Selected Poems
These poems are drafts, not final versions, and may not be shared outside this website without permission. Thank you.
131031
LADY MALADY
Autumn is the spawner
of coughs and colds,
fevers and flus.
That witch grows bold
attending her cauldron,
stirring up brews.
131030
CUSTOM COSTUME
“Halloween is tomorrow,
Dad,” I say. “Have you
picked out your costume yet?”
Dad pinches the old-man skin
on his forearm and says,
“I’m already wearing it.”
He does wear his age well;
he agreed to this poem.
131029
ANIMAL RESCUE
Go to a shelter and you’ll be seeing
high-tech cages for low-tech beings—
each animal separate, each one alone,
needing warm touches, needing a home.
131028
ONE FAMILY
Love’s our call.
Love never harms.
We are all
in each others’ arms.
131026
ESCAPEES
Those rustlings in the closet,
those shadows in the hall—
where do the words go
when they slip beyond recall?
131025
EXHORTATION
And
the Hebrews said,
Be ye unto him as though
there are devils everywhere—
Lo here!
Lo there!
even unto thine own soul,
if so thou thinkest.
So thinkest thou so not.
Fool.
[ASIDE: This is how the pump can
get primed when I begin with nothing
in mind, just letting the words appear
one by one. I edited this only in very
minor ways, such as punctuation.]
131024
FEEDING THE HUNGRY
I make my panbread
just like most people do pancakes,
except I use cornbread mix,
egg, milk, half-cooked veggies
(shredded onion, peppers, squash,
cabbage, carrots, or whatever’s handy),
plus oil or melted butter and—
this is very important—
shredded cheese. Mozzarella’s good.
Cheese gives the panbread body
and makes it tasty and satisfying.
People love it. They say, “Yum!
That’ll keep the wolf from the door.”
No, it won’t. The wolf will come begging.
131023a
SAD DOG, SAD DOG
The coyotes
are yipping tonight.
The dogs are howling.
One dog howls
in an anguished voice
from across the way
where sometimes a man
growls in a menacing voice,
“Bad dog! Bad dog!”
and other times, a woman.
131023b
CONFESSION
Hi,
I’m your spy.
Your life
interests me.
I don’t know why
but I have a clue—
it interests you.
131020
CULMINATION
Can love
still save us?
Is there still time?
Surely love’s fulfillment
ends all asking,
ends all time.
131018a
TRUSTING THIS
When completely
I defer, this is true:
not only am I yours,
I am you.
131018b
DASHED OFF
Tonight,
I don’t want to write,
or speak, or listen—
or anything like that.
My cat
wants its petting—
and what is a word
compared to a cat?
131015
GAUDEAMUS
We weep wrongly.
Our grief is misplaced,
if not unwarranted—
those who die young
are the fast learners,
the masters program
early graduates
summa cum laude.
131014
“YOU”
(Telling how I’m blessed
in ten words or less.)
131011a
SUM OF ALL
The raided nest; the twice-failed test;
the tears, the sobs, the heaving chest—
all for the best.
Loss of mind, loss of skill,
loss of hope, loss of will—
all for the best.
Death of lover, new-made friend;
joys and sorrows without end—
all for the best.
Every triumph, every thrill,
every paid or unpaid bill;
the jibe, the jest, the dance, the fest;
the endless quest and all the rest—
all for the best… for all’s the best.
131011b
TRUE OF YOURS
A gift can be
a minor thing
compared to
all the joy it brings.
131009
E.O.S.
End of summer,
end of sun.
End of endless
days of fun.
131008
INQUIRING MINDS
“If life is a lesson
with subjects to learn,
we should be told
of each subject in turn.
—Isn’t that right?”
“No, or not quite.
Learn what you want
on the topic you choose.
That’s how you win.
Besides, you can’t lose.”
131006
UNTITLED
dewdrops glitter
like rosary beads
on barbwire fence
131005
FEST GUESTS
Bring it on—
we’re in the mood.
Though not rich,
we love rich food.
131001
WRITER ROLE
I don’t have to write.
In fact, I’m not writing.
God does the work—
I, just the inviting.
* * *