Lost
there’s a
gray kitten
in a concrete cave
starving
there’s a chicken joint
across the street
a grocery store to the right
a bank to the left
but money’s no use
this creature is a casualty
of circumstance
fear of the unknown
keeps it frozen
it drinks the rain
and watches wheels go by
were it grown
it could hunt
somehow survive
there’ll be Christmas music
playing soon
on every street corner in town
high above
the concrete cave
where wheels go by
TL
For Grace
if you
continually destroy
the innocence
of a child
you know not
what you do
the trauma turns
the child
into an adult
immediately
an adult incapable
of trust
like a stray
out on the street
that runs away
when you try to call it
and give it some food
and water
a safe place
it just keeps running
into blackness
far from the love
it never knew
were it not for
grace
TL
True
rich or poor
old or young
throughout history
in times of war
in times of peace
in every country
the edge of the sea
the cliff
from the prairies
to the palace
tiny towns
big cities
remote villages
in the middle of nowhere
on a trail
looking up
at the stars
down at the dirt
all of us search
and some of us
find it
and some of us
just don’t
some settle
or give up
or have no idea
it can even exist
like that
it’s different for each
of us
so many songs bleed
so many books tell
so many movies feel
and a rich man would give it all up
a poor man die trying
a woman walks the floor
pacing down the aisle
with her roses
trembling
when she reaches the end
and stands there looking back
at winter on the ground
at fall whirling in the wind
at spring opening up
at summer burning hot
will she smile
or will she weep
maybe both
did she find it
after all
did he
TL