Category: Tamiko Lowery

Single Rose

With her walker

She made it

Down the ramp

Around the potted plant

To the chair

Across from me

 

“I used to shop in here

All day …

Now I have to

Take a little rest”

 

I smiled and told

Her a lie,

“I understand”

 

She said

she was 85

 

She told me

It’s been three years

Since her husband died of a stroke

 

he was 91

 

She said she tries

To get out

And not sit at home all day

That there’s only

So much TV she can take

 

She said her and her younger sister

Used to shop all day long

And have the best of times

 

Her sister’s dead now

 

She talked about her grown kids

How proud she is of her law-enforcement-son

How much she misses her daughter …

The one who died of a stroke at 43

“We were on the phone, and she said,

‘Mama, my face feels funny – can’t feel it.’ ”

 

Later

She showed me a cross on a chain

That she bought before she sat down

Made out of Mother of Pearl

“It reminded me of my mother.

She loved Mother of Pearl.”

 

When we parted ways

I felt

I had aged

TL

Circle

Somewhere

There’s no

Green grass

Or turn

Leaf tree

 

Somewhere

Nobody cares

What happens

In the world

Outside their

Door

 

Somewhere

She’s taking

Off her clothes

For cash

 

Somewhere

Somebody got

Shot

For gold

 

Somewhere

A kid

Becomes an

Addict

 

Somewhere

A child

Is taken

And never

Returned

 

Somewhere

People are hungry

For food

Others for their

Very soul

 

Somewhere

A woman

Is weeping

On the ground

 

Somewhere

A man

Is so miserable

He shoots at strangers

Then himself

 

Somewhere

A teenage girl

Gives birth

To a baby she’ll

Never know

 

Somewhere

A man

Can’t find work

To feed his family

Or his pride

 

Somewhere

A child

Is crying

In a corner

 

Somewhere

People are stuck

In circumstances

Beyond their control

 

Somewhere

Could be

Anywhere

 

And anywhere

Could be

Right here

TL

TIGER

Crowd goes wild

For the win

Cheers go round

From town to town

He’s a winner

S-C-O-R-E-CAT-S-C-O-R-E

Hear him ROAR!

Trophies galore

Ticket, Ticket,

Here’s my Ticket

Front row center

Click, Click, Click

Got to get a shot

Got to get a scribble

Got to get a shake

First in line

For the sign

What a day

What a year

What a gift

Read it, Watch it, Tape it

Bought the gear

As if he’s here

Time goes by

Bigger, Better, BEST

Pledge forever

Tail that STAR

Watch how far

Outshines ‘em all

World renown

 

then

               he’s

                                     down

 

Look around

Where’d they go

That faithful flock

That loved him so

They’ve gone

And left him

On the line

 

how dare he

disappoint my boy

 

how dare he

upset my ladies

 

how dare he

disgrace The Game

that perfect game

let’s go home

and lick our wounds

and forget how GREAT he was …

 

how GREAT he still is

TL

Friends

there are people

out there

who think

they have friends

 

they really do

but haven’t a clue

 

a friend is not

a perfect present

that you unwrap at whim

feeling fuzzy and fake

 

don’t make that mistake

 

for friendship

is not a layered cake

that you cut into

and take and take

and expect to

crown it with a candle

and sing a jolly jingle

 

what a wasted wish

 

being real

is no party

 

 it’s a 3 a.m. call

from jail

 

it’s a cut wrist

or a single shot

 

it’s the “worst-case scenario”

played out

 

it’s a mess

like oil in the ocean

 

it’s an arrow apology

that fell short of the board

 

it’s a drunk fist

a verbal assault

 

it’s the deepest disappointment

the saddest song

 

it’s a collision of wills

that never faults the driver

 

it’s a coward

that hides until it’s “all clear”

 

it’s a field of flowers

following the wind

 

it’s everything wrong

with the world

 

it’s a broken bottle

you stepped on

 

it’s static

on a dead line

 

it’s Hell

when it hurts

 

but the worst

is not feeling

 

so, remember my friend

keep the cake

forget the present

don’t waste the wish

 

be willing to die a little inside

or you’re already dead

TL

“Haves and Have Nots”

Would all your

Worldly possessions

Fit in folded fabric

Tied at the end

Of a stick

 

Would your feet

Meet the road

With a rubber sole

Or be branded

In the kiln of the sun

 

Would you carry

A jug of cool drink

And gulp it

Fast as a faucet

Or would you cry

Just to taste

The salt of a tear

 

Would you have

Any food

Enough for three squares

Or would you

Scratch and scrape

For a single berry

Way out of reach

 

Would you have

A friend

That would put you up

Or would you

Look for a bridge

To cover you

 

