Month: April 2026

Yeah, No

when they …

wheel ‘ya out

with your bundle

and ‘ya go forth

all careful-like

and super slow

over every bump

and dip

in the road

and then

you’re home

and it begins …

your new life

… this new life

that grows inside of you

and then outside of you

turning the burrito blankey

into a cape

the baby flies

down the hall

and the clock falls

off the wall

and you get stuck

on the seconds

the minutes

the hours

but time keeps

turning over

and over

and over

and you panic

and try to buy up

all the watches

all the clocks

but it’s too late

you’re too late

and you can see

the sequin cape

sparkling out the driver’s-side-window

as it flaps outta sight

all carefree-like

hitting every bump

and dip

in the road

boom booming

further and further

away from home

and it begins …

your new life

… this new life

that grows inside of you

and then outside of you

turning the burrito blankey

into a cape

TL

Up the Mountain

at first

school was

good

i remember it …

how it was

in pre-school

then kindergarten

1^st Grade

2^nd Grade

3^rd Grade

4^th Grade

5^th Grade

but around

6^th Grade

I noticed

a change

she had held a lot

in

but it would eventually

spill out …

at home

or in the car

or behind closed doors

she was being bullied

because of me

and she didn’t want to tell me

about it

‘cause she knew how much it’d hurt me

like it hurt her

even though she looked white

like her Daddy

the children

had seen me

their parents had seen me

and they all knew from a glance

that she was not just white

like her Daddy

that she was Asian, too

we were not prepared

for how that would

play out

I had even weighed the thought

of home-schooling her through the middle-school years

and when the bullying got really bad

in high school

I asked her several times if she wanted to switch schools

but she had worked so hard

academically

had been eyeing the Valedictorian spot

since grade-school

so she stayed

and kept climbing

despite the hate

and betrayal

‘til she made it happen …

her Valedictorian speech

was amazing

as was her full-ride scholarship

to college

where she is continuing

to crush it

in Chemical Engineering

already the recipient of two academic fellowships

she’ll head to Texas this summer

to intern at a highly competitive company

where she’ll get paid to do what she loves to do

so it won’t be work

and when she comes back in the Fall

she’ll continue tutoring college students

from various majors

who need help with their writing

from a peer who won’t judge them

for it

but will instead

encourage them

and believe in them

‘cause she knows

that Belief  

is where it all

begins …

TL

Easter ain’t Easter

without Granny

(and she’d agree)

TL

Papa

waiting on

food

stood there

staring off

and in the distance

i see this guy

making his way

down the long corridor

he looks like Papa

the Papa i remember

who was heavyset

and walked with a limp

he didn’t need no cane

no walker

no wheelchair

back then

he’d hobble along

just fine

like this guy does

i had the urge

to follow this guy

into the vision center

and tell him

how lucky he is

to be able to walk

such a long distance

without a cane

or a walker

or a wheelchair

to keep on going

no matter what

no matter the aches

and pains

and bad days

to keep hobbling along

‘cause he’s doing just fine

he might not think it now

but if he only knew

how hard it is

to get up from a recliner

steady yourself

and shuffle one foot

in front of the other

to get to the kitchen

… he’d get up

and hobble himself

everywhere

TL

(written Jan. 11, 2022)

Roses

the roses

were bleeding

think they still are

but it’s dark

back there

so i can’t be sure

i can hear the petals

crackle and crunch

like the leaves

like snow

like fire

like an echo

i pick ‘em up

and turn ‘em over

and they turn red

in my hands

and i’m standing there

looking down

at the abyss

as if i’m watching myself

from afar

i wake up weeping

the pain is as real as it was

that night

i feel my way through the dark

and turn on the light

it feels like

it just happened

but it didn’t …

that was 31 years ago

the last gift

i gave you

was red

TL

(Written March 1, 2024)

Blank Pages

she left

the keys

untouched

but the memory

of the music

plays on

she left

the paint

dry on the brush

but the feeling

hangs on the wall

she never

puts the plates

away

so they sit

empty

on the table

like the chairs

on the floor

TL

(written March 1, 2024)

Lake

the weeping water

is full of sorrow

on its wrinkled face

a bird drinks its tears

and flies off

a submerged fish

pops up its head

gasping for breath

then disappears

beneath the depth

of clouds

that drift in blue

pools

the summer rain

sets in

and the wind picks up

tossing the light

and shadows

TL

(written July 10, 2024, on the dock)