Author: Tamiko Lowery

Consumed

in the degrees

of a storm

the wind

is an untamed thing

laying waste a forest

exposing roots to air

the slash of rain

fencing

nobody claps

but thunder

electricity in the sky

a second of connection

sparks fly

walk through fire

looking for the door

but you can’t get out

engulfed

you crawl to a window

and break the glass

so you can breathe

somebody tells you you’re bleeding

and you look down

and see it’s true

a burned up body

feels no cut

stitch

the bandage blue

you walk the forest

at night

watching the sun

through a window

the trees in ray

a bird flies in

sits there

on a limb

and takes off

TL

The Lines

stretched along

the side

towering like trees

glistening in the morning sun

dripping like spider webs

in the rain

these lines

carry connection

from one end

to the other

the dial

the punch

the press

the ringing

the hello

the “how ‘ya been …”

the hang up

the silence

the busy

the static

the hold

the wait

the call back

the forgot

the pick up

the ignore

the message

left

the tone

the truth

the trying

“he died last night”

“she took her own life”

what now

“the wedding’s when”

“ok, we’ll be there then”

the honeymoon

is over

“congratulations, it’s a boy!”

he’s getting older

“did you hear about that”

“yeah, it was so sad”

that’s life though

ain’t it

complex in the cruel

wonderful in the weary

sweet in the bitter

careful in the crazy

beautiful in the not

tragic in the torture

dead in the life

sheets in the sadness

singing in the dancing

empty stages

nobody came

the plate’s still full

left the drink

chilled

who’s gonna clean the kitchen

mow the grass

mail the letter

make sure it gets there

in time

does it need a signature

do you have a pen

you always have a pen

yeah, but

it won’t

here, use mine

thank you … I love how it writes

no, you keep it

TL

Underneath

hey …

‘ya busy

I know but

take a walk

with me

won’t take long

wanna show ‘ya

something

grab a coat

it’s windy

here’s your hat

might rain

you can drive

turn here

and park

we gotta cross

that street

and walk down

that path

yeah, I knew you’d like it

the leaves have a certain

edge

and the bark has a fresh

shave

and it has a story

behind it

and I know how ‘ya love

a good story

TL

The Bed

they put

a stake

in the ground

where your bo

dy

will be

lower

ed

tomorrow

morn

before supper

and goodnight

at the headboard

on your side

next to

her

muddy

and

mowed

the rain

will turn it

green

before long

a matching cover

to hide

the hole

TL

Raindrops

a moment

of silence

is like a drop

that falls

to earth

and finds

the flower

bowed

TL

Beholder

photos

on the floor

bound in books

with hard covers

pages in the middle

like dried petals

like insect shells

lie formless

in the sand

only in

a stranger’s

hands

TL

Fall

the shed of leaves

leap and spin

and fill the air

in prima form

the memory of

attachment

this little leaf

on the ground

that once was waving

from on high

TL

Cuts Both Ways

never did she

factor this

only saw the steps

away …

no presence did

she feel

as if nobody

hurt but her

and there were times

aplenty

that should have

made it plain

how different

we would see

the same

and maybe I’m

to blame

but some things remain

… unchanged

those things

that change us all

in a matter of a second

a minute more

regardless of when

questioned my resolve

so distance called

a way to bear

the inevitable

loss for loss

the scale

which weighs less

a shield

                                                            or a sword

TL

“Be Still …”

it was

a night

when the lights

went out

and we sat there seven

in the dark

without our faces

on

and talked

and didn’t talk

and time did what time does

right there

in that brick box

we sat in

where the collection

of things

are kept

under lock and key

and in the pitch

we could not see

any of it

and we could breathe

a baby’s breath

a sigh of bliss

for all we miss

and I reach for this

when the lights go out

TL

Back Again

the plane

flew low

in this

small town

I know

where the

mall

was small

when i was

and they called it

Village

for years

and years

and years

then somebody

had a bright idea

to call it

Colonial …

and I forget the rest

but it never

took

so they changed it

back to

Village

but it didn’t stick

so they came up with …

Auburn

as in the university

and now

it’s big and bright

catalog stripes

but still

no books

like it used to be

across from toys

next to Sears

gone is Sears

got the toys back

and took the Dollar out

but left the books

to Millions and Hastings

maybe they jest

haven’t gotten around

to restoring

lost and found

in The Village

TL

“Across the Border”

if you’re looking

you won’t find her

there

turn around

and go

the other way

and when the road

runs out

into the sea

you won’t need

a sign

a compass

or a key

end of strands

will tell

which way

she went

TL

Truth

if you stop

loving her

tell her

don’t sell her

if you stop

loving him

tell him

don’t sell him

it’s what

I would have

said to you

but you told me

too late

or too early

or too much

and it tarnished

the truth

of what

I thought

of you

from public

positions

to church and state

to friends

and family

this blind belief

couldn’t be

not him, not her

and the cynic says,

yes, oh yes, it can be

“it is what it is”

TL

Cracked

there were

three blue shells

that made it

on the way down

but didn’t make it

on the way up

and the mother bird

was a speck of pepper

on the cloud

TL

The Soul

in the

center

of your being

there is

something

of long ago

a place you’ve been

where you were

then

a butterfly’s wing

all of it

in a day

every moment

that was

that could be

that can be

that won’t be

that may be

and the eyes

don’t change

when everything else

and I saw you

as I see you

we are the same

TL

Sight Unseen

a petal

before it falls

a raindrop

before it catches

a dandelion

before it scatters

a snowflake

before it hits

a leaf

before it lifts

a sky

before it clouds

a morning

before it mists

a shadow

before it drips

TL

Life and Death

for some

reason

beyond reasoning

I had this idea

this unspoken idea

that I carried around

through grade school

through high school

through that Freshman year

that somehow

he held all the answers

that if I could just sit down

with him

face-to-face

with my questions

I’d be all right

I’d be able to go on with my life

move past it

like a force

a gravitational force

pulling at me

across the map

into one frame

and I remember feeling

so clear about it

like it wasn’t a choice

I had to go

I didn’t have to come back

but I had to go

I had to know

I had to ask

I had to try

to get something back

that had been taken from me

but he died

at the end of the day

before I could

ask

or try

I got to know

though

accepting this

would take two decades

marriage and motherhood

to understand

I am

the way I am

TL

Salt

maybe if

I didn’t know

maybe I could get

some sleep

and dream again

of something

soft

deeply down

not a surface scratch

of daylight dozing

a zombie stare

into the middle of nowhere

I see my peers there

in pretense

they, too, are disappointed

for Christmas lasts

but a day

when you first believed

there wasn’t a receipt

time I believe

time is what I know

to be true

maybe the only truth

you have this time

this time given to you

in a glass bottle

handspun

and you take it

and chunk it

into the bluest sea

and hope for the best

as you step bare

across all that sand

there

spilt into a glassy sea

that shimmers

and looms at night

now, they sit

at traffic lights

moving in mechanic waves

across a dark abyss

where the moon moans

and grapples with gravity

retreat

and return

TL

The Hours

we live

a long distance

a short turn

a middle mile

and the history books tell

the stories

of how people were

the times they lived in

died in

what they faced

what they had to overcome

war and famine

persecution and property

the selling of someone

the judgment of belief

or disbelief

the taking of a life

were it not your own

men

women

and children

too much to atone

there is no present

the past has not provided

“a small world …

after all”

TL

Tiger Woods

champions

are

a different breed

you never

rule out

a champion

ever

TL

Forward

remember when

walking backwards

was something new

and you showed it off

to blue

but he already knew

was way ahead of you

now his back’s against the wall

and he won’t move

TL