Would you have

Paper in the bank

Or a hole in your pocket

Where a penny fell

Like a gull in the Gulf

 

Would you have

Any family to call

Or would they be

Dead to you

Boxed one way

Or the other

 

Would you have

Any hope

Or would you not

Even know

What that is

TL

Happy in a Bottle

Clouds in the water

Soapy and clean

 

Nothing seems bad

As you breathe in the steam

 

Dollops of cream

Light as a breeze

 

Submerged in suds

A symphony of sound

 

When the cup gets cold

Let the kettle roll

 

Takes the chill off

For a spot

 

Then down the drain

The bitter brew

 

Back to the ground

And things to do

TL

Happy Father’s Day

Not all Dads

Are the same

The lucky ones

Get to come home

To their children

Each night

And kiss and hug ‘em tight

The sacrificing ones

Who are fighting far away

Carry a picture in their mind

Of the children they left behind

The I-wish-I-could-go-back-in-time-ones

Are sitting in a cell somewhere

Waiting for a buzzer to ring

To signal an open door

So they can walk

Down a row of windows

Until they find the faces

Of their children

Waiting there

The every-other-weekend-ones

Try to make the most of time

And give their children what they want

Instead of what they need

 

The step-dad-ones

Walk a fine line

To be firm but fair

With the children left

In their considerable care

The absentee-ones

Who never looked back

Who hardened their hearts

And lived for themselves

Have children out there

Who will carry the pain …

“Wasn’t I worth something to you”

The feel-sorry-for-ones

Have their children right there

In front of them

Yet walk on by without a word

No “I love you”

No “I’m proud of you”

No “I want us to spend some time together…”

The slow-footed-ones

Have nothing but time

So they don’t mind waiting awhile

For the phone to ring

Or the door to swing open

To greet grown children,

Grandchildren and all the Greats

 

The about-to-be-ones

Scared out of their minds

For the first time

They pace the floor

And hold their breath

“Will I be good enough …”

The letting-go-ones

Lay their babies

On a doorstep

And walk away

Hoping for a better life

For the children they’ll

Never know

 

 And the underground-ones

Live on

in the heartbeat of their children,

Grandchildren and great-grandchildren

May the memories be good ones

Until they meet again

TL

Rain Falls

Meant to call

And ask you out

To lunch

Sometime

 

Wouldn’t matter

Where we went

Not about the food

 

Just thought a lot of you

Could have talked

For miles

 

And even if

We didn’t say a thing

Would have been something

To sit beside you for awhile

Under a big blue sky

Watching the wind

Ruffle the feathers

Of a tall tree

 

But it’s too late

To call

You now

 

The flags will fly

At half a cup

From sun up

To sun down

 

And folks will come

From all around

To bid farewell

 

And I’ll be sitting

Somewhere

Under a big blue sky

Watching the wind

Ruffle the feathers

Of a tall tree

TL

 

Best Friends

She just

Wanted him in the water

She just did

 

But his four legs

Wouldn’t budge

He knew a bath well

And didn’t like the smell

 

She tried to tell him

It wasn’t about a bath

That all she wanted

Was a little company

In her plastic pool

 

But he wouldn’t have it

And sat down on the job

 

In a tug-of-war

They pulled and pleaded

No end in sight

 

After awhile

Grandparents gave in

And let her have her way

 

Proud as a princess she sat

On her plastic throne in her plastic pool

With her dog at her feet

Her hand tight around his harness

There was no getting away

 

As she began to pet him

He didn’t seem to mind being confined

As she began to talk sweet to him

He nudged closer to hear

As she leaned down and hugged his neck

He realized this water thing

Wasn’t so bad after all

In fact he rather enjoyed

Being loved by this wild child

 

And so he stayed in that plastic pool

Long after she left

Waiting for her

To come back

And love him

Once more

TL

Summer Days

Green again

After so much gray

 

Trees are showing off

Their leaves

 

Rose bushes are

All ablush

 

Something good

Is growing in the garden

 

Watermelons are grinning wide

As cannons of black seeds fly by

 

Tomatoes are turning toward the sun

Ripe before my eyes

 

Lift my cup up high

To catch some sudden rain

 

Underneath the shelter

Of an old Magnolia

 

Drink in the day

TL

Center

Happened upon
A wild waterfall

 

Running tiny

Through the forest

 

Sat for a spell

To hear it swim

 

Down the stream

My worry went

 

Like a yellow leaf

Sailing without a sound

TL

Waiting

Life is about waiting

 

Waiting for what …

 

                                Up

To grow

To grow

                                     Down

 

Waiting for …

The light to turn green

The water to turn hot

A moment to turn real

A small dream to turn big

The person you are, really, to turn up

 

Waiting for …

 

Your life to begin

Your life to end

 

