Category: childhood
-
Before the Reformation
While Jesus prayed in Gethsemane No siblings or companions Nudged disciples ribs and whispered Father says, “Sit up straight, don’t sleep” 10-11-21
-
Covid dream poem
dark obsidian night of being sent to your room for something your emotions have no control over it’s not your fault or anyone else’s it just is to get away you climb a sugar maple in your neighbor’s yard because if you climb your mother’s trees she’ll use the belt to protect her trees from…
-
We were the class of ’70
We were children pretending to be adults. This was our seeding, the setting of roots until our transplantation. If these were our glory days what the hell have we been doing for 50 years? We were the bridge between the gap a bridge over troubled waters waiting for the bus at McCord’s running to Goodnight’s…
-
Vanity Fair
Dear Vanity Fair, tell Condé Nast Don’t mess with my fame Cover my name with a damn mailing label When I make your magazine cover Remember not everyone was gifted with My skill set to exploit social media algorithms I deserve full exposure So everyone may see my name In full stiff capital letters 8-8-21
-
hot August haikus
humid afternoon Cicadas sing…an owl hoots the woods is confused street ball on recess basketball on concrete court too damn hot to hoop children across the street laughing under lawn sprinkler why not an old man? 8-8-21
-
Swimming in third person
Coming out of COVID Albert realized He exists outside of his relationships Tries to reintegrate Beyond the confines of his mind Wonders why or if it matters Memories of friendships On an ascent path Rise, break cerebral fluid’s surface Like the taste of cinnamon and icing In the bottom of a bowl His mother once…
-
Fairy tale for billionaires
If when the beanstalk was cut down The giant fell on Jack His mother and their wretched little house We would know The name of the giant and Not a fleeing petty criminal 8-3-21
-
haiku meditation in unfamiliar woods
same woodland songbirds singing different descants call out, “Who are you?” alone…..sit silent your inner child still stutters fearful…..birds may laugh a woodpecker thrums dappled light dances on soft ground with the wind in trees 6-23-21
-
For lack of a piece of chalk
Thoughts haunt; selfish thoughts that disagree with kindness, with what you believe to be truth. You try to be a better human, hope belief can erase the blackboard of mitochondrial neurons, but for lack of a piece of chalk a felt tipped marker has rendered you indelibly unclean. 6-19-21
-
Family heirloom
Growing up, you’d stare at a family photo on your grandparents’ wall The one of your grandfather, his older siblings and parents dressed in somber suits and dresses, stiff, unsmiling Adult brothers arrayed in the back, three sisters bracket seated parents, a little boy on mother’s lap trying to sit still The little boy was…
My husband's poetry 