possible

Demonstrating what's within our reach

We're all of us interdependent

Remember that, when your star is ascendant

Appellation

Otter ripples
Up and down the strip
Three hops and a glide
A bounce
A pounce
A nip and run away

Just half grown
—An otterling—
Still learning his
Capacities
His teeth and claws
Testing the
Muscled water of his
Lunge

He
Somersaults between
Frustration and playful
Delight in
Bite and tease and squirm
Impatient that he hasn’t quite
Assumed his final
Form
Not yet reconciled to the fact that
Some fish get away

I watch him wrestle, bout and
Grow in skill and
Speed
Sure-footed execution
Soon he will outpace my reach
Larking in his native element

May he always fence with otter confidence,
Otterly absorbed in his pursuit

The Feline Fencer, Part II

(An onomatopoeic sequel to this post)

Tip tap Tabby whack
Tappa tappa tappa
Thwack

Bippity bippity bippity
Thump
Swisha swisha
Flick!
Beeeeep

Sleek sleek
Stretch
Bow

Recombination

Untroubled by the facts, blessed with
Blithe disregard of circumstance
You launch attacks with perfect confidence that
You will land
Cycling through your modest repertoire
Totaling three—a long offense, counter attack, remise—
(Note, nary a riposte)
Which works improbably well until
You meet an opponent who sees and understands, and then
You’re toast

I, on the other hand, am burdened with
Pretty good apprehension of the next move in the dance
I recognize the weakness to exploit
The opening to seize, proper response
My handicap—
I see too many endings. Beset by “but…what if…then you….”
Paralyzed by doubt, I lose my chance

Modern biotechnology may offer resolution
If we splice your fencing DNA with mine,
I guarantee an elegant solution
A stunning piece of alphabetic math
In which the sum of confidence and guile ensures
That “D” combined with “C” will yield a “B!”

What I Learned this Year

Attachment
Creates negative polarity
In time, it severs
Its own bonds

Friendship
Is a coin with
Two sides, else it is
Worth nothing

Loyalty
Can live on air
But, unfed, becomes in time
Quite thin

Compassion
Born of true affection
Blooms in arid wastes, seeks
Nothing in return

Kalyana Mitrata

In the clear lake of my mind
Your shadow
Cancels my reflection
Uncovers lucid depths
Momentary wisdom

Your fierce wit
Launches empty boats
That strike my gunnel
Fray the rode that
Tethers me in place
Anchors my perception
Moored in certainty

Often what you give me
Is not what I want
But what I need
Unwelcome storms
That keep me from my sleep
Alert, awake

Growth is not comfort, it is
Knocking at the edges of the known world
Pushing boundaries
Venturing the blank space on the map
Daring dragons

In that quest it helps to have
A fellow traveler with infectious joy in life
The energy that leads to transformation
Who sees not what I am, but
What I will become
Partner in the act of self-creation
Spiritual friend