Jim Askew
people knew him
round town
as the local pharmacist
a ready smile
a gentle ear
he had an old-fashion love for people
a genuine way about him
that set you at ease
and made you want to be better
he never wasted the world
85 years blinked by
in a child’s eye
the heart of a poet
lies here
TL
Rainforest
I’m swimming
in a blue sky
the clouds pull
through my hair
the water’s warm
from the sun
I tread to the mountain
after years at sea
the sting in my eyes
held my breath
and went under
kicking around
found a broken compass
at the bottom
relics in the sand
see the sunlight wavy
swim up
and break the surface
reach out and touch land
the mountain wasn’t a mountain
not a mound
but an island flat
and full of flowers
I live there for a while
to catch my breath
and breathe
scoop the stars up
in my hand
and skip them across the puddle
and watch them float
into the night
a shimmering path
calling to the butterflies
in Peru
to come and rest
here
for a while
TL
So Long As
of all
the movies
I’ve ever tried on
it’s Rocky
that fit
and felt right
i fell in love with it
as a kid
and kept going back to it
in my teens, 20s, 30s, 40s
of course, I have the whole series
on dvd
and whenever it comes on tv
I stop
and sit down
the storyline is rich in simplicity
but deep in humanity
the main character
is kind to the unkind
it’s what I look for in a person
he wasn’t just a fighter
on the street
trying to make it
he was a man struggling within himself
it was never about a belt
it was about belief
needing to know
for yourself
if you got it in ‘ya
if you can endure
all the hits
all the falls
all the breaks
and get back up
and not care what the critics say
so long as you know
you got it in ‘ya
“to go the distance”
then you can go back home
and live your life
and be at peace
with yourself
with others
TL
20 Years Today
when a man
and a woman
get married
they have no idea
what the future holds
falling in love
is easy
standing there
dressed up
saying, “I do”
is simple
living together
alone
is luxurious
sharing meals
and movies
and the day
is comforting
laughing and being silly
is natural
giving each other space
is essential
getting mad and getting over it
is necessary
taking each other for granted
is a given
understanding, being understood
is needed
hearing what’s not said
is important
being your own person
is intended
supporting each other’s dreams
is real
disappointment, regret
is tough
giving and receiving comfort
is human
knowing what’s worth it
and what ain’t
is key
making mistakes and owning them
is growth
putting the other first
is unselfish
creating a life of balance
is universal
learning something new
is sharing
wanting what’s best for the other
is friendship
believing in the other
is respect
not agreeing but agreeable
is compromise
finding the humor
is grounding
noticing the little things
is big
being grateful
is happiness
being in the moment
is living
being yourself
is freedom
being emotional
is a woman
being oblivious
is a man
being humble
is endearing
being real
is renewing
being quiet
is peaceful
being strong
is required
being happy
is within
being loved
is everything
TL
Proud
when she
was two
trying on words
and turning them over
on her tongue
she’d string them along
into a line
her memory a mile
and one day
I taught her how to say
The Pledge of Allegiance
and before I knew it
she was reciting it
word for word
so, yesterday
when she handed me
a tiny triangle
I felt that same sense
of amazement
at school, they had taught her
how to properly fold
the American Flag
and she was so proud to show me
what she had learned
in fifth grade
TL
Headlines & Highlights
Miranda’s on
the radio
with her vice
her ex’s on
the tv
with his voice
Trump is running
for president
against a woman
“Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead”
is hot on Netflix
a hurricane in Haiti
left nearly 1,000 dead
SEC football is back
like Tiger Woods
Brad and Angelina
are over
Kim K was robbed
in Paris
Tom Hanks
returns to the big screen
(thank you)
Britney and Justin
are still
making music
Bieber’s back on tour
and Taylor Swift
has pushed pause
but not for long
TL
Inlet
um
I jest
broke
my
f
a
v
o
r
i
t
e
cup
the old English
blue and white
one
that I found
off the Internet
about a year ago
and had to have
‘cause of its
faded blue
patina
that had me
at the castle
where the silent sailboats
drift on by
and now, I’m thinking why
didn’t I
drink from it
on the daily
instead of
jest gazing at it
from afar
now, I gotta go out
and find
some cement
to seal it
and hope my tea
don’t seep
into the sea
through the crack of Gibraltar
TL
Unequivocal
I’ve run out
of frames
for all the pictures
in my pocket
places I’ve been
people I’ve met
moments I’ve had
kept
the pictures fade
in time
the faces, all the places
run together
but the feeling
I felt
in the stills
is like a gift
I can open
whenever I want
wherever I am
however it is
at the last of it
when the eyes close
the body no more
there the picture
streaming like a river
in a golden frame
TL
Ladies Golf
one was
from Spain
one was
from Georgia
one was
from Columbia
and the one
from Alabama
was watching
Spain
and Georgia
and Columbia
lift a little ball
from the ground
up
to send it sailing
through the years
past all the practice
when Spain
and Georgia
and Columbia
were once 10, too
lifting a little ball
from the ground
up
like the one
from Alabama
TL
Unwritten
a certain
solution
can be dropped
into the soil
to turn
a pink hydrangea
blue
depending on the amount
and taking into account
the sun and rain
times two
the blue can be
a porcelain rose
a cloudless sky
a robin’s egg
a denim patch
a crayon scratch
a baby’s bonnet
a dress she wore
a ribbon in her hair
a shoe in a song
a book about
a bowl of blueberries
a bird in a tree
a note he never read
a note she never wrote
TL
Trees
leave it
in September
close the door
and let the wind
do what it does
don’t try to put the leaves
back on the trees
it never works
try to trust
in time
a new leaf
grows back
and then another
and another
and another
TL
After That
didn’t date
in high school
didn’t hang
with the wild kids
i stuck with the nerds
‘cause i was a nerd, too
seven years i cheered
made captain senior year
crowned prom queen
when it shoulda went to the blonde
went to college on a scholarship
for leadership
“was a good kid”
never drank or did drugs
