Month: December 2017

Rendering

there are ways

around anything

and everything

all things

but death

there’s no way

around that

and though your belief

may lift you up

into eternal light

thereafter

you will no longer

be here

with your laughter and tears

and I don’t care who you are

or who you think you are

or what you believe

or don’t believe

healthy or not

there is a great sadness

to leaving

and knowing you’ll never

come back

to this very place

in time

to this world

you are born

the impossibility of knowing it

fully

in but one lifetime

as it were

TL

Greenhouse

busy with

other things

made my way back

last night

to my poor plants

and saw that they’d held up

in my absence

as I went around watering

I found a single stem

a long-stem white rose

in full bloom

its moonlight glow

two days before

Christmas

had been growing quiet

and I never saw it

that morning

when we laid the cat

inside

and I never saw it

that night

when we took him out

to bury him

but it was there all along

its fragrance

in the air

TL

Quiet Strength

as I walked

away

I thought about

all the things

I didn’t say

what do you say

as I walked

away

I thought about

all the things

you didn’t say

what do you say

so, instead

we smiled

and laughed

and acted like

everything was ok

and as I looked at your beautiful face

so young

and heard you laugh like a tinkling piano

and joke about shopping at the last minute

I realized

in those precious few moments

what a gift you gave

you never chose to be this gift

this force in the universe

that gets up every day

and steps out the door

and drives down the road

and gets out of the car

and goes on …

but you are

you are a gift

‘cause you believe

deep in your very soul

this isn’t it

that someday

one day

you will see your little boy again

and he will know you

and be proud of you

and as he holds you ever tight

he’ll whisper in your ear

Mama … Mama … Mama …

it’s all right …

you kept me alive

with the light

in your eyes

TL

Midnight

ok, I’m gonna

write about you

so, I can let you go

I remember when I held you

so small in my hands

a baby panther

your eyes glowed

looking deep into my soul

and at first you weren’t so sure

about us

‘cause somebody left you

on the street

to die

a good-hearted man found you

and scooped you up

and brought you home

and we loved you

just like that

we watched you grow

from a kitten to a cat

to a ninja

and just the other day

I took your picture

as you stared out at the snow

how would I know

you’d be dead soon

how would I know

on a school morning

walking out to the car

that we’d find you

lying there under the truck

not asleep but dead

and I don’t know what happened to you

and I don’t want to know what happened to you

like the rabbit

I don’t want to know

all I know is I see you everywhere

and I hear you everywhere

and I wish you were still here

looking up at me

with those glowing burning eyes

and while the birds and chipmunks rejoice

we who loved you so

are finding it hard

I finally put lights on the tree

but no ornaments

TL

Treasure

books

if you’re wondering

where I’ve been

and haven’t seen me

in so long

I’ve probably been hiding

within the pages

of a book

I can’t put down

I feel joy

unmeasurable

when I’m standing in a room

full of books

they comfort me

somehow

and ease my mind

I am still a child

inside

that seeks comfort

in none but a book

I run away

to distant lands

the rise and fall and lift

of words

is like music to me

a lullaby

that rocks me in the night

and when I needed

the strength

that only the right book

at the right time

can afford

one or two or three

they somehow found their way

to me

and only now

at mid-life

do I finally feel

utterly

understood

TL