Watermark

Poem-A-Day #28: settled

    

had it been on offer

i would have settled for less

cantaloupe on a white plate

a single-occupancy room

 

had it been on offer

the kindness of strangers

a single-occupancy room

the kiss of your mouth

 

the kindness of strangers

is a weight on the heart

the kiss of your mouth

mangos and lemons

 

is a weight on the heart

a blessing or curse

mangos and lemons

one narrow bed

 

a blessing or curse

an unanswered prayer

one narrow bed

a window that opens

 

an unanswered prayer

the sound of your voice

a window that opens

lilacs in spring

 

i would have settled for less

had it been on offer

the kiss of your mouth

had it been on offer

  

Poem-A-Day #26 & 27: water & monster

   

Day 26 prompt: water 

 

We make no graves today.

We scatter your ashes, and yours

on the water, on the high desert.

Let the wind take them

as the wind took you 

stealing flesh from your bones

until bones was all you were.

Bones. Ashes. Wind.

    

Day 27 prompt: monster

 

Crow’s feet

we call them.

Foreshadow

at the corner

of still-bright

eyes. Even

as children

we knew

it was there.

Waiting.

Under the bed.

    

    

 

 

 

Poem-A-Day #25: last straw

   

Why do we indict

    the last straw?

Surely the first

    should share the blame.

Splinter or crowbar,

    that first wound,

first blood, first warning of all

    that was to come;

the one forgotten,

    forgiven, ignored,

denied. That one

    and all those

that came between.

    The last snowflake

on the collapsing roof

    did not bring it down.

    

Poem-A-Day #24: Goodbye

    

Goodbye

 

I say goodbye, and goodbye again.

        The wind chimes sing,

naked branches dance. I smell snow

        in the air, and you so cold,

so distant, falling now through frigid

        sky like amnesia, goodbye

to all that, to weather and precise

        locations, they all tumble

together, tundra and meadow,

        mountain and lush green

valley, a confusion, a collage

        of memory and longing,

tamarisk, cedar, pine, spruce,  

        and all the birds, crying, calling,

migrating in choreographed clouds

        of wings, goodbye, goodbye.  

   

   

Poem-A-Day #23

    

        Dream Home

 

Each night is the same as the last.

You wander, searching for a place

to be. You are moving house, or you

have just moved or plan to move.

 

Tiny apartments, vast decaying

mansions, high-rises with elevators

that won’t start or stop or take you

where you want to go.

 

Each night is unlike the last. You walk

dark streets in the rain. Every room

opens into another. Windows look out

over the channel, whales breeching.

 

Underground chambers. Locked doors.

Warehouses of cast-offs and deep

treasures. Bare rooms with tall casements

and linoleum floors. Birds beat

 

against the glass, air thick

with white feathers. It’s difficult

to breathe underwater. You worry

it will never end. Your legs wane   

 

rubbery with walking. You want

to sit down but all the furniture

is elderly, it wobbles, and it is so,

so quiet. The very walls echo

 

with silence. You have lived here

before. You will live here again.

Room after room after room,

you will keep looking.

     

    

Poem-A-Day #22

    

cold morning sky 

these old bones 

    tulips in snow 

    

   

Poem-A-Day #21: back to basics

    

light comes up in the east

drowsy, i turn in my bed

drea . . .  

                !CAT ATTACK!

 

*********

 

OK, maybe not. This one?

spring squirrel

autumn-colored squirrel

digging at the bird feeder

            if i see you clearly

            will i remember?

     

    

Poem-A-Day #20: Sunday Evening

    

    

    Sunday Evening

 

Beau-Cat Boy-Cat Bad-Cat

is on the counter again,

watching goddaughter cook.

Mariah laughs at my protest

and sets an emptied can

by his greedy nose. I turn on

 

the grill. She steps over

the puppy as she passes

from sink to stove. In the next

room, Belle-the-Cat swipes

at the old dog’s tail. He

ignores her. A squirrel

 

performs acrobatics

on the squirrel-proof feeder

in the garden. The grill

is smoking. Mariah butters

the bread and slides

sandwiches onto the hot

 

plate. They sizzle. Bruce-

the-Budgie sings back

to them. No two creatures

in this household are

related by blood. This

braid is stronger.  

   

Click the image for detailed credits & larger sizes at flickr.

Poem-A-Day #19: Blue

    

    

You go early to your nap

this blue spring day,

head bent, tulip

in the rain. Even blue

the sky spits, drizzles.

Even blue, you dream.

    

Poem-A-Day #18: weather

    

    

    weather

 

you wake to the slap

of rain on glass

some god throwing stones

of water at your window

        wake up! wake up!

 

a brilliant flash erases

the sky for a moment

nothing but light & you

begin the count one-

        thousand-one-one-

 

thousand-two-one-

thousand-three and before

four the WHACK! of thunder

& another & another

        wake up! wake up!

 

& as you drift back to dream

you wonder briefly what god

might be waiting down there

in the garden, storm pebbles

        heavy in his hand

 

 

Click the image for detailed credits & larger sizes at flickr.