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