Category: Tamiko Lowery

Alone

a cemetery

perhaps can be

a sanctuary

place without pretense

somewhere to go

and sit with stones

most of whom

you knew not

yet you knew them all

for they, too

lived and dreamed and lost

felt love in all its form

some died too young

others too old

some were already dead,

buried long ago

others newborn

names and dates

sometimes scripture

possibly a poem

plastic flowers picked up

by the wind

tokens tossed, taken in

and here and there

an empty spot

where the sun burns

and the rain soaks

and a bird flies over

and soles drift by

like swans on water

like a lullaby

TL

Cessna

took off

in a metal bird

left my body

on the ground

clouds were quiet

the sun was soft

saw myself

in a tiny toy car

stuck at the light

watched a stream of ants

go in and out the door

picked up a pool

and put it on my finger

glint of aquamarine

Lego houses

and broccoli trees

child’s laughter

left it there

with the sparrow

TL

Music Box

first it was

a plastic ballerina

whirl of white

spinning into the night

 

then it was red velvet

edged in antique gold

like a seat at the opera

longing for love

 

last it was silver

a cameo center

blue velvet

inside

the color of sky

a Switzerland sound

of a tinkling town

warmth of the hearth

frosted glass

full of flurries

TL

Last Time

was on my

way to work

about to turn in

and there’s this

black dog

in the midst

of Indy

got out

and walked him

up to his house

where the girl

who answered the knock

knew him

she hollered out

and a man appeared

and told me it wasn’t the first time

next morning

there’s the dog

got out

and dragged him

to the side

went back to the house

and as soon as the girl saw me

she cried

TL

Amen

what is it

to be human

to love and to hate

to think you don’t hate anything

or think you know how to love something

to sit in church on Sunday shaking hands

and then on Monday crushing petals underfoot

to tell someone you care about ‘em

and then leave ‘em to drown

and wonder why they don’t come around

to expect more than you’re capable of giving

wanting what you’ll never have

and never realizing what you do

casting judgment without cracking a case

figuring you never make mistakes

becoming everything you detest

and then it’s the holidays

and you gotta put on your face

and make like all is right

in the world

’cause that’s what humans do

they light candles

in the dark

’til the wick runs out

TL

Private Pain

he was smiling

whenever I saw him

as if nothing bad

had ever happened to him

and I was happy for him

then one day

he called me up

after reading

a story I’d written

about somebody

who had just died

on the roadway

after being hit by a car

and he asked me

if I’d talked to the driver

and then he was telling me

about himself

how he was that driver

once

years ago

and I could hear him

crying quietly

over the phone

and there was nothing

I could say

so I cried, too

through the years

he must have relived it

a thousand times

why’d it have to be me

she walked in front of

wasn’t his fault

and he knows it

but it doesn’t change a thing

a life is gone

and he goes on

but it’s clear

part of him is gone

the boy died that day

on a broken roadway

TL

Loss

Christmas before

he died

bought him a bunch of ties

neckties of varied stripe

enough for two weeks’ worth

didn’t have much money then

but was young enough not to care

so he’s sitting there in his red pajamas

with such surprise

held each one to his puffed up chest

and grinned like a little boy

who’d gotten the bike

there was the bottom of December

all of January, all of February

at the top of March

he was dead

his ties hanging

in the closet

where he left ‘em

TL

Crystal

saw it in the snow

this tiny town

I know

the sugar shaker

wasn’t stingy

with the sprinkles

pure confection

didn’t matter who you were

what you’ve done

or didn’t do

rich or poor

the branches glistened

the air alive

like Frosty

mug in hand

warmer than

it’s ever been

take a drive

and window watch

boys and girls

men and women

dogs and squirrels

and there’s a stillness

in the picture

a feeling of regret …

that time you yelled

or kept on going

when you should have

turned around

the “sorry” you never said

the understanding you never felt

the time you can’t get back

and then you’re back home

taking off your coat

and kicking off your shoes

and turning the thermostat

and getting something to eat

something to drink

saying, “what a beautiful day”

and even then

the sun is coming

for the snow

TL

Confetti

and the leaves

are falling

wrinkled

like the old do

and the young

are rushing about

as if

a magic pill

will be FDA approved

when it comes time to leave

and they’ll pop it

and go about their merry way

laying waste what’s left

somebody should have said something

somebody should have warned ‘em

maybe somebody did

but they were in a hurry

that day

and didn’t hear

TL

 

