The Gardener

My feelings and emotions
are tangled vines on a trellis.
This angry bunch is difficult.

I want to trim the withered ones
and nurture the blossoms
of understanding and kindness.

But they are bound in one painful knot
that can’t be undone just yet.

They cling to each other tightly,
force me to treat them as one.
As I learn to distinguish between the two

I will grow as a gardener
pruning, spreading my roots--
soon confidently tending my own lot.

Remnants of the Day

Seagulls sail endless skies--
pluck morsels from the surf
that offers periwinkles for bounty.

Driftwood harbors crabs
as they scuttle about.
Like eyelashes, sea oats

flutter over the dunes
winking in the breeze.
We came only to observe this day

to leave footprints,
vestiges of human passage
behind on the shore.

Skylights

The sun plunges
into a pool of orange and indigo.
Dusk settles in and the sky is turned on.

Stars ignite, the moon is luminous
and I attempt to connect the dots.
Through these heavenly piercings

I imagine you looking down at me.
Peeking through a keyhole
and into another realm.

I feel you
as celestial bodies flicker in the night.
Hidden among andromeda or maybe cassiopeia,

I wonder which constellation
possesses your window to my world
and shines your light on me.


In Memory of my Daddy 4.3.33 - 4.11.99

Make a Wish

In a field of wildflowers
I’m a dandelion.
Simple yet wistful.

I mix with daisies,
bluebells and columbine.
As their blossoms wither

I mature into gray--
a clock of dreams.
Eager to please,

I offer one wish.
What’s your pleasure?
Close your eyes. Exhale.

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.