Saturday, September 27, 2014


Promise to Gabriella 
 
I promise your memory,
I will stop, listen deeper to
shadowed voices, whispers
that too much is too much.
 
I will stop, fight harder to
help families see that lives
hang in the space between
harsh words, hard choices.
 
I will stop, notice better
the white knuckles, barely
hanging on - I will offer net.
I promise your memory 

For Gabriella
 
Misery took you.
You could not abide.
Death looked better
than one more day.
You could not abide.
Music was not enough.
You could not abide.
Hope left you behind. 
You could not abide.
No solace sufficed.
Death looked better
than one more breath.
You could not abide.
misery took you.
 

 
Turning
 
When I don't change direction,
I get where I'm headed.
Least rotation of toes opens
Destinations unimagined.

Hunkered Down
 
Nightmare pictures
cross borders,
cross generations,
children hunkered down
when fists smash faces.
when bullets shatter glass,
when bombs explode homes.
May I never be too weary
to work for a world in which
no child must hunker down.

Pruning
 
Fancy was fun - back when
I bought towels to match tile
and added decorations to
each autumn holiday display.
I set the owl and bat on the
mantel just so, arranged acorns.
Fancy was fun - but now
I fancy plain again, refrain
from decoration, give away.
Fancy was fun.  Plain sustains.
 
 

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Extremes


Unacceptably extreme
in 2014 USA to say
I am a  socialist 
but it nauseates me
to read one woman
pays $12,000 for
strappy red shoes
she brags she will
wear only once  while
another woman decides
to skip supper each winter
night to keep the heat on.
I can't keep swallowing the
lie that what we have is what'
we deserve.  Those  of us
with plenty may have earned 
it (or inherited it or married it)
Maybe we made better choices,
or maybe we were just luckier
or born with talents that pay well.
But everybody had a mother.
Easy to remember no tiny baby
 deserves more than any other.
Easy to forget when they grow up.
Hard to stomach responsibility
to care for one another. For me
capitalism unfettered has become
unacceptablly extreme. 

Just We Two (for Bob)

 We Two
 
So much truth.
Just we two know.
So many memories
Just we two share.
It has been hard
Just we two,
not against the world
but in it, together.
just we two.
It has been good.
So much work
just we can do.
So much love
Just we two feel.    

Monday, January 6, 2014

After Writing

There's a feeling behind my eyes
when I've written all day, an ache
I would exchange  for no pleasure.
 
My brain is tired.  I don't remember
what I ate, if I ate at all, forgetfulness,
I would exchange for no pleasure.
 
Words from  my mind ran my fingers,
flowed onto the screen, into my bones.
I fight the clock, the phone for this pleasure..
 
There's a feeling behind my eyes
when I've written all day, an ache
I would exchange  for no pleasure.

Sunday, January 5, 2014

Resolve


People laugh at resolutions.
I do not understand why.
I need resolve.
I need to resolve.
It is too easy to drift,
to life on default.
I need to resolve
I need resolve
I do not understand why
People laugh at resolutions.

Saturday, January 4, 2014

Wish


Last year I made good
choices and bad choices.
I came from love, 
and I came from ego.
This year will be the same.
I will make good choices'
And I will make bad choices.
May I come more from

love than from ego. 

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Alive

Sitting the night
in the house
of the dead,
I treasure round
weight, rough orange
skin, rich aroma ot
tangerine in my hand.
Little sun reminds me
to rejoice in mysenses,
my beating heart, life.
I wonder if the deceased
knew the sweet tart taste
of tangerine on her tongue

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Maybe

Skinny dark skinned man
hauled two heavy suit cases
onto the city bus, year end dusk.
He asked the driver for his stop,
but language failed.  She could
not understand a word he said.
Alien sounds tangled in the air.
Whatever place he fought to name,
she could not take him there.
He flapped hands, raised voice.
Driver ordered him to sit.  He sat.
I watched helpless as he made
the sign of the cross three times.
Desperation evaporated. He looked
up and recognized a land mark,
smiled, rang bell for next stop,
left bus in peace, relief.  Maybe
miracles happen every day.