Crystallize
the stream
becomes a square
frozen cubes
the button there
crushes squares
into pieces
a drift of snow
at the bottom
of a glass
set it down
somewhere
and forget
you left it
there
distracted by
the sun
no more squares
the pieces run
down the glass
like drops
against a windshield
waiting for the light
to turn
TL
Yes, Please
a peppermint
plant
is easy to grow
repels mosquitoes
and mashed up
will turn a cup
of hot water
green
TL
11 Past 10
she still
loves to run
in the pouring down
rain
she still
cries crocodile tears
if she forgot
to kiss daddy bye
she still
feels sad sorry
for the worm
the ant
the half-wing thing
she still
wants to pick-up every stray
cat and dog she sees
and take ‘em home with her
and have me take care of ‘em
she still
won’t eat
a tomato
less it’s pulverized into oblivion
she still
puts her pulled tooth
under her pillow
and goes to sleep
smiling like a Cheshire cat
she still
plays the piano
for the pure joy
of it
like painting
and dancing
and flipping
on the trampoline
she still
sleeps with Blue
from those crib days
and protects him like a mama bear her cub
she still
has to be first
down the stair
through the door
up the hill
down the street
around the corner
through the gate
she still
hits a golf ball
better than me
or the guy next to me
she still
can do a double round-house kick
over my head
without stretching first
she still
feels the day
and takes it in
like a song
like a sonnet
like a prayer
she still
asks tough questions
when there aren’t any
easy answers
she still
gets lost
in a story
but only if
it’s really good
then she’ll re-read it
five times
she still
has expectations
“Great Expectations”
of how life should be
she still
loves school
and learning
and understanding
and becoming
and being
and making good friends
she still
thinks the same
joke
told 100 times over
is as funny as
the first time
she said it
she still
wants to be BIG
but stay small
she still
has to have
the last word
the last piece
the last laugh
the last shhh
she still
wants to be held
(thank goodness for that)
she still
has a dream …
about a secret garden
and a Tudor-style mansion
and a cheetah as a pet
(why a cheetah)
and me as her maid
and finding a home for all those strays
and helping the helpless
be happy
and I have no doubt
she’ll make it happen
somehow
and it’ll be better
way better
than what she dreamed of
when she was jest
11 past 10
TL
Simple Pleasures
no other time
of year
than this
right here
right now
bald branches
grow back their hair
flowers every
where
tomato plants
grow stronger
by the day
to bear such weight
orchards their fruit
from the soil
good things grow
up
TL
An Adjustment
man, I loved
running
could go for miles
and miles
that feeling
how it felt like flying
I miss it bad
especially, in the springtime
driving along
watching runners run
and this morning
the urge was so strong
maybe it was the wind
had to hold myself back
and keep on walking
when all I wanted was
take off
and it woulda been wonderful
felt like a million
but by this time tomorrow
I’d be hurting
limping around
not able to walk
yeah, walking ain’t running
not even close
but it’s something
and sometimes
something’s better than nothing
still
I almost, almost took off
this morning
looking down at my feet
I felt ‘em lift
the sparks inside
crackling
TL
The Voice
gave her an opportunity
and she didn’t waste it
at 15, Brennley Brown
brought the house down
win or lose
she did what she was supposed to do
she pulled you in
and held you
there
in that pure place
where the right words
at the right time
sung the right way
make you stop
and listen
and pray …
“I went up to the mountain
because You asked me to
up over the clouds
to where the sky was blue
I could see all around me
everywhere
I could see all around me
everywhere
sometimes I feel like
I’ve never been nothing but tired
and I’ll be walking
til the day I expire
sometimes I lay down
no more can I do
but then I go on again
because You ask me to
some days I look down
afraid I will fall
and though the sun shines
I see nothing at all
then I hear Your sweet voice, oh
oh, come and then go, come and then go
Lord, telling me softly
You love me
so …”
(song written by Patty Griffin)
Day to Night
right now
the leaves are resting quiet
it’s 80-something-degrees
the sky’s a robin’s egg
everything’s in bloom
birds and butterflies and babies
people are outside
mowing their grass
walking down the street
biking and hiking
and driving with their windows rolled down
just a beautiful day
but come nightfall
the leaves will be whipping wild
it won’t be so warm
the sky won’t be blue
all the blooms blown away
people will be inside
flipping channels
watching the weather
Alabama’s in the red
that ain’t good
no school tomorrow
there’s tornado talk
and rumored hail the size of baseballs
lovely, jest lovely
finally got my greenhouse up and running
and now it’ll be spinning away to munchkin land
oy vey!
