tonight

this autumn evening
is a dark window shade
a tinted glass of rich burgundy
sliced Gruyere
melted on crispy bread

a couch and three pillows
placed gently behind my back
by love itself

a blanket to warm
my old, cold bones
and seal in the joys
of the day

a fresh start

in the morning
the day is fresh sheets
on a clothesline
under the sun
in the cool, welcoming wind

it is raspberries
grown on a bush in your backyard
tart and sweet,
ready to eat

it is new and delicious
the air of possibllities
runs through each
waking minute

and you are alive today
this morning
you wake
on your fresh sheets
ready to pick raspberries

lost in the present

not sure what to say
or exactly how i got this way

landed in this place where
my name seems distant, unfamiliar
as if it is a dinosaur
stomping down the highway

my life, a dramatic television show
that I wrote myself
but I don't remember
all the lines


the words are all lost
and so i keep looking
in the distance

I read my cue cards

the producer mocks me

too fast

running out of time
running from time
that withered clock
with evil, ticking, heavy,
wrinkled spotted hands

that says things to me
like "back in the day"
and I am surprised
how long it's been since
high school ended

my hair now flat
no longer purple
i used to be fun, cool,
totally different

and now I am
part of the body
of the motion
of the slow and fast
travelling feet
that pounce the sidewalk
each day, responsible

and that round, creeping
clock speeds towards me
like a chicken running
from an axe

I laugh at you
dear clock
and your man made notion
and your weak, noisy
arms

I laugh at you
and smile
and am glad
i am not that teenager
with big, purple hair

i ignore you time
i deplore you time

i implore you time
slow down

Love

where does my love go?

to the plant
   that needs water
   the child at my feet
   my mature (sort of) husband

it is

    like a soft, stretchy blanket
    that fits around two sets of toes

the more there is
the more I feel
love, a resource, infinite
feeds only off of itself
no need for the crackle
of the day's sun
or a sprinkle of rain

love
    it is close
    and everywhere

a long way apart

i haven't danced
or said your name
face down turned
and not the same

a single look
or word or text
you know the story
i know the rest

i held you tight
you held me close
we sank together
a single ghost

still i see us
as it floats by
through the world
I question why

you were my
world
and I
your sky

now we are two
distant stars
warped in silence
forever far

it ended long ago

here's a verse
sad and true
wrapped in ribbon
just for you

ribbon red
world blue
tied in knots
over you

ink is blood
a leaking heart
it was trouble
from the start

paper's drenched
with salty tears
the wilted words
of founded fears

we lived, breathed
now nothing's left
but a straight smile
a heart bereft

if you could know
i'd tell you so

but you can't and
so I go