Poison

Falling out of her mouth

it rips

me and

the pieces

curl on the pavement

burning without flame

writhing as they

shrink down

into specks

of ash

swept away with

one breath

Morning Fire

Small crackling pops
quick flaming embers
dying at her touch
smoldering in the drizzle

bringing tears
to soothe charred fingers
burning flesh
even as the wind
chases her fruitless labor

Hovering Near

Following closely
behind
she couldn't catch
her dream

She might have
kept walking
but instead
she stopped
moving

But even gathered
there alone
on her mat
breathing past
regret
She saw

Hovering near
just there
her dream waited
for the journey
to resume

Remember when...

I was...

sitting in your green nova
going to your house for
hot dogs and
sandwich cookies

sitting on your stoop
watching ants crawl
in and out
wondering how deeply
they would burrow

sitting with
sneakers in the sand
hanging off
the curb to wait
for
the parade


sitting on that shelf
between your
winter coats
in the dark
smelling your
grandma smell

learning how
to love deep
and wide

Diagnosis

only one month in
the word came in the room
and she felt the burn
of loss before the fight began

unknown still
ungrown, wrapped in soft
flannel just gazing
into her face
and already
broken

What could she do but,
try and cry
and look about
and whisper
Why?

A road of hope
with odds recited
uninvited reality
knocks each time
new skin against her lips
she dreams of bliss
of still knowing her child
as she grows old

Blindfish

When anger bubbles up
what should I do?

let it grind
my insides out
a limestone cave
a dripping certainty
stalactite stuck staying
threatening from above
but rooted in fear

instead I could
 release
the drips
into the trickle
the stream
the river of
blindfish
and hope
I swim faster
than they do.

Words

Been on hiatus from my self
and stuck my mind up on a shelf

Not an ounce of new creation
just a brow creased in frustration

Oh words have danced across my page
of joy and fears and hope and rage

Frozen there and all alone
even I can't read my own

words