Black Friday - or how I imagine it

I am elbowed
as I walk into the store
by a 50 year old man
wearing socks
and flip-flops and
loose tiger-striped
pink pants

quickly i run
for refuge
in the next closest aisle
and am nearly tackled
by an 89 year old
running with a metal cart

She does not speak as she
tears the newest American Doll
off the shelf

I almost apologize
for getting in her way

Three women hopped
up on peppermint lattes gossip
and then argue over
who will get the last
of the sale-priced lego sets

I have left the store
and am writing this
from the safety of my car
in the gas station parking lot
across the street

Christmas lights

tonight, darkness droops
in deference to the light
a stringed rainbow brigade
blocks the moon from setting

spirit shines from house to house
as bells attach themselves to doorknobs
and rogue reindeer leave The North Pole
in search of lawns to loiter

a gnome wearing nothing but green pants
drinks too much egg nog

the carolers find a place for him
on their doorstep

all rejoice
and say good night
under the calm
of the Christmas light

today's grace

i am grateful for
the smallest person
i've yet to see
the one who,
three years ago,
grew inside me

and for our second one
that patiently awaits
the world's bounty
inside and warm
unbeknownst
of the storm
that is life

i am grateful to
be the mom that guides
my two beauties
through every storm..

i am grateful to know
this love
be by their side

to shelter their eyes
to open their eyes

the alien

in a land other than here
a mystery lies asleep
it could be awake
though
i wouldn't know

it could be filled
with apple jelly beans
and candy with cherry fizz

or aliens wearing green helmets
with traditional
alien bug eyes
gnawing on
chicken thighs

which makes me pause
to wonder
who drew the first
alien with gigantic
eyes and an awkward
upside-down triangle
face
is that what we think
of the alien race?

in a land other than here
the aliens are very far
or are they very near?
are they wearing those
giant eyes we see on TV
or could there be one
right next to me?

her grace

a dancer floats above water
wills her feet to fly
with the doves and the lily
petals through the pink,
floral scented air
of the stage

she surrounds herself
with pictures of ribbons
and medals and beautiful
kittens to remind her of
her unmatched grace
to remind her
she must
land softly.

my drive home

the icicles glow

under the glisten of

the snow

the trees speak in gleams

as I, aghast,

hold tight to the wheel

and continue home

immersed in the light

that twinkles left

and right

grateful to

be safely home

tonight

Inspired by William Blake's Eternity"

"Eternity" by William Blake

"He who binds to himself a joy 
 Does the winged life destroy
 He who kisses the joy as it flies
 Lives in eternity’s sunrise" 

the journey that ends
ends the dream
that started it

the gleam of the path
with no determined end
delivers bliss

along either road
the traveler smiles
at his destination

winter

when night falls upon the cool, dark ground
blackness envelops the land beneath
cold brings shivers to the skin

the undead rise
among those asleep
inside their brains
they creep, creep, creep

winter moves in with a lustful wind
greedy to latch on to the warm
sleep of the innocent

together the night, the cold,
and the winter lust
make new babies
from pixie dust

the person in the dream
does awake
and the ground below her
moves and quakes
and warms and slows
and over she rolls
under the cover
away from the dream
into the gladness
her lover's arms

our words

i don't know what to say
to you
so we don't talk anymore
no texts, no calls
silence says it all

silence built a wall

but it isn't strong
it could collapse
its built with paper
and plastic tacks

it's fragile like us
this vicious wall
it's feebly held together
and is afraid to fall

so our words
stay lost among
bruised thoughts,
confused and cautious
drained, they linger on
so weary they are,
our words
but still they speak
anthems to me
as I hold them back
tirelessly

your colors deep

you are a star that shines bright
like a river under the moonlight
as bright as the star that twinkles
all day and
 every
  splendid night

while you roam this earth
things are righteous...
things are right.

you are a star that shines bright
 your colors a deep, marvelous sight

a daisy's yellow
stained upon a small girl's hand

an indigo blue sky
on a clear, cold and cloudless morning

sacred clay ground
the richest of browns

you are star, deep and bright
that guides us through
this cloudless, blue
indigo night

A quiet tanka

Arriving on time

dancing daisies decorate

The deadened silence

Of  the anniversary

And obligatory gift 

mermaid

under the deep blue sea
lies me
covered in the element
of fluidity
light in motion
I am me
enveloped in the sea
brazen and wet
I splash with great fervor

Immersed in the sea
I am free
I grow gills
and a gilded tail
with grace, glide,
give love