Time

yesterday

crept over a track

and looked to the left

far as the eye could see

and there in the distance

a deer

standing there

solitaire

middle of the railway

staring back at me

two of us

suspended

in a parallel path

an understanding

between us

same fate

TL

All the Way

never call in

except for

that one time

for Michael Grimm

the Mississippi boy

who ambled out

on stage

sat down

on a stool

guitar in hand

soul on his sleeve

man, oh man

took my breath away

yelled out to my love

“Hey, you gotta hear this guy play”

blew us away

and just like that

a star was born

soon as he sang

“You give your hand to me”

TL

Test

she appeared

with a little black dog

from a distance

she’d seemed so happy

must have been a mirage

for this was a sad soul

and told me so

the little black dog was new

the one she had before

had died not long ago

round about the time she lost her job

and found out she was sick with something

she said she didn’t know how much more she could take

“hard lessons,” she said

nodded my head and wished her better days

that her little black dog would help her get out of bed

and get her out the door and down the street

back on her feet

TL

 

Traffic

orange light

blinking right

and we’re all waiting

our turn

down the highway

some move painfully slow

while others act like

they’ve got somewhere to go

or maybe they’re running late

or running away

who knows

not too fast

not too slow

somewhere between

sightseers and tunnel vision

middle of the road

and your whole life

you’re trying to figure out

how to go

not too fast

not too slow

TL

Boca Raton

and we’re sitting there

just the two of us

with our ice cream

having walked

from shore to shore

for two scoops

and unaware of your stare

I had run out of cream

and was looking down

at the end of my cone

an empty shell

when suddenly

a spoonful appeared

and I looked up

and realized

you’d given me your last bite

and in the smallness of that moment

with so many years of marriage between us

I thought to myself

wow, you still love me

TL

Coffee Cup

the woman

both arms swinging

must have not felt

good today

but the guy

without his left

was swinging his right

still in the ring

and the old man

on the bench

must have given in

to his couch

and the girl at the register

hasn’t changed

“patience,” say to myself

get in the car

windows down

song rolled up

wind in my hair

home in 10

then back again

TL

Hallelujah

Cohen penned it

perfect on the page

and lived to hear the praise

 

but Buckley

ripped it real

 

then slipped to sleep

missing Christmas morning

 

the way he played

his voice surreal

 

guess it didn’t matter much

how people feel

 

he was singing for himself

and the rest just happened by

TL

 

And Sow

early risers

meet the sun

before it stirs

the cream

 

its effervescent glow

rising in the steam  

from sprinklers

banked below

 

through the dappled trees

it lingers in the leaves

 

then laser-like

it streams

its golden rays

through pane

casting shadows

down the lane

 

it catches on the vanes  

spinning stacks of hay

till the land is paved

with good intentions

and the rows are ready

for the reaping

TL

11^th of September

was at school

serving a ball

over a net

oblivious

when I heard

somebody say

New York

plane

towers

then it was

everywhere

and the ball dropped

and rolled away

and a feeling came over me

that day

that I’d never play

quite the way

I did before

oblivious

TL

Hourglass

don’t know why

it didn’t work

when it took a second

guess that’s the trouble

with first

don’t get it right

will it always be wrong

when the moment’s past

can the clock tick back

or is time a traitor

stuck on the eleventh hour

was it worth a turn-around

strangers walk on by

four years back

all those days without

wonder if it really

would have made a difference

now

at the last stroke

before midnight

TL

 

Train Tracks

he could not

go with her

not this time

she had to do this

a l o n e

so he stayed behind

and took care of things

all the things required of the living

and the world still turned

even if there were parts still flooded

and the seasons changed

giving way to the wind

the return of spring

fresh flowers in a ring

for life is for the living

dance and sing

no, love’s not free

wouldn’t want it to be

its ransom paid in full

at departure

and only the brave

would board

its train

a passenger

of the rain

TL