Affirmation # 2

I stand still
to watch the
wind blow
wishes to the sky

Still, I breathe
Still, I believe

My soul
receives truth,
beauty, harmony

The sky grants
the wishes
of the wind

I catch a star
I hold it tight

I set it free
the world is right
 

again

i splash in a puddle
my feet,
protected by
rubber flower
rain boots,
are excited
for this walk
along
a puddle-lined
pebble-strewn
path
i sometimes
call
a road

it bends
but does not end
because I turn around
and go again

affirmation 1

today is the day
i am free

the day i feel
just like me

free

to pray
to dance
to play

today
is the day
i hold life dear

today
i love
all that is here

Yellow

the sunlight shines
on this quiet hour
of morning

a bird
sings to a daffodil
that grows in a glass planter
once used
for iced lemonade

a small kid
has a sour
face as he
sucks a lemon

the sun sets
only a pale
yellow remains

the sun-faded
dahlia tapestry
is trussed closed
for the evening

Oscar owl

Oscar owl
only weeps
at midnight
at the top
of a tree
that leans

he shims across
a burnt sienna branch as
fragile as his heart,
broken by
his bitter mate

she moved
to a cold, remote
forest in the north

he weeps
at midnight
in hopes that
his tears
will melt
the ice that
has forged
a great
and growing distance
between
his southern branch
and her northern forest

burning a bridge

in order to build
a bridge
sometimes you
burn it first

to sink
and crush
what lies beneath

to make room
for the rainbow
that is about
to emerge
from behind
the flames

Alive

I drive
I thrive
I am alive

I drive
to the other side

I am alive
the grass is green

I am on the way
I arrive

my destination
imagination
a real vacation
from the mundane
the plain
the falling rain

I am here
to begin
again

to begin the summer

from the swing
this view is luscious

i can taste the wild berries
that I am about to pick
1 by 1 and 1 more

underneath my feet
there is dirt and grass
that will stick
to my creamy toes
that long for
the callous
of the barefoot life,
the sun-drenched
grass beneath them

this summer day
is only beginning

and to begin
with a swing
is splendid

for fun

i love to hear the wind wish
for rain to accompany it
through the dark and deep azure sky
on the way to dawn
when the day begins anew
and I become the star
that waits for midnight

the anonymous writer

I'd like to be anonymous,
blend with the frayed fabric
of a plaid sunken couch -
so most can't see me

hold a journal, ragged
with overuse, piled with untethered thoughts
and a few drops of fresh coffee -

no one notices as I settle
into a worn wooden-armed sofa
in far the corner of an empty cafe
where only locals stop
locals and me

I am not a local
I have been driven here
by taxi
to travel invisibly through
this anonymous day

I will write
with no one watching

saved by summer

a new dawn arrives
at the start of summer

it is sultry and pale,

I am invited to jump in it
as if it is a tremendous
raft afloat in a still river

and then I do
the eight-week adventure
begins and ends
like a thick, dense storm

suddenly, with fervor
I will start a new year

but for now
I will sink into the pale, sultry,
summer water with a seldom
found grace that saves me

My dad

you know that dad
with careful, quick moving eyes
close at all times

the one that makes sure
the house is safe
everything is fixed
every holiday is
a smile-filled
momentous occasion

the one that was there
when you graduated
high school, college,
college again...

that is the greatest
grandpa you know
building forts
and explaining
why everything is
what it is

the one that has
always been there
and always will be

the one that is loved
and admired

that's my dad
maybe yours too?

internet

when there are 6 tabs open
my mind blinks faster than my eyes
nothing gets created
except a distraction
as great as a polar bear
wearing a Hawaiian shirt
on vacation with his family
in Bermuda

pink is not the new black

nor is orange

everything is what it actually is
unless you change its name
and then it isn't

Is Emily the new Beth?
Patrick the new Will?

old things become new
names change
but lets keep our colors the same
and celebrate them all

in an instant

I caught a glimpse of you,
of myself
back in the time when it was simple
to be in love
hold hands
and forget the next day

visit each second
with reverie
for a moment
of  ephemeral bliss

the closer to still
our pace became
the more the world
vanished to reveal
our permanence

dream vacation

further the rotunda spills
out into the vast sunlight
that fills the tiled Venetian floor
and I, barefoot
feel the cold rush
into my heels and up through
the bottom of my feet

I breathe out cool air
and in - the warm sun
of Italy, of a sight only
visitors see with fresh eyes

I wake up in New Jersey
unaware that I have not
actually time-traveled
until I hear the familiar
alarm sound of another
day that is ready for me
to begin it

move left and write

i want to be famous for
what I write

so please help

read my words,
careful and slow,

take a stroll among
the world of my words

a wistful visit
to a world beyond
the confines of yours

I, too, meander through
the minds of others
allow them to hold
me in their moving hands
and drag me, zig-zagging
until I can go left
and right no more

i pray to nature

wistful
willow tree
beneath
its roots
the earth I pray to
the force
that emerges
the wildflower
to blossom
out of the dark,
murky soil

to paint
our souls
with color
to make us,
to make the earth
happy,
beautiful
full

then and now

a time ago
i stared,  listless
with nothing in mind
a path untraveled
a person unraveled
a string tossed recklessly
around by a kitten
rough, frayed,
a typical mess

presently
i sit awake
murmurs occupy my mind
of things undone
racing with purpose
like a cat
towards her milk dish
smooth, determined
a silk dress

an ode to summer

walk lightly and
gentle upon the beach
with grace and gratitude

bless my feet
and yours
as we step with grace
upon the mighty
sand below us
one foot in front
of the other
stepping towards
our next dream

because we have
a purpose
and are human
and our dreams
our real

the image
of  a seashell
that has washed upon
the shore
and twinkles
under the day's
dry and warm sun
loved once by no one

and then chosen
by a small person
so that she, too
can listen to the sea

a poem inspired by "My Modern Metropolis" by Antonio Mora

A voice speaks to the air
bleeps, sentences - a secret mission
smoke soaked sky
sky-writing hidden from the world
a message gasps in Morse Code

this mission has taken me
far from home,
from our infinite earth
I have fallen off
and found the shore

Silence spills onto the earth
written words  for all to see
the blue, clear sky calls me
to read the message 
carved in the warm sand

we have stopped 
returned to start
to the familiar land
welcome home
is written in the sand

another poem about time

staring at the clock

where did it go?

time runs eternal
a bog in my mind
that sinks
and drips
onto the floor
like continual
pieces of minutes
that slip
without warning

away
another day gone
off the hit chart
like a #1 song

except, I
I am not a rock star


I am a mom
tethered to time
taken by it

lunch

at noon
i remembered my keys
dropped in the sauce

and my phone
was left alone
near the floor
by the white
refrigerator

where my lunch lived

so i walked
and did not talk

and ate lunch
on the bench
in silence

without electricity
or the internet
waving through my mind

this type of peace,
so hard to find

my desire

on a dark and drastic day
my desire filled the cup
that rested on the worn cupboard
like a rag tossed upon a counter
waiting for someone to pass by
find a use for it

cracked, but still usable
with a faded design
its chipped edges leaked
flakes of blue and yellow

quickly i grabbed it and
ran off
filled it with the hot, rich,
elegant coffee

and drank away my desire