Darkness is swallowed – I lay my hand lightly, shadows flicker on his face, eyelashes splayed on his cheeks. Quietly, confusion rises milky as an autumn moon. Plain-spoken without a filter – Regret, ill-spent time, missed opportunity – Kindness is … Continue reading Bursting Ice
Clouds over head holding their breath, flocculent cheeks distended, rumbling a promise from deep within. We, bobbing on gently swelling waves, sun-warmed wood cooling slowly beneath us, oars beginning a tap-tap-tap warning against the boat. A world enclosed in suspended … Continue reading On the Lake
Fingers of wind blew my hair around my head like Medusa’s snakes as I walked along the river levee listening to the slurp of water on shore, it’s brackish smell strong in my nostrils. Strands of music born on the … Continue reading River of Music
No labels, no pigeonholes, no cog in a wheel no number in a government database, no desk in a cube farm, no cc: in an email, no lemming falling over a cliff, no sheep in a flock, not another face … Continue reading I Will Not Be Misunderstood
their reflection in your eyes, burned tears ashes on your cheeks, sparks blowing in the frenzied breath of a fire-thirsty beast. Absence of air, intense suffocation, green screaming with scorched breath, suppleness falling, falling, falling everywhere, rubble and ruin. *** … Continue reading The Trees are Burning at Midnight
Baptized in early spring sunlight, nursing an ache for anarchy, we skipped school – hiding in Jen’s car until last bell blew. Feeling brave and daring – the kind of girls who skipped school – we drove with no destination … Continue reading Water Magic
I can’t believe a year has past since the last NaPoWriMo! Once again I’m pep-talking myself, trying to juice up for the challenge of 30 poems in 30 days. Realistically, I know I probably won’t hit each and every day … Continue reading Gearing Up for NaPoWriMo 2018
Open Two Ways A house key lies behind the two-for-one drink special sign between the two of them, glowing in the candlelight, a welcome for lonely hearts or a question mark leaving the gate open for escape. *** No prompt today, just imagination. Happy writing! Continue reading NaPoWriMo 9/30: Open Two Ways
Stir the Roux When we’ve finished, I’ll turn off the quiet with the music of pot and spoon, metal on metal as flesh on flesh. Stir the roux. Whole peppers, onions, celery stalks I’ll chop into bits of Holy Trinity, the colors of contentment. Stir the Roux. You will be in that space between awareness and drift, the salt of your sweat settling into your skin. Stir the roux. As the gumbo simmers, we’ll watch the earth absorb the sun and the stars will mirror our eyes. Stir the roux. *** Prompt via NaPoWriMo.net: Write a poem using repetition. I … Continue reading NaPoWriMo 8/30: Stir the Roux
Six Views of the Bamboo (After Wallace Stevens) I. The gardner marvels at baby shoots as big as her arm. II. The naturalist enjoys the strength of the canes in the wind. III. The environmentalist appreciates its sustainability. IV. The squirrel is thankful for its nest-baring branches. V. The bird surveys the world from its sky-high peaks. VI. The bamboo sways and sighs. The bamboo just is. *** Prompt via napowrimo.net – “write a poem that looks at the same thing from various points of view.” Continue reading NaPoWriMo 6/30: Six Views of the Bamboo
