Bad Date

for wordl prompts: kisses, pepper, sands, grace, copper, flitting, shade, silent, surface, haze, inhaling, whirl

Bad Date

Shape of his mouth
flitting over mine
pepper kisses
smother me
I fight for air inhaling
silent in the shade
copper color sands
whirl as I surface
in haze no grace

Almost Home

They Were Almost Home

They were almost home
when the car went out of control
they swerved back and forth
across the highway
steep walls on one side
deep plunge on the other side
pavement slick the steering wheel
spinning the car plummeting
over the edge like a rocket
straight down 
her hair flew up past her ears
while she heard him say
God Damn You!

Clouds

Clouds Like Bruises

They scud angry
bolts of lightning
rent the atmosphere
bruise clouds that
drop their tears over
pale pink lower lids
melt mascara down
painted pink cheeks
forced lips smiling

Silver Bead

Silver Bead of Water

A silver bead of water blossomed
at the end of a copper faucet
reflecting ball it mirrored all 
around me

purple mountains graying
cacti and sagebrush
sand and red mesas
sun unrelenting

beaded blossom a last drop
on my tongue, the faucet dry
the desert hot, I knew I was
french fried

Headlights

 Headlights

Headlights swept the yard
full of giant burdocks
the house came into view
porch listing toward the walk
gray slivered boards
rusted metal roof
windows boarded here and there
missing teeth one or another
uncovered, smashed, let someone
in to sleep in a bed, cook a meal
the moon shone full over trees
matched headlights until 
I drove away and then there was
only the moon glinting on what was

Trees

*The Surveillance of Arrogant Trees"

I never thought trees arrogant
surveillant from their vantage point
tall could allow for arrogance
looking down from above

trees are simply impeccably trees
they are without agendas
except to grow up and out ringed
in beauty

I never thought trees arrogant
I like to think of them so
while I sit elfin beneath them 
too often too full of myself 

silent they lumber above my head

myriad species, myriad gifts
furniture, homes, sustenance, oxygen
inspiration for painters and bards


The Surveillance of Arrogant Trees  




*a line from the book: The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski 



 
 

Lightning

Lightning

Cancer made its home
spread to my right eye
made me see rice scattered
on a sheet of nori
in night's sky with a
full moon Buddha
wielding chopstick lightning

The Evidence

The Evidence

Despite your inexperience
the truth is evident
whom do you turn to
there is no one
where do you go
there is nowhere

Cocoon

Cocoon 

I love the thought of a soft place
quiet, dark, no sensory stimulation
a gentle place without stressors
just for a while
an escape from the bombardment
of everyday life
the noise, the news, the horrors
my sleeplessness
worries, hunger, fear, anger
to wrap up snug and safe
to rest and gestate and then to fly
on iridescent wings flower to flower
sipping nectar, just a worm born
from a cocoon, I want back in the womb 

Seeds

Hitchhikers 

Half moon shaped
sticky olive green
comb them out of
dog's hair
peel them free from
washed underwear
they followed me 
all the way to NY
first, and now DC
made me think about
their tenacity
I transported them 
to new fertile ground
it scared me

Last Stone

Last Stone

I am not the person
for the job
I am not the person
I can't do it
I can't do it right
none of us can
it is a job without rules
without parameters
without guidelines
I am not the person
I need structure
I need rules
I need parameters
I need to know
how
but there is no how
and none of us are 
the person for the job

Stone III

Stone III

There are people who are stones
they make a stance in the world
there are people who are boulders
who rollover and crush us all
there are people who are pebbles
who lie at the bottom of streams
and envision everything

Another Stone

Stone

Gray glint gold
rose aqua sunset
Palm Springs Hills
I will never forget
every moment we
shared together
I want us back to
there where we
were

I know we can't have
it back and it makes me
crazy with the injustice
in the world, I cry every
day all day because
well, I must digress, I 
was going into order
but there is only chaos

I want Diane back 

Stone

Stone

A little hard place
in your heart where
you know something's
not right

Where from the hard place
you try everyday to make it
but you still know it's
not right

what do you do in the hard place?