In self-created confinement I dwell,
waves of consciousness crashing
onto undisclosed shorelines,
thundering hooves of phantom horses
approaching through the sands of time.

Some might shudder at these contemplative
spaces — interstices of time
before necessary activities seep in
to deplete inner resources —
yet how else to manage my own reserves?

It has ever been thus, on this shore
or that, in woods, blended into desert sage,
on this island paradise many yearn for.
And I wonder at life, at the marking of time,
random wandering through dreamscapes
of beauty, illusion teased into being.

Some call it journey — for how else to wrap
and ponder this packaged tour, fractal
in eternity — a never-ending celebration
of sense and sight and touch,
carnality and wits, the wonderment and awe.

And what is temptation if not diversion,
exorcising the terror of un-being,
a race to the finish — dip in the gold-leafed glory
of being alive, alight with threaded hues,
fabric of existence, cover for sorrow
at the temporality we share; and how
to eke out more, squeeze meaning
from the mundane — debts and obligations,
distractions and decisions, the weight
of knowing it will all be plowed asunder
and always too soon, too soon.

I sit with it daily, the quaking subsided,
ride it out in strong limbs while pedaling,
walk in companionship with creation,
eyes wide-open in wonder,
capturing with my lens
what might otherwise be missed.

South Kohala ~ bj 2025