And in-between all that

You’re waiting for wisdom

For a grain of sand

 

To understand yourself

To understand others

To understand why

 

Life is about waiting

 

To grow up

To grow old

To grow your soul

TL

 

American

Old Glory

Ever winking

In the wind

 

Colors kept

And carried on

From childhood

And beyond

 

Blood red

Pure white

Regal blue

 

To die

To protect

To pledge

 

So many have

So many will

 

That me and mine

And you and yours

And they and theirs

 

May rest tonight

In peaceful slumber

 

And get to do

The same

Tomorrow

TL

 

Down the Road

There’s a white-washed,

Wooden cross

On the side of the road

 

A marker of loss

Symbol of sorrow

 

After awhile it becomes

Part of the landscape

 

But not for the people

Who planted it there

 

For them

It will always be

A foreign flower

That was never meant

To bloom

On the side of the road

TL

Day Away

Some blue beyond

Without a drift

 

Or recollection

Of the wind

 

No drop of rain

Or ray of light

 

Always day

Always night

 

A pool of sky

Floating by

 

No need

No want

No care

 

Just there

 

Without a watch

Without a wrist

 

For time

Never ticks

 

There’s nowhere

To go

 

Nothing to be

 

No days, weeks, months or years

No spring, summer, fall or winter

 

No joy

Or pain

 

What remains

 

Did “I love you”

Count

 

Or was it just

Something to say

 

More than that …

Is where I’m at

TL

 

Forever

And then you’re dead

As if you were never there

At all

 

And all the stuff you had to have

Winds up in thrifty hands

 

That beloved book you read a thousand times

May never see the light of day

 

The small garden

Gone

 

If you have children

They go on

Without you

 

If you have a better half

They find another half

 

So when I hear, “Forever”

I just shake my head

And think …

 

Pictures change

“Forever” merely means

A frame

TL

Daddy’s Girl

What’s he to do

But stand

Where he’s stood

 

Waiting in the wings

Case she needs a hand

With the laces

 

Think she’s got it now

Watch her run

Back to him

 

The care

He took

Wasn’t lost

 

It swam with exotic fish

It hopped free

In a carpet-chewing field

It moved aside to let

An old dog by

It made room for

A new breed

It was tested

In the “absolutely not” cat

Kept

 

It was in the packet of seeds

Ever growing in the breeze

 

It was in the every day

Constant way

He loved her mother

 

It was in the no matter

what, when or where

He’d make it right

 

It was in the gentle nature

That needed no voice

To hear it

 

It was in the prayerful way

He went about the day

 

No it wasn’t lost

The care he took

 

For in her daddy’s eyes

She can see

All he ever wanted

Her to be

TL

Ago

Across the table

She looks

At the lady

Staring back

At her

In careful conversation

They talk about that dress

They saw and the shoes

They had to have

They laugh about the

Gum they stepped in

The time the washing machine

Flooded the floor

That Thanksgiving turkey

Burnt beyond crispy

As she studies the menu

She studies her

And wonders if she’s doing okay

As she turns the page

And taps the table

In a flurry of pink polish

She longs to hold her hand

10 fingers, 10 toes

What she wouldn’t give …

To sing her to sleep

Once more

And hear her breathe

Good dreams

To wake her up

With a morning kiss

And hear her say,

In that sleepy wonderful way,

“I love you,

Mommy”

As the waiter scribbles

Their leafy order

They toast

The day

Then take turns

To the powder room

Never knowing …

The mirror was the same

The tissue in the trash

Held twin tears

They return

To the table

And smile

TL

Decide

Maybe someday …

Isn’t that what people say

 

But then

They forget

They ever said that

 

Until they see

Someone else

Living their someday

 

And then they wonder

How they kept their day

When there were so many

In the way

 

Maybe one night

They tossed and turned

Had a nightmare

Saw themselves

Somewhere

One in a chair

One in a box

With their someday

Buried in breath

 

Maybe they woke up

In time

In tears

And decided

To turn that day into

Their someday

 

Nightmare’s no stranger

So why is it

That some succumb  

While others someday

TL

Life

Figured it out

 

Let me know

If you do

 

Cause I sure

Could use a clue

 

Sometimes

It seems

So clear

 

Beyond the blue

 

Like there are no

Graves of gray

 

But birthdays

Have a way

Of blowing out

The candles

On your cake

 

As you sit

There in the dark

Waiting for a slice

 

There is no frenzy

For the frosting

 

Forks replace

The fingers

 

On a small square

 

Mumble

How good it is

 

Let the joke

Be you

 

But when

The party’s over

 

And all is quiet

In the house

 

You roam from

room to room

 

Aimless as

A broken arrow

 

Until you find

Your bed

 

Sit on the side

And sigh

 

Another year

Gone by

TL