Poems

All entries that I consider poetry. When poems are posted, I consider them rough drafts which I continue to edit over the years.

My 44 Year Old Hands

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25 years this blog has weathered space and time and it was offline for a couple years with no backup. Thanks to an older backup XML file and the Wayback Machine, I’ve been able to restore the original journal that spans a quarter century of my life. This poem is a time warp from the poem I wrote, which is in the archives, titled: My 22 Year Old Hands… My 44 Year Old Hands These are my 44-year-old hands. Desert hands. Sun-cured. Split. Salted with years. They don’t move fast anymore, but they move like water in a dry wash …

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Hovering Up The Canyon

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Middle of the night during a dripping light storm Clouds dense like soup with a smooth humid stench permeating the mossy August air it came to me in the early morning around 2AM with a lowly hum shortly after orbs were playing tag which stirred me out of the deepest of sleeps They danced like ancient spirits and shimmered above the New Mexico pines near the Colorado line in a place off the road, I encamped on my way to Dulce on Jicarilla Apache Lands it was an old growth forest. It was where I saw the triangle craft hovering …

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The Shadow Man: The Visitor

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I’m hearing the voices from the far distant past from a time when earth was on a different sphere I could see them roaming the empty landscape underneath the constant turquoise sky. And the valley floor went on forever beneath the bright hum of sun accompanying massive cloud ships. The calmness of the wind whipped up silent dust devils that soon hid their view. I now can hear their footsteps in the forest but something else walks through the undergrowth. I cannot spot his shadow even though I have always known who he is, because he came to me! He …

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Tonight, They Arrive

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Tonight, They Arrive! They came pouring through the portallike fiery starsspeaking in eternal languagesbeyond our thresholdwaking me, in the middle of the nightand awakening the soulto the biggest thrill of a millennium.Never thought this was possibleor even close to real butit’s happeningI’m leavingI’m gone.Going back into the portalheading for closerto the far-awaylistening to the little peoplesinging their strange themesinside these cobweb tunnelsdescending back in timeforward in a backwards senseAll beauty ripping loosefrom the seams of surrealityThis, a dream coming true, unfoldinga reality, beyond a vision.I welcome youInto this mystic. By Nathan Cowlishaw

Fresh from the Transfer

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Mind Opening Portalexploring the possibilitiesas infinite as they have becomeas soon as I had broken the windowsof everything I knew. Then, as if divinity stepped in,there he was with all thebeauty that he brought with himto give to his chosenunconditionally. Sentient spirits came fromout of the thundering abyssfrom the deep billows of the stormand down belowall was calm and mesmerizing. Somewhere out of this chaoscame a powerful peace that predatesour time and placethat came into our spaceand brought us together. It’s quite extraordinary,this unknown schemethat is more natural and mysticthan earth-made systemsAnd into this unknown we venture. by Nathan Cowlishaw

Aliens in My Early Life

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In my early life, not sure exactly when – some source of intelligence came to me when I was a child. It was not traumatic. It was nothing like being abducted or taken against my will and I was not violated and nothing questionable was committed against me. I have a definitive connection to the Universe outside of our planetary world here on Earth as a result. Whoever they were, wherever they came from; somehow they were involved in my upbringing. I have to give credit when it is due; they had profound influence during my development. There is no other way …

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They Are Returning

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hey Are Returning! As I was driving out on the highway tonightoutside of townwatching the sun disappear behind the mountainswith night settling incrimson slivers of lightigniting the bottoms of cloudships I felt the warm November windsof the snowy high desert plateauin an unusually hot winter It has been a decade since this mysterypaid me a visitbut the hills of juniper and pinionare calling meI could hear themas they distinctly whispered Tonight was a desert dance of red fierywith a light rain upon the snowand the stillness of the cloudsand the slightest breeze swirlingaround me after halting the vehicle and listening My …