TL
Pollination
but for
a moment
the bumblebee
disappears
inside the ruffles
of a flower
TL
“Ace up the Sleeve”
we met
in his garden
I call it his garden
‘cause he knows each plant
by heart
he likes customers like me
‘cause I have to have them all
he opens his doors earlier than his 8 a.m. sign
‘cause he’s old-school
and when he asks if I need any help,
he actually means it
if it weren’t for his injured shoulder
he’d of gladly lifted and loaded my four bags of soil
instead he calls for someone else
in the meantime, I ask him how he hurt himself
and he tells me he fell
tripped over some cement bumper thing in a parking lot
and that was that
now, he’s hoping physical therapy will keep him outta surgery
he’s learned how to adapt and adjust
from cast to sling
there’s a sense that he can do this with most anything
before I go, I ask him if he can order certain plants
he says he can
and I ask him if he can order lily of the valley
he says he always carries that and to check back
in 2-3 weeks
a shipment should be here then
I can’t believe it
my first flower will be here in 2-3 weeks
just like that
he has no idea what this flower means to me
but I do
in 2-3 weeks
tiny white bells will ring
TL
Journey
in all the world
across the great ocean
the highest peak
the meadow between
there is the sky
with its orbs of light
revolving
the same as then
the same as now
the same as after
in ancient times
this present day
there are clouds
that shift
by day
and stars
that blink
by night
seek the sun rise
and set
feel the rain
each path is different
do not hurry
it goes by so fast
TL
In the Smallest Thing
Mia
the mini
hamster
died in her food
bowl
shortly after Papa’s fish
floated away
and now, there’s a white moth
an “Agreeable Tiger Moth”
found at the front door
and thought to be dead
by the wing
toted him in
and set him down
startled by his sudden movement
he wasn’t dead
but tired
from the night before
too weak to take off
he’s resting on my desk
amid two tomato leaves
and a drop of watermelon
he made it through the night
no, I don’t expect him to live
long
only in my memory
this moonlit moth
that landed at my door
and gave me pause
TL
Left Behind
in six lanes
of traffic
in the spring of the year
somebody’d lost
their pieces
along the side of the road
there was a shoe
it looked like a good shoe
there was a shirt
it looked white
or maybe it was blue
there were other things, too
but it all went by so fast
colors blurred
only that there were
things
scattered things
left on the side of the road
and it felt like rain
coming down
TL
Bridges
he believed
in the magic
of great love
and wrote about it
in such a way
that it resonated
in the heart of the reader
this notion that two ordinary people
coming from two different directions
one a world traveler and one who’d never been anywhere
could meet
on an ordinary day
in the middle of their lives
and experience an extraordinary love
beyond reasoning
beyond reality
beyond circumstance
“it all fades away”
(Robert James Waller, 77, March 10, 2017)
TL
Butterflies
from
the very
moment
of our infancy
we become
but a memory
of our former selves
there is no returning
to any state-of-being
in the original form
the mind remembers
the sights and sounds and smells
the taste and touch
it can be conjured up
but it cannot be re-lived
as it was
an old man can return to his boyhood bed
and lie down and go to sleep
but will wake up not as a boy
the body of the boy and the mind of the boy
is gone
but the feeling is still there
an old lady can go to her closet and pick out
the dress she wore
and put it back on
but when she stands in front of the mirror
the girl is gone
but the feeling is still there
once you leave a state-of-being
you become infinitely more
than you were
the whole of life
is connected
in transformation
TL
Drained
in the wee
hours of
the morning
your little blue
fish
floated away
TL
Springtime
in the quiet
stillness
spring grows
stronger
a prelude
to summer
and an ending
to winter
perhaps nowhere
does it seem
such
TL
as i am
when i was
a child
i disappeared
inside myself
and locked the door
it was a way to cope
with the uncontrollable
circumstances i found myself in
i felt like a prisoner
time forgot
and it didn’t matter where i went
or what i achieved
or what dreams i had
i couldn’t escape
even when i physically had
moved out and on
the inner child
was still stuck
in uncontrollable circumstances
beyond my control
my need for control in all things
is apparent
I crave simplicity
simple things like taking a walk
i took a lot of walks growing up
i felt at peace in nature
there was connection there
an unspoken truth
i knew no matter how dark the night
the sun would rise in the morning
i knew that daffodils would go away and come back again
like the monarchs
i knew the trees offered shade and strength
i knew the sun would kiss the water
and diamonds would appear
like stars in the sky
i knew the wind would fill me
the rain renew me
the sunlight sustain me
these were things i could count on
things that didn’t require
anything of me
for they were free
those were the gifts
He gave
to me
TL
Into the Night
the black sky
spit out the stars
and when they hit the ground
they shattered
into drops
that disappeared
into the dirt
years go by
24 years
and a forest appears
bringing birds
that sing
TL
Fields
she colors
the sun yellow
and brings down the ray
to the green grass
that moves like the leaves
in the weeping trees
fluid like clouds in blue water
I lie down
and pick a flower
and twirl it round
and watch a squirrel scurry up
down
where the birds are
the turtle takes its time
to get to the other side
the rabbit’s chewing a carrot
the cows are chewing grass
the horse is chewing hay
the ladybug’s chewing a leaf
a butterfly takes a dance
across the wind
the hummingbird checks in
there are shadows on the ground
mountains in the distance
a garden full of roses
red apples in the trees
purple grapes on the vine
a path that leads
to a cottage
the windows are yellow
like the daffodils by the door
that come back waving
each year
TL
Dollhouses
it never
occurred to me
why
I love dollhouses
so much
why a grown adult
would rather have a dollhouse
with a miniature family
and all its miniature pieces
over diamonds and gold
a dollhouse symbolizes
something constant
something secure
it’s a lovely, happy, peaceful place
to live
the orphan in me
loves the little family
that lives in the little house
with all its little things
the mom in the kitchen
the dad at the table
the baby in its crib
they’re all together
forever
TL