or anything else
and I can still hear the car running
parked there under the moon
he told me he had a key to the place
that nobody was home
and we could go inside
and be alone
i had never been with anyone
and he knew that
knew that “i was a good kid”
i had loved him like a father
he was so good to me
believed in me
took time with me
taught me how to drive a truck
made me laugh like nobody
he’d hug me and hold my hand
and tell me how beautiful i was
but then he’d tell me other things
how bad his marriage was
how he wanted to leave
but couldn’t
i was always a good listener
even then
i felt like i owed him
so much
like kids from broken families do
so, when he told me he had a key to the place
and wanted us to go inside
i sat there in the passenger seat
and thought about it
i knew how much he loved me
but i couldn’t do it
i loved his wife, loved his kids
they were the perfect family
i respected that
a family is all i ever really wanted
so, i turned to him
and told him, “i’m sorry, but i can’t”
he nodded and told me he understood, that it was ok
and then he drove me home
and dropped me off
and drove away
i just stood there in my cheerleading uniform
staring up at the stars
feeling all alone
i knew i’d let him down
could see it in his eyes
we never spoke about it again
as if it never happened
but it did
‘cause i was never the same
after that
TL
“Pete’s Dragon”
a story
for anyone
who has ever
suffered
in such a way
TL
Repose
the lights
in the windows
seem to glow
warmer
from the street
you can imagine
what it’s like
inside
if there are flowers in a vase
candles on the table
a song to set the mood
white plates to see the food
and it’s raining outside
to make it that much better
inside
but you’ll need a reservation
for table number seven
way back in the corner
where nobody ever goes to sit
there aren’t any flowers there
no song
or candles or plates
just empty space
with a wall of glass
dusted in raindrops
to catch the light
the morning ray
the beams at night
and all the traffic lights
that stream on by
like diamonds on the drink
shimmering in the light
blinking in the sky
when it’s all dark outside
TL
Full Circle
my closet
is bigger
than the room
i grew up in
a room that
belonged to a boy
the other to his brother
it was never meant
for me
i always knew that
i remembered
a bigger room
with a hardwood floor
and it was upstairs
with a window
that overlooked the woods
and you could watch the snow fall
the leaves change color
and there was a pond nearby
that i’d skate on in the winter
it’s funny what you remember
what you can’t forget
a white two-story house
with a For Sale sign in the yard
getting on a plane
and leaving the only home i knew
looking for a house
in the Deep South
and she picked the one
near a family of four
a mom, a dad and two boys
none of us kids
knew what was happening
it happened so fast
one minute we’re moved into the house
next door
to the family of four
the next minute
they’re moving out
and we’re moving in
but the father stayed
a man i didn’t know
i already had a father, an adoptive father
he was up North selling the house
and then suddenly he was there
crying
i had never seen him cry before
but he was crying all the time
he went to court for custody
but lost
and one day, when i was 8, he sat me down
and told me he had to go away
and start his life all over
so, he left me
there
in a room
that was never meant
for me
and he never came back
but i never blamed him for that
‘cause i understood
he kept my pictures in a drawer
3 wallet-size laminated pictures
and when I saw those pictures in the drawer
after all those years
I knew he had never forgotten me
and when he died
I thought my life was over
I was so angry with God
hadn’t I done everything right
hadn’t I suffered enough
why would He take the one person
I loved the most
four years after he died
I got married
to a man my father would have loved
10 years after I married
we had a baby girl
had my father lived
I would have had a very different life
probably anchoring the news somewhere
in some big shot city
running here and there
ever searching for the life
I have right now
TL
This
The mind expands
As the heart bleeds out
This I know
A foot hesitates
Before it drops down
This I know
The rain
Is real
And you have to walk through it
Not around it
This I know
There are times
When it’s just too cold
To feel
What you’re feeling
This I know
The night can last
For all time
Like love, like hate
This I know
The body falls
The mind breaks
But the eyes are wide open
This I know
There is no solace
In the hour of loss
That un-ending hour
This I know
The falling of love
Is all there is …
Like the end of days
That pass through time
This I know
TL
Drifting
the symphony
that is the sea
would that I
lose myself
in thee
TL
Passengers
the things
that disappear
end up where
lids on boxes
are stacked
and shipped
and sent over seas
cargo, freight
loaded and unloaded
stamped: fragile
bubble wrapped
and taped twice
destination unknown
conveyer belt
drops the boxes
down
into the department
of shipping and handling
where all black boxes
go
to unload luggage
unnecessary at customs
the inspection is thorough
and complete
no weight
before departure
TL
A Slow Death
black bird
I see your shadow
on the ground
why would this day
be any different
for you
than any other day
the sky is blue
the wind in your wings
worms after the rain
all the trees are yours
but that’s how it is
you get used to things
as they are
like waking up
ready for bed
and you never hear it
coming
silent as snow
then it’s too late
to cry
or care
the sky so blue
how it felt to fly
when the world was yours
below a dot
just a black dot on cement
like a beetle in the dirt
that tried to crawl away
before it was crunched
into
TL
Coronation
did you
ever hear
a cardinal sing
with an opera chest
and a cone crown
and a red robe
and you forgot
the day
the week
the month
the year
neither dark
nor light
but gray
like the moor
in early morn
laced in silver threads
spun from spools
of spider legs
and the song
had something
knew
something you knew
before
else or any
when even if
the night was long
l o n e l y
you could close
your eyes
and count on it
shield yourself
from harm
within the breath
of dreams
beneath the bough
apart from season
or other things
that change
a child
like how she hears
a cardinal sing
TL