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My Inter-Dimensional Self

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This heart of mine dreamsbecause I have a really beautiful soulthat knows and feels the mysteries of the EarthAnd recognizes the most subtle light in the canyonand the complex and simple sounds of the Unknown.I’ve prayed to my Creator, dailyverbally and in thoughts,and ponder aboutThe Creator of the Universe, dailyand wonder if he can really hear me, still?Somewhere, I’m out there in interstellar spacelistening to those far-distant starsand down in the trenches of the darkestparts of the Earth’s ocean –And I’m up there with the traveling snowbeing swept off the highest peaksand down in the desert bottoms wherethe whirlwinds whip and roam.Love …

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Honey-lit Afternoon

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Dreams of a honey lit aspen afternoon Smiles full of laughter Trying to keep a straight face Lost in the reality of it… In the simplicity of your dignity and grace Coming off the mountain And meandering off the desert mesa With you nearly by my side On a sunny summer afternoon Singing folks songs… And I look back on it all And it all comes back to me In the moment By Nathan Cowlishaw

Real Beauty

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Real beauty surpasses the physical realm and is eternal. There is a reason we change worlds while this life is short. Our evolution is infinite even though we all must face death one day. by Nathan Cowlishaw

Date with Jazmin

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The wind softly sliced through pinion branches while the sunset’s crimson fire burned the rock face Imprinting trees in shadow. As purple monsoon clouds shifted. in the early August air The chorus of insects sang ancient flooding our senses with ethereal sensations. Somewhere, between reality and dream

She is my new muse… An artist is she…

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I can hear the soft whisper of the wind as it gently brushes the window blinds and evening starts to set-in… The Robins are singing in the late afternoon summer. Fine sediment is blowing in from the dust bowl west of town. And I’m just thinking… thinking about a lot of things. Life is full of beauty with the simple, if you just let. them. be.

On the Railroad Tracks

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Let the starlight capture your gaze tonight where happiness never sleeps and dreams never soften. A heart that is pure cannot deny the truth of what was real, and I love life because of what may be? Never forget the memories as they come and go and flee…

The Outlaw Coyote Kate

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In a few words to keepin it short My heart trembles for Coyote Kate. In winter, the wind whistles over the dark Uintahs through steep strange canyons of sandstone and shadow. The beauty of that country is composed of lost gold mines, dinosaur graves and chocked oil deposits – a wild territory haunted by coyotes, cowboys, ramblers ‘n such even the ghosts of departed prospectors. as the sun sets in the freeze of winter you can feel the hint of a deep conundrum plaguing the land of the Utes. in quiet discontent an independent Woman known as Coyote Kate wonders …

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The Reality of Freedom

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Okay, I had a wild hair to break out of my shell of conformity and write a few words here on Freedom. I’m talking True Freedom and how it feels. First comes courage and faith to think outside the box and to be different from all the others. Freedom is finding the courage to really let a woman know she is beautiful. Freedom is the wild horse that roams the great basin or is the man that decides to hitch-hike the lonesome highways of America. Freedom is to enter the quiet canyons of the Colorado Plateau and to experience solitude …

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King of Trees

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It has become Methuselah while the sweat of black sun drips from its wooden claws which break timeless howling winds Daily the cloud people travel beyond its barren branches into the ages of silence On the furthest edges of God’s Holy Imagination stands the test of time With dark sandstone plateaus below and High above on it’s heavenly throne rules the ancient Bristlecone Pine!

In the Candled Night

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It is a candled night in dreams they sleep vast distances lay between the firelight dances in their minds with each passing hour the dream fades then grows an empty void fills the interior walls of yesteryear even yesterday a vision of pairs walks carefully down an imagined street the soft candled sky shows fiery hues spiraling galaxies throw colorful intensities all the while in the deepness of the soul the heart rakes the rugged densities of life the feeling of absence grows arduous in dark moonless hours when a beautiful song cannot be sung …i know a place where …

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Between Birth and Death

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My love of life is incredible and God made me into a pillar of light. Because I am happy to be free, to roam the quiet folds of reality, to travel the haunted night. I drive a small vehicle down the back roads and dirt roads of a big sky desert. My time is short on earth, but spectacular! When I die, allow the coyotes, buzzards, and varmints to eat my satisfied remains. in the end, I want to give something back to the world of creation that spawned me. How grateful I am to be a part of the …

