What More
the discipline
of the day
is a myriad
motion
that moves us
all along
in one direction
centered in one form
our well being
is found
and found again
in the effort made
and made again
small on surface
a dot of dust
on a table wide
though it would seem so
insignificant
in the pendulum swing
what is more
than this and this and this
a kind word
a noble deed, a measured thought
these and these and these
are what makes us …
the memory of us
significant
TL
Down Syndrome
she’s always
on time
so if you’re
running behind
you won’t see her
at all
and if there’s a lull
between minutes
she’ll be halfway
back to the door
by the time
you roll out
but if you’re
on time
that day
she will have just
come out
and started walking
down her driveway
all adult-like
and by the time
you pass by
she’ll be slowly
bending down
to pick up
the paper
like it was important
something she did
all her own
without any help
from anyone
not even the one
in the house
standing there
at the window
TL
Pure
ever wonder
how pure
the photo
is …
the one
nobody
ever shot
and hung
ever wonder
how pure
the song
is …
the one
nobody
ever spun
and sold
ever wonder
how pure
the rose
is …
the one
nobody
ever cut
and bottled
ever wonder
how pure
the grape
is …
the one
nobody
ever mashed
and labeled
ever wonder
how pure
the kiss
is …
the one
nobody
ever felt
and forgot
TL
How It Is
if you
roam around
a w h i l e
and peek in rooms
not yours
you might glimpse
a love that lives
in private quarters
unphotographed
and frameless
against the prying eye
the pickpocket
true of any love
if that’s what
you would call it
and maybe why
you’ll never read
a word about it
or watch it play
across the screen
you might pretend
to know
how it is
and think
you’ve held it
once or twice
but unless
you’re standing
in the room
to feel it
how would you
know it
how could you
know it
how it is
TL
In Wait
patience is
a pet
that lies in wait
for hours
they go to sleep
for years
with two door knobs
in their ears
and even when
at last
they hear the music
play
and cue the dance
of tap
they wait in line
behind
the bags of produce
product
books and ballet
they are but
the remainder
of the day
the last light
of dawn
they scrounge around
for the love
that’s left
devouring the crumbs
they eat their meals
as if they’ve never tasted food
and out the door
they run
as if the trees had never stood
trembling
they lift their nose
to the bird
and press it down
to the bug
they sniff the green off the grass
the dust off the dirt
the bark off the limb
they pause
with one paw up
and take it in
as if it is
their very being
TL
Third Grade
sitting in
her chair
at her desk
in her room
looking out
from her view
I can see why
she wanted
this teacher
that much
TL
Dress Shop
she used to
buy her dresses
here
back when
she wore dresses
rooms with racks
of pretty pieces
and she’s standing in every room
walking through every door
feeling the fabric
eyeing the stitching
raising the hem
to fit
her petite form
and she’s asking me
what I think
of the blue one
and I tell her
“beautiful … granny
you look beautiful …”
TL
Intersection
a pocket
of time
some a second
others hours
stopped at the quarter
different time zones
intersect
when we were
when we weren’t
stages of growth
growing now
each weak
makes you stronger
makes you weaker
given the take
what is a mistake
but a moment
of movement
across the board
depends on the turn
do you go backward
or forward
or stay where you are
TL
Robin Williams
63 years
he rolled
outta bed
and pulled on
his face
and stretched it
to make it
smile
and over time
the smile
got stuck
in place
so nobody ever
had to ask
if he was
happy
TL
The Dance
quick, quick
slow
quick, quick
slow
sidestep, twirl
sidestep, twirl
forward, back
forward, back
toe-to-heel
toe-to-heel
lift and fold
lift and fold
get back up
get back up
shoulders square
arms are there
point that toe
hold it, hold it, hold it
roll and bend
roll and bend
try it again
try it again
that’s it
that’s it
don’t stop
don’t stop
right there
right there
bravo, bravo, bravo
again, again, again
do it again …
and this time smile
TL
Underwater
and there was
a stream
that waded in
pooling in the corridor
and rising in the room
it left no corner dry
as it seeped into
the weeping wall
and stirred the ground to grain
and there they swam to her
and when they reached the bottom boat
that cradled her
they could not wake her up
for she was much too tired
had rowed much too long
in a restless sea
still they clung
to the side
trying to get a leg over
needing to say something … more
but the boat was drifting
offshore
sailing to the setting sun
and as they watched it
disappear
they felt the weightlessness of water
pushing them back to shore
and in the stillness
of the night
they lie spent in the sand
their eyes trained
on the evening star
(April 30, 2012)
TL
Wavelength
words
before
words
are kept
within
small bodies
of matter
where they
become
dots of glitter
dusted
on the tongue
like grains of sugar
like white sand
like powdered snow
the syllables
roll
like waves
into space
floating
in the atmosphere
that is here
and before
the letters align
like stars
that reach meridian
they twirl about
unencumbered
by echoes
of thought
or sound
or placement
there is no purpose
of being more
of being less
there is no intention
no imposition
no implication
unmolded
they just are
TL
Mr.
really knew
nothing
of him
nameless
ageless
homeless
we just happened
to like the same room
with the big window
‘cause you could
watch the birds fly
and the rain fall
and people come and go
this was his domain
but he let me stand there
next to him
without a word
and at first
I’d ask him some dumb questions
but he’d never say
anything
which was just as well
‘cause I had nothing to say
this room
was a getaway
the only spot in the place
where you could breathe
and he understood this
he’d sit helpless
in his rolling chair
at that window wide
day in, day out
staring past the tree
the street
as if he was waiting
for somebody
to come
and maybe they came
when I wasn’t there
maybe they’re there now
I hope they’re there now
TL
Three Rays
the chair
sat empty
at a table
seating six
moments of
silence
mixed with
hilarious eruption
the five
rocked back
to the tune of three
a broken record
they tend to play
over and over and over
never tired
of the notes
the golden notes
of days
they bask
in its ray
and pocket it
away
for when the sun
don’t shine
and the moon and stars
are somewhere else
instinctively
they know
each of them
they know
batteries can die
if you don’t
keep ‘em charged
so they stay
plugged-in
TL
Appa
he was
what he was
my first love
and i met him
in an airport
in New York
on a rainy, windy day
in the middle of
November
and i didn’t know
who he was
or what he’d say
or if it even mattered
and it didn’t matter
much at all
nothing mattered
but the moment
that moment when
he looked at me
and i him
and everything else
fell away
and i was
all there was
or ever would be
and we got
on that plane
together
and he held me
all the way
and we never spoke
but i could hear him say
all these things
to me
he kept telling me
all these things
and i just
looked at him
as he said these things
these jumbled, rumbled, tumbled
things
that ran together like a sing-along
and i just sat and listened to the song …
his house
he says
is mine
the room
upstairs
is blue
the little wooden bed
is where i’ll rest my sleepy head
the books against the wall
some are short
some are tall
like the dolls with their hair
some are short
some are tall
like the dresses
and the heels
the records
round and round
like the dogs
and their barking
some are short
some are tall
like the tweets
in the cage
like the snowflakes
on the shield
the sword
like the memory
of that moment
the length of all these years
with him, without him
some are short
some are tall
and i saw him
two times more
in an airport
that 5th grade summer
that college freshman break
and both times were
short and tall
TL