Category: neighbors
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A gardener and his son
between fence and street with found lumber and old skids a gardener and his son build Eden’s wall plant tomatoes and squash, peppers and beans curse animals that steal in the night pull weeds with bare hands watch yellow blossoms swell to fruit talk with neighbors passing by about the rain 5-24-22
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Voyeurism 101: Saturday Morning at the Soda City Market in Six Easy Lessons
1) Arts and crafts – your name in wood, Handmade bird houses and bowls to sit on a shelf Tee-shirts – tie dyed, cute sayings, political epithets, Painted flags, cows and chickens with claws, birds on the beach Handmade pens and jewelry maybe imported from third world sweatshops 2) Food booths and trucks – artisan…
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Glass house
Morning walk White-haired lady asks what goes on In the ball diamond parking lot at night The flip flops, condoms and panties I say I try not to judge She takes up where she left off I smile and say I refuse to judge you By what you did fifty years ago She blushes, looks…
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Monday morning
He stirs last night’s ash Blows a spark to flame Sips his coffee warm Nods to the night shift nurse, who goes four times around the park Smiles at the muscle shirt dude Who walks three dogs and never scoops Greets the bright colored walking stick lady All dressed in white Watches an anole race…
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Parking lot civics
Last night, I dreamed of the old man who used to rest his hand on my head while talking with dad in the parking lot after church. He lived in an old clapboard farmhouse where gravel turned to blacktop and subdivisions grew among the corn. Rooted in old settler stock, he ran for state legislature…
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Before the sun is high
Emerald-headed mallard swims through trees set adrift in a blue, blue sky before turtles line the shoreline like city folks at Hilton Head resorts, before bright green anoles emerge from nighttime hiding places, before a frog chorus gives way to bird solos before swarms of tadpoles are consumed in the coming feeding frenzy, you recite…
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Anatomy of a wave
She walks two sets of dogs each morning, rarely smiles or says a word in passing, waves from across the pond. You wonder how many emotional and physical acts of misogyny she has endured to bring her to this point and resolve to respect her downcast eyes and silence in passing and wave back from…
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Mary Catherine
Mary Catherine walks her neighbor’s foster dog in the park and she smiles as it drags her along behind. Mary Catherine stops at the bench where I am sitting, because the dog wants petted by every stranger he sees. Mary Catherine says she often sees me sitting in our side yard as she drives by…
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I’m okay
Some days the noise of the city aggravates; some days the noise of the city invigorates. Siren’s wail fading in the distance means our neighbors are okay. The drone of a plane means someone is going somewhere and is staying safely aloft. Faraway hum of vehicles means folks are going to work. Whirl of mowers…
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Reading Anne Frank
I wonder what became of the family who hid Anne Frank in an upstairs room I wonder if one of my siblings or a childhood friend would have turned her family in and gloated as they were hauled away I wonder if I would have the strength of character to say, “No More” 1-29-25
My husband's poetry 