Selected Poems

These are some of my favorite poems from last spring. (They are still drafts, not final versions, and may not be shared outside this website without permission. Thank you.)

APR-JUN Poems

A season’s worth at once?!  Yes.
Can I explain that? No.
But I do want to start posting poems again.

JUN

140611

MIXED SIGNALS

Twice while driving alone today
I caught whiffs of cigar smoke,
which I take as a communication signal
from my Granddad, long past.

Today I put “buy a cigar”
on my list of things to do.
I wonder which brand he smoked;
is there one called Smith Corona
or am I thinking of my mother?

 

MAY

140528

DIALING UP

Would anyone, please,
like to come through?
Edna, how about you?
Emily, Robert, Hafiz
(to mention a few)?

A word,
a snatch,
a phrase…
even an inkling will do.

 

140527

CREATIVE INTENT

Through
meanings I ascribe,
I gain or lose.

The quality of my life
is mine to choose.

 

140526

KNOWING FIRST-HAND

Young girls play dress-up
and walk tippy-toes
or wear heels…
they wear make-up
and pad out their clothes
to guess how it feels
to someday be grown-up
(as if anyone knows).

Curiosity is what that’s about.
I used to stretch my face and skin,
trying to get some wrinkles in;
now I can’t stretch them out.

[ASIDE:  On seeing an online ad titled:
“Wrinkle Solution Horrifies Surgeons”]

 

140524

FLOWER

Like a bud
clenched tight
till water,
warmth and light
overpower,
now my life’s
set right—
full abloom
with delight.

 

140521

FIVE FEATHERS

two cats
were on its tail
but it (both its)
slipped away

 

140510

AIN’T SO NO MO’

The “truth”
that we wore yestiddy—
today it jist don’ fit.

An’ “facts”
in science an’ hist’ry
keep a’ bein’ rewrit.

We keep a’ gittin’ lied to.
We keep a’ gittin’ burnt.
An’ it’s a wonder anythin’
we learned kin still stay learnt!

 

140504

INCARNATES

We come to earth
to dream and stretch.
We fling our nets,
haul in our catch.

Through light and dark
(through both) we quest;
from life and death,
extract the best.

 

140503

GETTING CLEAR

Bless the no;
that weeds out guess.

Bless the no,
then bless the yes.

 

140501

CHARMED, I’M SURE

Few would call me a success.
My finances—such a mess!
And my home is filled with clutter.

I’m a laggard (I confess)
a fool, and a forgetter—
and I used to be a fretter.

Now I know I’m ultra-blessed
by persistent quirkiness—
for some reason I can’t guess,
life keeps getting better.

 

APR

140430

LOVE FINDS A WAY

Love always finds a way.
It sneaks in, seeps in,
connives, wheedles,
blusters, sidles.
Love unmasks, unbridles,
loosens every stay.
Love always,
always, always, always…
always finds a way.

[ASIDE: After viewing the video of
The Barretts of Wimpole Street]

 

140428

FOUNDLING

I was wrong.
I belong.
Family is everywhere…
and has been all along.

 

* * *

Photo Credit:
Dogwoods by Jo Lightfoot