Row Starts Here

Her partner in nature, a dusty pigeon
She waddles from safety, her row starts now
New formed feathers touch the water
A map behind, a map ahead.

Office Siege

Dented stapler on kinky phone cord
My desk requires siege be laid
Lost receipt we'll send a search party
Scotch tape marriage must delay.

©2011

2:18

Tender folds for an airborne missive
Back of class, we dream together
No thought now of bills past due,
House extensions or boilers broken
Our hearts are fixed on 3:05
Glances furtive, we ignore taught valence
Only ours today will matter
Giggles, smirking, eyes a-rolling
Courtin' language starts with flashcards
Age can wait a day or two.

©2011

Red Centre

Red ochre, red ochre call me home

Your quiet sings my chorus true

Gum tree by a sometimes river

Sways my heart and a cockatoo.

©2011

Popsicle Zombies

Ice cream trucks are a menace

Slow and sweet the siren jingle

Brings about popsicle zombies

Brain freeze halts a generation

Mothers, sitters chained to action

Follow, follow, almost there

Rocket pops or dripping soft serve

Watch it melt your cash away

Unwashed cretin lords his fiefdom

Your servitude to wicked sno-cone

His laugh, his justice for the minute

Just another summer day.

©2011

Soles to Stone

Dreams unhinged, our way is purpose

Soles to stone, no map bequeathed

Stepping, striding supplies will dwindle

Whose journey did we buy and why?

Yours or mine it hardly matters

Eye to sky, we seek an omen

Shelter, fire we'll take what's ours

Load up, walk on let's keep moving.

©2011.

StyleSight

Ladies yodel in the aisle

Sale on slender, the call it echoes

Cellphones, purses and high heels

Try it, charge it, bring it home

Bless the booty, wrap it tight

Dab the lipstick, hand on hip

Runways rollick, seams and spite

Toss the curls, we'll buy the senses

Vodka tonics, they fill the tank

Knock on wood, he's not a scarecrow

Stroke it, sell it, the game is on.

©2011

Shadow Boxing

A borrowed light bulb fights the room

The ghosts regret their call to linger

Heavy plants with too much water

Soil the air and beg for solace

Curtains pulled, I cannot whisper

Hear me bark with no answer

Bark, bark, pause, I give no quarter

Nevermind it's all I have

Drink a dram, the drops are ceaseless

Burn the cork, it is not needed

I'll swing at shadows long departed

Sting the air, a hollow victor.

©2011

For Jill

Sometimes, the tough heart isn’t hardened

From without, but cauterized from within

A fire there burning so hot, so madly

It simply crusts over, looking hard

To the impatient eye.

Yet for those willing to stand firm

Bound to the earth by faith in what

You know must be there, the reward,

Now uncontained, is a tender stampede

Of all you wished for.

©2010

38th Street

Smoldering coffee is my gift to me
Empty cup, the more I seek
A kimono blocks my way to work
Dash it, pass it, I find a way.

©2011

Thoughtful Splendor

Verse had come to grief ashore her mind
A fable taut with doubt and thunder
Words and wishes her heart did have
But less to action the soul would turn
Perhaps, she thought, I am defective
A doll incarnate, no path is mine
The others swim while I sit by
My wings reserved to bring me home
Trust is bought on faith and credit
Cancel all the hearts to date
None but yours to mine can smile
A bond within is shared by grace
God is here, no name is needed
A breath, a touch, a thought is given
To you I bring a laugh, a question
Save my story, the end is yours
The page is turned on thoughtful splendor
Blessings tallied, we are the winners
The lead horse, Doubt, he is driven
You and I, we have the reins.

© 2011.