High Roller

Today, I painted my nails black.
They stand out against my pale skin
stark and unyielding.

Like a tattoo,
they make a statement.
About me, about my mindset.

About the absolutes of black and white
I’ve been dealt all my life.
I’m all or nothing girl.

I’m all in, all the time.
High or low
I roll with the punches.

Hit me.


Published in Flutter ~ December 2010

Reunion

The familiar spread of your arms
welcomes me home again.
I lean into you, content.

Look, how our once beautiful
stream has widened
revealing its receding banks.

It exposes your gnarled toes
as they grasp at the earth
more precariously than before.

The boughs I used to swing
from hang lower now,
seem a bit more fragile.

Your age has subtly
revealed itself.
If I could count your rings

they would be many.
You carry them with grace
as time has her way.

Gogyohka*

I think of him
rarely
it’s something
I loathe
to do


a soft breeze
blows
over the pond
and cattails
flicker


mist settles
on the lawn
setting
an eerie stage
for dusk


we want so much
so fast
we forget to give
like stingy children
on a playground


in the arid
desert
showers are
manna
from rain clouds


Venus
when aligned
just right
is the Moon’s
beauty mark


dandelion puff
set free
a thousand
wishes
take flight


mockingbird
showers
in my sprinkler
spreads his wings
to the sun


horses graze
under
fruit tree
bobbing
for apples

*Gogyohka is a new form of Japanese short poetry,
founded and pioneered by Japanese poet Enta Kusakabe.
Gogyohka is pronounced go-gee-yoh-kuh
(the “g”s are hard as in “good”), and literally translated
means “five line poem”. Gogyohka is five lines of free verse
on any subject matter. There is no set syllable pattern,
however the poem should be short and succinct.
The goal is to compellingly capture an idea, observation,
feeling, memory, or experience in just a few words.