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.