I am great
within the walls
of this vast water
humming a deep
melody of wonder -
those who witness
the sound fall prey
to my beauty
dive into the sea
never to return
to life on land

on land I
am not great
my beauty drained
by sand and sun

I too, do not return
to my home
when wooed by a
land man, full of brute
distraction, his melody
fooled me once
but could not fool me twice
for when on land
I'm as dead as rice

so as for me
and as for he
I'll set him free
and so will he

I'll swim away
he'll walk to land

I am great
He is grand

Red

Candy cherry lips

A lollipop and a kiss

Deliciously sticks

Just me

A day alone with

The marvelous miracle

Of being alive

the swimmer

if a damaged heart
walks away
into a pool
of crystal blue
and lets the clear,
cool water
wash her away
through the filter
into a stream that
leads to a river -
to an ocean

she will soon see
the world is big -
her heart is big
and as she swishes
and splashes
down, through
the pain will get
worse -
will get
better
float up,
float away

she will swim
free
swim away
into a world
big and
a world
small

if i had the words

if i had the magic words
to make me young
to make you strong
to prove me right
to prove you wrong
to wind the clock
to start the song

if  i knew
what to do
to turn things back
from white to black
from coal to gold
to stop the pain
never grow old

i'd do all could
to forget

the past is
what it is
what is next
is next

today is the best
with a cool breeze
making its way
through my sleeves
with your tiny nose
and its little sneeze

my grown up job
and grown up house

and I'm not young
some days are long
but the way things are,
is not wrong

if i knew the words
the magic spell
i'd change nothing
i'd just forget

love and holidays

i could have let the days rot
like apples in the fall sun

let the winter be as cold
as icicles pressed up against
a bare face

or i could warm the world
with my kisses
plant a kiss on your forehead
hold your chilly hand
walk next to you
and mix fresh apples
quickly with cinnamon
and butter into a
Thanksgiving pie

even on the days
when I wonder why I try
I know I'd always
rather have the pie

and we, as two souls
who barely get along
run together like the melody
of a song
lot's of i'm sorry's
and I was wrong

but in the end
we always bend
because we do know why
we always try

we'd rather our apples
in a pie

You are the light

let in the light
from the room around you
the sun above you

be part of the shadows of the sky
chase your shadow
run behind yourself
and in front

you are the light
that moves me
moves the world

move freely
banish the dark
with each step
walk lightly

tread gently
on this good earth
among the people
and in the light

together lost

if you follow me
you'll be lost among ribbons
of yellow and blue cotton lace

caught in a sunset
that's just risen into the pale,
orange sherbert shade
of a summer drink

in the drift of a raft
along the light blue water
of a deep, brisk lake
in early summer

in the bite of a sandwich
topped with a chip

in a dream, rolled
in a cotton sheet
next to you
watching the days pass
through a veiled window
of opaque glass

lost
together or apart

together
if you follow me

the anonymous journey

heading towards a destination
with no start or end
just a rocky road,
sunshine, and waterfalls
that sprinkle rainbows
sometimes only rain

giant puddles to jump into
and pools of light
and water in which to wade
and to wait in - for perfection -
or whatever is close enough
to make you happy

some days it is the right sandwich
or a piece of toast golden brown,
warm with butter
a clean shirt
that looks great with your new
brown shoes
as you walk towards
an open door
that leads you somewhere

the inevitable end

death surrounds us
waits for the right moment
for us to succumb to its will

it knows we are scared, it is glad
it hopes that we are happy
for the time that we have
it wants us to run,
pleads for us to fight

death is lonely in the night

it hopes we live right
with love and foresight
it wishes we could never
know its plight

death is lonely in the night

without it, it'd just be
a forever race
no way out of this
earthly place
we'd simmer, stew,
think and brew
run out of things
to say and do

death is lonely in the night

your words

there isn't a day better to write
than a rainy one
the sky is already open,
your mind ready to follow
your willing pen
not distracted by the sun
or the laughter outside

your pen doesn't question you
or why you choose this life
of a poet
alone with your words
and lined paper

you, always with this wish
that swells inside
this wish that one person,
also alone on a rainy day
may be sitting at a second hand
computer and
he reads your words ,
and they sink into him
as if a bite of chocolate cake
or a warm bath
they steep into his mind deep
and your reader knows
your words
are the ones
he's always been looking for

time's passing

as the night approaches
the day is almost through with me
a few more things left to do

like the laundry
apples to buy
pb and j  for tomorrow's lunch

oh, but the day
it is almost through

and i,
am almost out of time

not like the cancer patient
or the man who
took too many pills

i have tomorrow

still no guarantee
of my next breath
can be assured

conscience

a dark, grey being
that resides in a barrel
sometimes tumbles
through my fragile heart

appears to spook out
the goodness of the world
brings with it hints of sorrow
to remind me that the world
is not perfect
that a person died today
because of the color of his skin
or the hat he wore...
the symbol on his arm

that a child is alone tonight
in a shelter
or on a street
carrying a gun
to protect his little brother

sometimes i allow
this grey being to linger
to deepen my conscience

the pain of the world
is all of ours to bear