Fallwood

14 July 2022

It was after 11pm
On the fallwood trail
Walking the white line
Like a sobriety test

When we got there
To the Oxbow Bridge
You became a gymnast
Dancing on the railing

With your white chucks on
A rock stuck under your sock
Humming something by
KC and the Sunshine band

Buzz cut and shirt untucked
You fell backwards off the edge
Into the dark pool of river
I was scared and delighted

Gravity makes you smile
Or maybe it’s the saturation
Panting like a wet dog
You came back to me

Breeze on our back
Laying along the bank
Pretending to wait
For satellites or flashes of lights

Two kids hanging out
To dry on the line
In half moon shine
Wringing, ringing

 

All These Things

29 August 2021

Neighbors talking on the street
Washing the dirt off of my feet
All these things feel holy

A rope swing hanging by the creek
Living seven days in a week
All these things feel holy

 

February

11 February 2021

The trees are bare
Hanging there
Wind wiggling its way through them
As early as five
Laid across the sky
Clouds crisscrossed like gingham

The snow comes to town
We walk all around
For a day or two ’til it all melts
You can smell the cold
Like thin air rolled
As it comes in the door jamb, it yells

The nights are so long
And dark as a song
Come home before it gets too late
Chili’s on the stove
Crush the old garlic clove
Set the silverware, napkins, and plates

Salon

25 November 2020

Run butter through my hair
With your palms
Seat me in the chair
Sing me psalms

Wind and Truth

19 October 2020

I hope your presence comes with levity
And weighs on us like a storm
From the lightest tickle to a mighty wind
Keep us from the stifling, stagnant warm

You have sailed in on the breeze
Ringing chimes and dancing through the trees
Drifting in and out of power
With gusts that bring us to our knees

Anthropocene

2 July 2020

Did you put us here or did you leave
I guess I want to know why either way
Knowing we would tear ourselves apart
Stomp out every living thing underneath us

I lie awake long after I want to be
The clock counting up like a backwards bomb
So I wait for time to suffocate me
Before I manage to do it myself

I feel the weight of what I’ve done
Pressing on me until I crack and gasp
Standing on the foundation I broke
Is there anything I’ve touched that isn’t ruined?

And you’ve bent and shed your leaves
Employing every safety protocol
Leaving your tail behind in my grasp
It seems you’ve all but disappeared

Maybe I’ve just been shouting too loud
To hear anyone but myself and my echoes
Pounding my fists against your chest
Wriggling free of your embrace

Women’s Pants

22 April 2020

Women’s pants
Have fake pockets
Shallow pockets
And too-tight pockets

Women’s wallets
Should not be
Too big
For women’s pants

Thanks for Asking

5 March 2020

I’m glad you said something
I would have never told you
I hold my secrets like I hold my breath
Both would put me in the grave

Let me lay out the blueprints
Just scribbles and erase marks
But somewhere here is what I mean
Do you get what I’m saying?

I need you here to ask the questions
Push me off the cliff into the water
Put the smile on my face
Take the pressure off my feet

One day I won’t need training wheels
But I’ll still need you
Please stay on the line for another minute
I just wanted to say thanks for asking

It’s Okay

3 February 2020

I took down my hair
Unplugged my earrings from their backs
Untied my shoes
Hung my jeans next to my slacks

I am undone
Today took more than it gave
It’s okay
Some days it’s harder to be brave

Just Like Mine

17 January 2020

Your two hands are laced together
Left and right matching fingers
Tangled together
Woven from your palms to your knuckles
You twirl your thumbs around each other
Like a turbine on a windy day
Pausing for a moment when you get caught in thought
Resuming when you’ve settled your mind

Nails short and trim
You like to keep them that way
And you keep your hands on your lap
Resting thoughtlessly by your right knee
Your right knee crossed over your left
The trim of your jacket draws a tidy line
Across your wristline
Hiding your watch

You briefly glance at your fingers
Noting their shape and position: normal
Before resuming your forward gaze
And as quick as an accident
A second glance at the lap to your left

Your two hands are laced together
Just like mine

Bench

5 December 2019

After I’m dead
Even after the stench
I’ll be remembered
By a plaque on a bench

Extrapolate

20 September 2019

Sometimes I just disappear
So I know no one knows where I am
I dread the day
When you call me by name
If an educated guess can figure me out
It’ll be my end

The Carrot

12 November 2018

The carrot is always out of reach

The carrot will never quite be the peach

Like the sand wrapping itself further down the beach

The world hiding more than elders can teach

 Extending arms too far, they break, they preach

Purifying stomachs and teeth with bleach

The carrot is always out of reach

Put It To Use

22 June 2018

Put it to use
Don’t sit back and watch it
Admire or adore it
Don’t worship or idolize it
Leave it or ignore it
Put it to use

Don’t hide it or disguise it
Feel bad or braggadocious
Don’t waste or discard it
Minimilize it or keep quiet
Put it to use

Don’t cover or mute it
Shut it or lose it
Don’t hate or abuse it
Undermine or discredit
Put it to use

If you have something good
Don’t mask it with a hood

If you truly love something
Don’t let it collect a dust ring

If you have something to say
Project it like a sun ray

If you have a wisdom to share
Self-doubt is is the only snare

If you have something sturdy
It might get a bit dirty

And if you have truth
Put it to use

What Do the Leaves Leave?

