Penelope
My heart aches for the one I love,
Lost in the salty sea of tears
I shed for him in grief.
My body holds the memory of his touch,
My lips remember his loving kiss,
My arms, his light embraces recall.
Our lovely hall, once pride of the land,
Once graced by your royal presence,
Is now littered with unwelcome guests.
These guests who seek my hand with hunger,
Slaughter our herds with out mercy,
And consume our wine with an unceasing appetite.
How I long for the Lion that once lived here,
Stolen away by the cruel god's whims,
Leaving a weeping wife and unborn son,
With only unspoken hopes to sustain them.
5/6
Bird
As the bird
hopped up
onto
the small white branch
first the lower
legs
tense up tight
then the wings
flutter
to the top of the
deserted feeding perch
5/6
Sandals
So much depends
upon
the clear plastic
sandals
smudged with dark garden
mud
on top of the green
doormat.
5/6
Parody
So much depends
upon
a brown baked
donut
glazed with sweet
sugar
beside the white
napkins.
5/7
Dread, denial, despair
I freeze, the world slows down.
I can not think, my mind is blank, there is no sound.
I feel something in the pit of my stomach, a twinge.
A hint of disbelief is coming to my mind, I cringe.
The feeling is moving from my stomach up to my chest, which tightens.
My breathing quickens,I start to shack my head slowly, It lightens.
No . . . no, no, no, no, NO! This is not happening!
Im having trouble breathing. There is a hard knot in my throat, it is tightening.
I can not swallow, I feel sick, my head is light.
My vision tunnels to darkness, black with flashes of white.
My mouth has gone dry, it tastes of metal, or blood, it cant compare.
I recognize this feeling, dread, denial,. . . despair.
5/8
From a Cats Mind
I don't think I will ever understand you. You humans. You see me relaxing, sleeping,
lounging, and your first thought is, how easy I have it. My thought is, you are too complicated. You could have it easy too,
but instead, you complicate life in a never ending search for something. Anything. My only need is food. All I need is rodents,
and I am satisfied. Why must you be happy? Happiness is not the goal in life, satisfaction is. When you try to find happiness,
all you end up doing is realizing all the things that make you unhappy. Look at me. I dont search for knowledge, understanding,
power, love. All I need is food. I pity you. All powerful beings. Helpless. Weak. Dont you see? There is no happiness. There
is no love. There is no god. All there is is living. I am content. I am satisfied. I dont claim to be happy, there is no point.
All I do is live. Why do you need your money, your churches, your power, your conveniences? Why do you want to know why things
are, how things work? It doesnt matter. Why do you record your history? Why do you make up new worlds? Why? All that matters
is the present. You could have it simple. Life is simplicity. Its living that you make complex. There is no good. There is
no evil. There is no kindness, no cruelty. There is only life. I dont find pleasure in life, only satisfaction. I have lived,
that is all I need. I have no regrets. To have regrets, you must contemplate the past. All that matters is the present. Memories
are pointless. There is no father time. There is only now. Here. I dont think I will ever understand you.
5/9
Freckle
There it sits on my hand
the freckle
I wonder
why it is there
why on my hand
why not on my arm
Brown
5/9
Sandals
flip flops
birkenstocks
some are plastic
others elastic
rhinestones
color tones
fake flowers
in the shower
river wading
garden spading
sandals sandals
(To be said all in one breath)
5/9
Rules
Dont eat with your mouth open
Dont talk politics over breakfast
Always close the refrigerator door
Turn in homework on time
Put away your toys
Keep your room clean
Pick-up messes
Rewind videos after you watch them
Be careful with the china plates
Dont bother mom when she is in her room
Dont talk to dad when he is grading
Dont interrupt
Get up when dad wakes you up
Pay attention to your teacher
Wear a helmet when you bike ride
Only one ice cream a day
Dont say mean things
Dont talk to strangers
Dont make eye contact with homeless people
Dont show your teeth when you smile at people on the street.
5/10
Away
Do you ever think about them
Wonder what they are like
You were his mother in a way
Her parent
And we took them
Away
You never saw them grow up
Now they are our children
Our kittens
I wish you could see them
Like I see them
Sleeping
5/10
Picture
click. flash! she stirs, stretching luxuriously, flipping over.
he twitches, the flash of light annoying, like the bite of a flea.
she blinks. lids rise to reveal blue. ear flick, waving away sleep.
the hand strokes brown velvet. his paw flexes, claws dig into soft cloth.
5/10
Sleep
silly.
silly light flashing through my lids.
strange object emitting sun.
pointless noise.
disturbing rest.
annoyances.
away!
leave me to my nap!
sleep. . .
warmth. . .
sleep is good.
5/11
Haiku Series
Molten metal sun,
radiating heart blood warmth,
hanging in heaven.
Trees arms raised, reaching,
glowing with energy, light,
green new life reborn.
Moon wakes as dark falls,
to flood the land in silver,
sister to our star.
Now glowing softly,
oaks limbs bowing to the night,
waits for golden day.
5/11
Light or Night?
Once said a wise man,
Dark and light, bad and good, are not different but one and the same.
At the center of the sphere of light, trapped in glass,
there always lingers a spot of black.
Stare too long at the fire,
and soon shadows arise.
When lids close out the world, sealing it in darkness,
dancing still against the void are sparks of white light.
Its night, the sky is black,
yet littered with streamers of stars.
Gaze too long at the sun, the fountain of all light,
and the world will be dusk for the rest of eternity.
Inseparable as a mother and child,
one cannot exist without the other.
?/?
Desert Tree
Branches streaching for the sky,
to pull down the clouds,
pleading for life, denying death.
Roots plunging beneath the surface,
cringing from the sun,
striving to hold the crumbling dust together.
Leaves curled in, hiding within themselves,
from the mercless heat.
