Outside

Outside

Motion outside my window

passers-by strolling shop

occasionally they look

meet one another's gaze

it is always an accident

as they lower their eyes

outside my window they

jostle strangers oblivious

to all but themselves

they clutch their security

chat with their friends

never move across lines

La Vita Boca: Spin and Weave

La Vita Boca: Spin and Weave

Spin and Weave

Spin and Weave

Wool spins over fingertips

bloody raw from guiding it

sheep graze out my window

strengthen in opal meadow

I yearn for my muse or an omen 

in this narrow corridor of a life

just sheep and thread as I thrust

the shuttle back and forth

once with verve I am now tired

old when I look in the mirror

So

So

So
today was not such a good day
but I know tomorrow will be fine
for there can't be two bad days
in a row I toe the line

In a row I toe the line
say prayers when I go to bed
to the great amorphous head
who I believe is inundated
too much demand in a sad world

Seven billion souls, say a fourth 
are praying for forgiveness
a fourth for wishes for the dying 
half for wealth or health or both
but God keeps creating

So
God almighty keeps up with demand
yet we still don't know why prayers
seem never answered
loved ones die, God knows why

in a row I toe the line
our only succor is to believe
there is a reason, a design
a place in heaven after we
traverse this earth of sorrow

Seven billion souls and growing
God gets greater everyday
except faith gets weaker
as prayers drift off with no answers
little specks afloat in atmosphere

So
tonight the moon is full
I like her pure whiteness
she doesn't promise anything
except her monthly cycle

La Vita Boca

La Vita Boca

My Neighbor

He has to scrape his pockets
to find enough tobacco to roll
enough change for a bite to eat
he works my corner, has to build
clients with his engaging smile
sometimes urgent he asks, lady
any spare change, to buy a jolt
to get him through another day

he'd been missing for awhile
my husband said on vacation 
styling in the islands probably
he was in the hospital, diabetes
proudly displayed his syringes
he is a simple soul yet streetwise
he's learned to survive but never
prosper except with little gifts

he had to go to St. Vincent's
way downtown for his visits
doctor, labs, insulin syringes
asked me for subway change
I gave him a card with $11 on it
don't spend it on anything else
how would I do that he asked
he takes me for a fool I guess

Next day I see him wearing 
ten hats, sombrero, cowboy
assorted others, huge smile
a twelve pack on his shoulder
this bold man, I shook my head
then tapped my foot, he cut
around me roaring laughter
I let him pass with dignity

My neighbor

for Sunday Whirl
urgent, simple, pockets, jolt, build, how, dignity, cut, bold, scrape, roaring, pass

Fire

I Respect Fire

I know camp fires
burning marshmallows
on shaved forked sticks
sparks like tiny fireworks
glow of firelight on faces

I loved wood fireplaces
stoked up on a snowy night
the crackle and hiss 
blue orange red colors
flames dancing to music

I have seen conflagration
lumber yard burned to nothing
I watched from a bridge above 
I watched a barn burn down
thankfully no animals present

I packed my car ready
watered my roof while fire
ravished the hill above
firefighters walking woods 
plane dropping chemicals

I have seen burned bodies
skin turned to melted plastic
I can't imagine the pain and
I wished them dead for their
own sake, one child died

I respect fire

Bride of Evening

Bride of Evening

The moon gauzy
rises white above
black thunderhead
head now covers
gauze moon yet
she keeps rising
thwarts swallow
she is on a path
to avoid darkness
she rises, rises
as thunderhead
builds up steam
reaches, reaches
to no avail Luna
dressed to wed
but oh, she is 
swallowed, gone
all blackness
no there she is
bride of evening 

9/11

9/11

Early, dogs smiled along the lake
sunrise peach pink purple palette
clouds reflected in gentle ripples
baby ducks cruised with parents 
I felt as though I walked in a Monet
exquisitely beautiful gentle peace 

back by nine I turned on the news
one tower billowing black smoke
I dropped onto the hassock in shock 
a plane they said with excitement
my heart caught between beats
I felt etched in stone unable to move

they thought it had been an accident
I watched as another plane plowed
an explosion into the second tower 
I couldn't fathom what I was seeing
my heart still caught between beats
I heard the announcer shouting

frozen in place not breathing I stared
finally the horrible reality registering
I called my husband tried to tell him
stammering, sobbing, planes, towers
turn on a TV, terrorist attack, I heard
him saying my God, my God, my God

Come home, I told him, come home

Culling

Culling

Culling from experience
responses as to who I am
I think I will be less about me

I think I will sit back
not put myself out so much
quiet, watchful, nonplussed

I will not be reactionary
not come on too strong
not belabor my views

I will not share my soul
my deepest secrets
to be used against me

I will be careful for me
not give my heart away
for it is never safe

A heart can be broken
into bleeding pieces
hard to put back together

Culling from experience
I will trust my instincts
I will be more particular

Always War

Always War

Pallid women

quivering blooms

go about their day

war torn streets

studded hordes

men with guns

bar everyone going

about daily activities

children birdlike crawl

Moms hitch them

back up to safety

the rack awaits 

for Sunday wordl: crawl, rack, pallid, women, blooms, quivering, studded, hordes, hitch, bar, good, birdlike

Bruising

Bruising

In the bruising of life
I try to cover the pain
smile and walk straight
people streaming past
don't notice, or if they do
turn away waxen in fear of
too much scruff emotion
I trudge with lurches
toe to toe, rubbery legs
ratcheting my way

in the hour before dawn

for a challenge from Peggy Goetz using the words: bruising, streaming, lurches, waxen, hour before dawn, rubbery, scruff, ratcheting

"Bones"

"Bones"

In an old trunk off a vessel

anchored in the harbor 

fervent forensic scientist

sweeps for truth in the

residue of matter before 

skins turn to dust

breeze swirls her cloak

for Sunday whirl five days late:

residue, turn, skins, truth, trunk, matter, breeze, cloak, vessel, sweeps, fervent