Month: January 2023

“Love, Pamela”

she’s a Fighter

she’s a Dreamer

she’s a Mother

she’s a Child

she’s a Lion

a Lioness

that won’t be

ever be

tamed

TL

Serendipity

Saturday

morning

was back

in town

the one I didn’t

grow up in

but grew up in

driving the interstate

from exit to exit

in the pouring rain

seeing my stories

for the first time

on the front page

of a newspaper

that somebody somewhere

would read

with their cup of coffee

right away the lady editor

sent me out the door

with directions to a house

in some neighborhood

I’d never been before

where a painter lived

a painter of roses

back then I couldn’t afford

her exquisite works of art

but her perfect petals

graced the front page

in color

and I’ll never forget it

and how I hoped

she would like the story

she called

and I felt like

I had won something

you can’t buy

I hadn’t been back in town

since 2003

after the internship ended

20 years ago

and as I was leaving town

floats went by

and as I sat there watching

this small town parade

go by

I smiled and thought

how much this would have touched

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

that a small town in Georgia

would never forget

TL

“You Gave Me A Mountain”

there’s not

a song

he could sing

to her

not a single note

could soothe

her

no melodic melody

or soft lullaby

could lift this

hurt

off her chest

she will live with it

the weight of it

for all of her days

and nights

the silent suffering

of going on …

knowing she will never

ever see

or hold

or kiss

her precious baby

again

not in this life

but the feeling

remains

the longing of it

never leaves

this is the part

of love

that you learn

after the leaving

takes hold

no matter what they say

there’s no such thing as

letting go

(For Priscilla Presley)

TL

In the Book

I stare

at a blank

page

‘til it blurs

and burns

waiting

for the feeling

to fade

but it just stays

in the creases

quiet in the silence

dark in the corner

touched in the dust

that’s always there

like a shadow on the wall

that appears

and disappears

moving like the seasons

like a memory in the mind

too much at once

then not enough

not nearly

why can’t I find

closure

maybe there’s no such thing

maybe it’s on the faces

of us all

hidden behind the Hi

unnoticed in the Bye

TL

Michelle Yeoh

in different

time zones

across the globe

in different phases

of life

tears fell

from a deep well

of sorrow

that it took

this long

TL

Fit at 50

lost between

sets

and breath

I lie there

on a dirty floor

suspended in straps

thinking

is it so much to ask

to see

my abs

I mean really

I haven’t seen ‘em

in a decade

it’s like they’re buried

behind a plush pillow

one of those plushies

I keep in my car

but I’m determined

to see ‘em

once more

it’s not like I haven’t been

working out

all these years

it’s jest not as easy

to remove the plushie

anymore

ask any woman

after midlife

on the brink

of menopause

what it’s like

to eat right and exercise

and still feel

the pudge protrude

and as you pat the plushie

wishing it would jest fall off

already

your 16-year-old daughter

breezes by

after 3 weeks in the gym

all excited like

look mom !

look at my abs …

do you see ‘em

yep

yep

yep

I see ‘em dear

you better appreciate it now

‘cause once you’re my age …

but she doesn’t hear

‘cause she’s

floating on air

as I lie there

on a dirty floor

suspended in straps

lost between

sets

and breath

thinking …

TL

Chip Away

eating

and

exercise

is ever

intwined

like

hoarding

and

purging

the more you

consume

over time

the harder it is

to manage

the weight of it

ALL

but whatever was

brought in

can be

taken back

out

piece by piece

over time

TL

Plop

the little boy

loved fishing

the cranking sound

of reeling

the process of finding bait

and sticking it

on the hook

then raring back

like a roping cowboy

and hearing the plop

hit the water

then slow-like

bringing the line

back

he always knew

when he had a bite

his heart would race

in his little chest

and he just knew

he just knew

it’d be …

but it was jest

a shoe

somebody lost

long ago

and it stunk

too

he made a face

and unhooked it

and checked his bait

saw that it was still

good

then roped back

and flung forward

in a different

direction

and felt the line

pull

and his heart

race

TL