Fall Arrives

Fall arrives,
ushered in by wind-blown leaves
skittering across the road
like crabs skittering across the sand

Words

Why do I love them,
why do I weep,
why do I let words
crawl in me so deep?

Last Call

She was always saying
don't give up your faith.
I won't
I said.

She stopped calling.
Like her word,
my faith
was dead.

Talking eyes

I have been wondering
if you have something to say to me.
I have been wondering
if I truly saw words in your eyes last night.

One and a half

We are two -- yet one.
Two hearts, two minds.
Are you as enmeshed in my soul
as I am in yours?
Your frown can steal my smile
Your mood predicts my own,
Unkind words from you are razors.
Cutting me in so many ways.
Sweet words from you soothe my nerves.
Do you have a Masters in me?

Empty

You have shed tears that rock your soul
You have been hopeless and in despair.
You have hit the bottom and
You have been certain that there is no one who cares.
Your heart has been a rock.
Your soul a prune.
You have spoken out in the deep night and asked God why.
And when something went right
you felt surely now you would die
and you cried
your stoic wall falling down
at the sweet, soft caress
of a kind voice.

Something

A song that touches the soul
A letter in the mail
A surprise visit from a loved one
A dial tone
And he says he cares
After the argument.

Smoke signals are not an effiicient form of communication.

Worth Waiting For

Nothing lasts forever
He said in his defense,
But I forgot to file it
For future reference.

Everything is temporary,
I heard it once again,
The circumstance was different,
But the end result the same.

It seemed to benefit me
To forget these parting shots,
The very next who came along
Was a forget-me-not.

Spring Training

Sitting on the front porch
waiting for the school bus.
March winds have calmed,
Spring warms the morning.
No snow to hold up the bus,
no angry plows destroy.
Hoping the driver is late today
as we tuck moments away to enjoy.
It isn't so much the warmth
of record temps to name,
It's just that as she wiped her brow she said
"Today smells like a baseball game."

Seascape

Moments
once granted so easily
and taken without gratitude,
are now fleeting little specks
like far-off ships sailing
on the horizon.

Happiness
like a hungry seagull
touches down now and again
searching for survival
then soars away, just another speck
on the horizon.

Chocolate Smile

Wrapped so tight inside my own world,
not present.
Unavailable.
She stands beside my chair silently
staring down at her fuzzy purple slippers.
I become aware of her presence,
drag my attention away from the page.
Her freckled face shows evidence of chocolate
as she smiles.
Irresistable as the cake we had for dessert.

Homesick

The ticking of the clock intrudes
upon the laughter -
a reminder.
Everything is temporary.
I savor the last moments.
The lullaby of voices, familiar and friendly
like the warmth of a home
I can't go back to again.
I return with regret to long silences,
strangers faces
and counting pennies
for a few moments of talking with you.

1987

Poetic Justice?

If you could see through my eyes,
feel my heart beating so erratically,
my nerves rattling,
my soul shaking,
my head spinning,
my sight fading.
If
you could be me when you are the worst you.

1988

The Gardener

She turns her face to the sun
the beads of sweat merging with the lines on her face.
Turning the dirt with her trowel,
gently she places a flower in the dirt,
pats down the soil so lovingly.
For all that is lost in life
and all the pain,
this new life from the earth
somehow seems a redemption.

Love

Softly, sweetly love is born.
So soon devoured by the ravenous world.

1987

Spring

There is something painful about
The bursing forth of spring.
The sudden death of winter,
The groaning bud of the daffodil.

1987

Vacuum

Living in a vacuum,
cutting out everything and everyone
battering your soul.

Making boundaries
and borderlines
and living inside them.

Turning away
the ugliness of the world.
It isn't there.

Mama

In the quiet of the in-between,
Still dark and cool outside,
Early-bird had gone to work.
I'm left to guard the nest,
and two growing chicks
who sleep so peacefully.
And I welcome little girl
into the space her Dad just left.
Really -- we are one another's hearts.

Naked Soul

I remember when
the music was in my soul.
The beating drum and my heart in sync.
Now
the words are just reminders of
the synchronicity.
Those songs are just weapons to my naked soul.

Believe In Me

Tell me life's worth living
When I shake my head in doubt.
Please tell me God still knows me,
When I'm feeling down and out.
Point out to me the rainbow,
If I find no pot of gold.
I would try to see life's beauty,
of which I'm so often told.

Let me have sweet silence,
When demands come crashing down.
Please let me hear a word of love,
When cold loneliness surrounds.
Give me hope and give me faith,
and a future bright to see.
But above all other things,
please just believe in me.