Thomas G
and he’s still
on the job
on a Wednesday
in 1983
not a Tuesday
2015
his men
have to be paid
they came in at 8:30
and left at 3:15
and he can’t get so and so
to understand
his men
have to be paid
on time
everything has to be
on time
he has a schedule
to keep
things work best
that way
tell so and so
his men
have to be paid
on time
TL
Watercolor
at first light
the stars fall
and rest on blades
winking like the sea
some cobblestone street
where shadows seep
like wet sand
and there’s always a bird
somewhere near
and some can’t sing
puffs of smoke
a stack, a stick, a saucer
people nicer
not quite awake
the dogs sniff
the cats stretch
somebody blows their nose
and spits
the water pours
and turns black
then brown
at the bottom
of a cup
you can still see the moon
in lingerie
if it rained the night before
the puddles will tell
and the pinecones will be drawn uptight
the spider can’t be found
her work a silver strand
the wind took
the building bare
an empty chair
switches on the wall
codes and passwords and logins
digits
seeds in the dirt
growing underneath
and somebody just
walked by
TL
The Necklace
wasn’t there
to shop fer her
“we need to focus on
a grad gift”
but she didn’t hear that
nope
stood right there
unfazed
staring into a glass box
“mama, i have to have it …
please, i’ll do anything …
and i won’t ask for anything else
for my birthday
if you just get me this now, that’s all
i want … PLEASE …”
this went on
and on
the lady at the counter
smiled sweetly
and says that everything is on SALE
today only
75% off
“can’t we just look at it …”
so the lady opens the case
and takes the necklace out of the box
and hands it over
the begging gets worse
and I can feel another gray hair popping out
we start going back and forth
and hand it back to the lady
“we need to focus on
a grad gift”
finally I find something
reasonable
and go to check out
“but mama …” trails behind me
“yeah, no”
“but you don’t understand …”
“yeah, no”
“i’ll pay you back when we get home”
she feels me folding
I ask why
“what is it about that necklace”
and all of a sudden she gets real quiet
and looks around to make sure nobody’s listening
so I bend down
and she whispers in my ear …
“it’s magic. i know it. It looks exactly like the medallion
on that show where the girl wears it, and it gives her special powers
so she can talk to animals.”
when we get home, it doesn’t work on
the dog, the cat, the bird, the rabbit, the hamster, the fish, the second fish
but what was interesting about it all
was how it worked on her
when we typed in: blue abalone
her eyes got “minion”
“i knew it! i knew it! i knew it had magic power in it!”
she never did pay me back
well, actually, maybe she did
TL
Cosmic Dust
how I wish
I had a room
big enough
with nothing in it
but a floor
a reflection
a pane
a reverberation
TL
Seaside
sitting there
watching the sun
come up
over the waves
those gentle, careless waves
that crash aggressive
against the shore
then slip back out
to sea
where the paper planes
come in for a landing
and drift away
I’m reminded
what that little girl said to the seagull
“someday, i’ll come back
and live here with you
in my stick house by the sea
and i won’t need much
… happy i’ll be”
this thought turns over
like a tumbling shell
and I feel like I could walk forever
but I know I have to turn around
and go back
not a little girl anymore
but my daughter is
and she’ll be waking up any minute
wondering where I am
as the ocean rakes over the sand
leaving not a trace
TL
Woods
to be able
to put your life
in perspective
is an opportunity
not met
by a hurried step
we live a thousand lives
in the end
the experience of emotion
is what molds us
and we take its form
its ever shifting, folding form
maybe Kipling said it best,
“If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
and treat those two impostors just the same …”
an observation of the very old and the very young
displays this adage
while one is in the process of continually letting go …
food falls off the spoon, scrape up another bite
the other is in the process of constantly attaining …
food falls off the high chair, stop and watch it fall
yet both are open to change
in a way that is harder for the middle minded
to obtain and process
clarity comes in those small, quiet moments
when the grass has long since grown
over the mound of dirt
and now needs maintenance
TL
Butterfly
when you don’t
think it could
get any better than this
any worse than that
it does
in the expanse
the shape and form and fit
there is dimension
an angle
a shard of light
when a door opens
a black box when it closes
where’s the window
cut a square
in your cardboard box
and wait
the sheers of the sun
will pool in
drape over the moon
and soften all the stars
‘tis a curious thing
metamorphosis
TL
Dear Dad,
she’ll be nine
tomorrow
and I think I’m in denial
I just
keep busy
with things to do
pretty soon I won’t be able to pick her up
any
more
when I tell her this
and I tell her this all the time
she just laughs and says I’d better start lifting heavier weights
yesterday, I walked into the kitchen
