“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
Cup in Saucer
there is
a pond
of glass
the mist
figure eights
broken by the sip
of a stained lip
pressed into
the rim
of a heated kiss
in need
of cooling
TL
Letting Go
think my
window
‘s down
can’t close
to remember
‘til it rains
un-warn
and then
everything inside
gets good
and wet
and floats on out
the crack
in the ceiling
to a place
I never needed
after all
TL
A Moment in Time
first boat ride
was a canoe
and i sat there
in the middle
of the two
staring at the water lilies
fascinated by floating flowers
i couldn’t convey
that day
out there on the water
feeling connected to nature
thinking we’d always be
together
gliding along
like swans
only now do I understand
the depth
for the canoe is gone
and the two of ‘em
never got back in the boat
and the child
in the middle
got old
and hasn’t seen
a floating flower since
but still wants to …
still wants to get back
in the boat
and glide
TL
Lift Your Cup
don’t drink
the dark
the grinds
stir in the cream
the sugar
to balance out
the bitter
TL
When We Drive
took a detour
from the traffic
adjusted the seat
lifted the wheel
and she wasted no time
climbing over the console
to assume her throne
while I work the pedals
she works the wheel
and off we go
round and round
merry-go-round
and the bird gets outta the way
and the puddle
gets a hit
‘cause she don’t miss
and the butterfly
disappears right quick
and the rabbits know
to stay put
and the worms well
it’s tough being a worm
and she loves that song
turn it up!
singing along
laughing like hyenas
round and round
we go
nice and slow
“faster, mama,
can’t we go any faster!”
yeah, no
TL
Ripple Effect
the sound of the sea
calls to me
the gurgle of a stream
meets me
the vibration of a lake
draws me
the rolling of a river
charges me
the sheets of rain
follow me
the pockets of puddles
empty me
the spray of fountains
wish me
the ritual of a bath
centers me
the stretch of a pool
pushes me
the cascade of a waterfall
stills me
the trail of a tear
carries me
TL
Memories Maketh
do things
hold memories
or do you
put the memory
in a thing
a house has no memory
but the people in it – do
and when they leave
they take the memories with them
but the house has no memory
of them
and all the things
stored inside the house
have no memory
of ever being used
or packed
or stacked
or shelved
or buried
but the people
who keep these things – do
and when they leave
the things
they take the memories with them
but the things have no memory
of them
people tend to hoard memories
seemingly never satisfied
never enough
make a moment more
make it less
remake it
replace it
rewind it
revolve it
place it here
put it there
give it more light
less light
no, don’t touch it!
leave it there
but he’s gone
and he’s never coming back
but she’s gone
and she’s never coming back
but that’s all I have … left
of him
of her
of them
what about the memory
do you need that thing
to remember them by
if you lost it
would you not remember them anymore
yes, but …
I need it
I need to hold on
to it
so, don’t touch it!
leave it there
all right, ok, we’ll leave it there
we won’t touch it
but I’m going over here
I’ll be over here
if you need me
right here
if you need me
but I can’t see you
over the stack
yeah, but
you can hear me, right
do you hear me
yeah, I hear ‘ya
TL
Romance
cardboard castles
and stuffed dragons
distressed maidens
and distant knights
the drawbridge up
the drawbridge down
the torches lit
the feast abounds
her hand in his
they dance
without a hint
of longing
chivalrous and demure
a gloved hand
a terse nod
years go by
they dance again
ungloved
without a breath
between them
TL