26 January 2018

Some things are bound to mortality, others are not

My favorite posthumous production is the tree, the rot

When violent winds rampage in military march

The gentle giants give way, bend, ache, and arch

The breeze that may fell one, whether monstrous or small

Is the dying proof that life does not favor the tall

Debate the sound of its death, that is not the measure

The low-lying creature becomes a new treasure

Those who lark, tweet, chirp, hoot, and buzz (and sometimes cry)

Find an authentic craftsman cottage to climb, eat, and lie

From death’s bosom flows a new type of life

A home, a fortress, protection from strife

Though not all die selflessly, showering others

Some die in selfishness, caring none for its brothers

Months of drought may cause Spark to catch a new prey

Fire and fury crack the bark, lighting night as the day

When one dies in vain, so another and one more

Small acts of anger open Pandora’s door

Sadness erupts faster than the cancerous fire

The result of some twisted, morbid inward desire

Small victories will be won, though many years later

When shrubs begin to emerge from the ash-burdened crater

Similar they may seem, two deaths of the forest

Make of one a criminal and the other a florist

Quick to die, slow to heal, wears a path of destruction

While resilient life and valiant death result in construction

Bidding goes on after life comes to stall

What do the leaves leave when they face eternal fall?

Deciduous

4 December 2017

There is glory in creation, the gospel dwells within the seasons

From the dawn of spring to winter’s death march, the forest plucks the angel’s harp

Life takes form in tiny blossoms and will grow into maturity only to become rotten

Simple perfections turn sour, susceptible to scars, disease, and death in time’s hour

Miraculously yet, life comes again, the sun tells the snow, “Death is not the end!”

Winter takes vulnerability as strength, the deader the tree, the higher the rank

Spring takes the cacooned and gives life anew, death is deciduous if you believe it’s true

On the Patio

12 July 2017

Gentleman with khaki church pants eating alone outside of the cafe

You’re done worrying about the big things and the little things

Focused on what brings delight and returning to long-term joys and rituals

Knowing how to appreciate the sun when the sun comes

And how to address the driveway on a particularly snowy winter day

A favorite song or a well-made sandwich can cure the blues

From which you may whistle a tune for others or drop a crumb for a bird

Not bothered a bit by little messes that can easily be fixed

Quietly and gently linking the day’s activities.

If I Am A Bird

24 January 2017

If I am a bird,

And you won’t let me fly,

I’ll cry,

And die.

If I am a bird,

And there is no you,

I’ll sing,

And soar.

Tomorrow

3 January 2017

Tomorrow I try

Tomorrow I die

Tomorrow I assume

Tomorrow I perfume

Tomorrow I dream

Tomorrow, it seems

Missing Words

11 November 2016

Missing Words!

Last seen on the tip of my tongue.

Size: 12 pt.

Breed: Times New Roman

Warning: able to camouflage depending on context and conjugation

Reward: a thought or       about the English language and also a poem

Please return as soon as possible, I am                    without them.

An Utter Mess

11 November 2016

I’m sorry I was late,

I got so distracted by the words in my head.

I had to write them down,

Lest they would escape

And spill all over the carpet

And hide under the bed

And become trapped in the closet

And run rampant in the backyard.

I would never be able to catch them again.

Cycle

11 November 2016

I tried to capture the sound of your calm breathing on this piece of paper

The subtle inhale and exhale of peace

The sheer luck that anyone might hear the miracle of life as we partake in a cycle transcending time and distance

The trees breathe the air we breathe

The death of a life is life in death to another

The waves do not own the ebb and the flow

Ebb and flow is in us and touches us and is remarkably inescapable

The Next Day

9 November 2016

Love did not run for president,

But I openly support it.

I’ve been trying to escape,

Just to learn I can’t abort this.

Who are we, who are you,

To take a name as sure defeat?

No one can rule your mind,

Nor can they rule your feet.

So do good, do kind, do justly,

For the betterment of yourself and your neighbor.

Listen more than you speak,

And let love be the fruits of labor.

Right

3 November 2016

Who does it hurt more,

You or me,

When we start doing the right thing?

A Pedestal

27 October 2016

I put you on a pedestal,

And surely you fell down.

Your shining people and golden gleam,

A mere mirage, now torn at the seams.

I put you on a pedestal,

You took a look around.

You did not play fair or keep from lies,

Shots round the world became mourning cries.

I put you on a pedestal,

No other idol very sound.

Now the tune of silence is breaking with violence,

And your hands are two pompous tyrants.

I put you on a pedestal,

So high up off the ground.

A wish for this to be the fix for the years,

But rather many trails of tears.

I put you on a pedestal,

Now, a holographic town.

You’ve got nothing left but looks,

Appearances won’t fix embezzling crooks.

I put you on a pedestal,

And surely you fell down.

Pedestals lack the permanence you desire,

You’ll have to climb to get yourself higher.

A Place to Resound

24 October 2016

Some say there is no place for me,

I can’t say I agree.

For if I am not present nor am I around,

Then where will your argument find space to resound?