Category: Poetry

In the Realm

if you build

castle walls

don’t forget

the openings

to let in the light

and the air

TL

“Yellow Brick Road”

she throws

emeralds

in the air

and I spend

the rest of my life

in search

discovering new facets

in each one

I find

TL

In the Ring

when a fighter

is down

on the ground

all messed up

and bruised and bleeding

and the crowd is roaring

and the cameras are flashing

and the bright lights are blinding

and they’ve already wrote the headline

none of it matters

the fighter hears nothing

the fighter sees nothing

the fighter thinks nothing

there is nothing

no past

no future

only a pulse

the breath

rhythm and repetition

conscious and unconscious

like being underwater

the fighter becomes water

fluid

like a drop of rain

in the river

that cascades over the waterfall

and crashes down

into the deep

in total emersion

the energy dispersed

it evens out

in all directions

of space and time

there is no battle

to be

the fighter becomes

one

TL

On the Road to Where

in the great

classroom of life

we are all teachers

for we are all students

first

you do not have to have a college degree

to be a teacher

in the great

classroom of life

but you do have to be a student

always

and what you teach others

does not necessarily take semesters or quarters

or lifetimes to learn

a gesture takes but a moment

an extraordinary moment

in an ordinary day

is happening

right now

to each student

all around the world

in all stages of life

beginning or ending

we learn something new

something we didn’t know

until we lived it

‘til we felt it

the lessons are all different

and come in all forms

shapes and sizes

but no matter the form

the shape or the size

the lessons are connected

somehow

there are hard ones

and easy ones

there are painful ones

and joyful ones

there are surface ones

and deeper ones

there are strong ones

and weak ones

each person you meet

each experience you go through

teaches you something

you didn’t know

that you needed to know

from the moment of our birth

to the moment of our death

there is something

always something

more to learn

more to teach

more to understand

TL

Baby Steps

there’s a broken

turtle shell

on my desk

the insides got

destroyed

after somebody ran it

over

and kept on going

as if nothing

horrible

had just happened

to it

TL

On Repeat

some songs

are pure poetry

put to music

like That

Lucky Old Sun

composed by John Beasley Smith

and written by Haven Gillespie

in 1949

and in 2008

Kenny Chesney

and Willie Nelson

came along

with their mastery of music

and made it their own

yeah, I could listen to it

for the rest of my days

TL

The Past

When I left

I shut the door

Behind me

And went back

With bolts and locks

Three times

Just to be sure

And went back

With planks of plywood

Just to be sure

And went back

With sheets of drywall

Just to be sure

And went back

With a cement truck

Just to be sure

‘til I was satisfied

And sure

That nothing could ever

Or would ever

Get back

Through

That door

And winters went by

Summers and springs

And falls

And you wake up

One day

And realize

The only way

To shut that door

Behind you

Is to walk back

Through it

Barefoot

TL

Shade

inside

every woman

is still

a little girl

sitting in the summer

sand

crying out to the ocean

for someone to please

come along

and pick her up

and tote her

to a giant umbrella

TL

For My Daughter

on the eve

of summer

the 13^th year

at a morning

stoplight

saw a small

parachute tree

upright

its leaves fresh

green

one day

it’ll take off

without a sound

to where the rain falls

before it hits

the ground

and I wonder if

it will remember

the smell of grass

in the spring

what it felt like

all those wings

fluttering

ladybugs and fireflies and butterflies

how they just appeared

then disappeared

like a hummingbird

at the window

that wouldn’t wait

for a picture

TL

The Masters 2019

woke up

this morning

and rolled out of bed

and walked to the kitchen counter

and picked up a permanent marker

and wrote on a sticky note:

Tiger Woods

5^th Masters Win!

TL

Dear Dad,

i was standing

in the kitchen

just a minute ago

putting dishes away

and the thought of you

drops out of my eyes

it’s been 26 years

why does it still hurt

i say out loud

as if you were there

in the kitchen

with me

and silently i answer

‘cause out of all the worsts

it was the worst thing

i’ve been on edge

lately

i get this way

around this time

of year

you know

i wish i could go sit in the sand

and stare out into the ocean

there’s something about the sea

that’s soothing

like all the tears are in one place

shimmering in the sun

and pathless by the moon

i roll away

TL

Sand Castle

what of love

hard to know

when i was young, i knew

but time is tricky

and reveals a fool

who knew not

of love at all

for fairy tales are foolish

where is the happy in an ending

magic dust

turns to sand

castles at the bottom of the sea

still I build

knowing what I know

for love is

a fortress

for however long

and I will live there

water and all

TL