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Wagon of Ashes

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inside the doorway of the traveling sky, there is quiet peace in this world. although there is a lonely wagon filled with ashes it wonders past sea and mountain, and through the valleys. when it gets dark and black. without sight, does it wonder and cannot find peace. the children that knew, are crying, while their parents lay in bed dying. and so the only mother of them all went to her autumn grave, and soon the peaceful snow gathered. the wagon wonders, with it’s ashes. In the dark it wonders. but in dreams, the children are free where burdens …

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Go into the Wilderness My Friend

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Dream of the old way., Vanish into the back woods. The power of the wind is strong. There is a shadow in the trees. The powerful mystery speaks. Dream of the spirit life Where boundless solitude is found. Go into the desert alone Because it is calling you. There’s a spirit home for every soul. And the shadow waits. In the hills over yonder The mystery sleeps. The sun is shining in a quiet world of peace and stillness Where the forever hills sleep, that is where you should go If you are a child of the mountains.

The Sound is Strong

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The sky is full of storm, As I retire for the night, listening to the dense wind blow. The rain begins to tap the house. This past summer the trees were buzzing with ghosts. And there on the edges of reality a fiery noise did grow. The noise is unquiet. Listen as the coyotes howl… Praise to those that can hear the powerful song of beauty. Beware to those who do not recognize anything. The beauty of the wilderness is beating inside me. Scenes from an ancient ponderosa forest flower in dreams, deep at night. These dreams radiate with the …

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A Supernatural Wind

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The ferocious wind whips through tree branches. I close my eyes and imagine it’s a dark and supernatural wind blowing civilization into oblivion. The wind is singing, howling, and rushing. The sound is perfect, superb, and beautiful. Into the ocean deep mind, I descend remembering ancient days. It is summoning the anarchy that burns in my soul. Where’s an escape that leads to the past?

Slow Moving Storm

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Buzzing power lines cut the wind The wind howls and moans as darkness grows. Winter pushes spring feelings away, And brings dark cloud ships that hug mountains, shrouding them in eerie mist. Fog enters the desert basin. Mule Deer gather in cottonwood groves. Flakes of snow start to invade. The sun’s heat has faded. The storm moves slow. By morning, theres eighteen inches of Fresh powder and growing.

Dreaming of the Afterlife

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A boy sat outside the village looking at the grave yard at the mesa’s edge. “What ever happened to the dead?” he pondered. “Are they living some where else far away?” Skeletons walking around after the day turns to night inspires the boy to dream of the darkness and deepness of rivers. “Are the dead living somewhere else?” Out on the mesa edge he prays every morning. He prays, waiting for the sun to come up; to come over and talk to him. Every night, he dreams of the medicine that will make him dead. He wants to go see …

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The Early Morning

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dark rain clouds wander the blue sky making the dream come alive a vision of the land singing Then cries the raven from its hollow in the knarled tree that twists its branches into the ancient wind Thunder echoes way across the desert yonder farther than the eyes can see The black rock was the blood of that ancient beast that was slain so long ago the locust begin buzzing and an eagle heralds the dawn when that sun peaks up over the rim of mountains the clouds catch pink-red rays The old man pulls up his trousers because of …

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Changes

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I am wondering through what beauty is left… There is hardly a place to go where man has not intruded. Everything is changing. I dream of what happened long ago. What was Earth like then? There is a divine power today, not all is gone. I believe that the sky and the landscape will change. People will have no part in it, if they are not worthy. Strange things come to me on the wind. The sun in this quiet world is talking to me. The Earth is helping me dream too. The ravens are excited, and chatter the news …

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Heart of a Resistant Land

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It is gusty tonight, as the fiery sun sinks into the western mountains Stars flood heavens deep The ancient desert sings The voice of the mountain wails through the pinion singing with the streams of yellow grass and sage The basin below is cold and dusty The mountain wind moves all night The Coyotes run the midnight hills yipping and howling in the heart of this resistant land Never to be taken! Nothing is controlled Nothing can rob the soul of the wild

My Destiny

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No person will hinder me from venturing into shadow creeping into the deeper wild where the wind sings ageless further ‘n further away from my captors …the wraiths of civilization No individual will persuade me from the call of creation forward, into beauty of earth and sky.

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