and she’d already put up the decorations on the cabinet doors
when I asked how she did it
‘cause I didn’t see a chair
she demonstrated by jumping up in the air with a fly swatter
she had smacked each giant pre-taped water drop to each cabinet with the fly swatter
she looked at me like I should have known that
I get that look a lot
since March, she’s been on this owning-her-own-gift-shop-kick
so, tomorrow she’s gonna sell her wares to the party people
she’s made pottery, necklaces, bracelets, bookmarks, flowers, Legos, a mess
her artwork is priceless
I’ve already bought two sketches and two bookmarks and a Lego record player
she made me sit still for a self-portrait yesterday and let me have it for free
I actually like it, minus the fat face
she’s awake now
so, ‘ya know what that means
yeah, I’ll tell her
TL
Brandon
and tonight
he’ll be done
with high school
no more bell ringing
No. 2 pencil breaking
A, B, C, D or E
all of the above
lockers slamming
soles squeaking
talking trash
and trucks
heavy on the pedal
music blaring
trying to get that girl’s
attention
good boy being bad
taming his curls with a cap
acting like he don’t care
Ruger knows better
and the puppy ain’t talking
that hot summer sun
sweat on the brow
working with his hands
enrolling at Southern Union
hoping welding does the trick
poof … he’s outta here
the young always wanna leave
fast as fall leaves
just so they can come back
different
and he will be different
it will never be as it is now
and it’s funny how
his whole life
he’ll be trying to get back
to this place … this feeling
no longer a little boy
not quite a man
but somewhere
in-between the trees
twigs in the dirt
branching out
limbs and leaves
a stick in the sand
becomes
only what it ever imagined
it could be
perhaps more …
shade for the weary
shelter for the sparrow
hooks for the spider to weave
leaves for the ladybug
a maze for the butterfly
bark for the squirrel to run up
and down
a cradle for the mother bird
a jungle gym for the little boy
with dirty feet
in need of a sturdy branch
for his sword
to slay the dragon
and save the maiden
so fair and true
TL
When Roses Grow
he crossed
time
to sit in a stadium seat
and watch his daughter
walk
he saved a spot
for her mother, too
he always does
and like church
there was a sermon
there was singing
there was ceremony
fellowship and flowers
and it didn’t matter
if the Auburn Creed
or The Star-Spangled Banner
or all those names written on the program
were words
he could not say or sing or read
he stood when they stood
he listened when they listened
he laughed when they laughed
he clapped when they clapped
he sat down when they sat down
and he puffed with pride
as any American parent would
on the day
his daughter graduated
from college
TL
Silver Lining
in a meadow
down
the trail is worn
dressed in prints
of four
of two
and mine were muddy
from the swamp
not as many
for the fall
appear then disappear
on the edge of barbwire
the other side of a rock wall
the bank of a creek
a rooted row
of ridges and rings
they climb for the cloud
that first taste of rain
wet on the lip
a soak in the sun
surrounded by blue
lost in the gust
hard against the moon
suspended there
in light
a cut of diamonds
in the dark
appear then disappear
in a meadow
down
TL
Determination
on a day
without a whisper of wind
to lift a leaf
or a breath of breeze
to fell a petal
she peeled back the plastic cover
unraveled the string
smiled at her wide-eyed “minion”
and took off running
yellow streamers chasing
“mama, mama, mama,
come quick … watch me,
watch me fly my kite!”
TL
Sam Hunt
just wanna say
what I can’t say
enough
been wearing it out
Montevallo
cranked up
forward – reverse
idling at the light
just away
takes me away
from things
‘ya can’t change
and all he wants to do
is go home
kicks off the covers
his feet dangle on the side
sits up
looking around
for his keys
his hat
his cane
and he’s looking at me
with why in his eyes
as they slide him back
to the middle
2:35 … 2:45
gotta go
wave him bye
walk down the hall
easily
3456 opens the door
rush past his window to my car
keys in hand
get in and shut the door
and take a breath
a tissue
and turn the key
and back it up
your song …
continues
where it left off
TL
Blue Bird
had a dream
last night
you got up
outta that bed
gripped the walker
and walked right on out
outta that room
down the hall
straight out the door
and it felt so real
like that talk
we had just yesterday
when you were back
from wherever ‘ya been
and it’s been so long
since we talked
like that
laughed like that
and I wanna tell ‘ya
how unfair I think it is
how I hate seeing you like this
how I wish I could help you
how unbelievably brave I think you are
how I won’t forget how you were before
before they doped you up like that
drugs that make ‘ya think your mind ain’t there
I know you’re still there
today, tomorrow
I know you’re still there
and when they move ‘ya tomorrow
outta rehab to long-term
I’ll know you’re still there
TL
Mavis and Gene
never saw
one
without the other
and even when
the aging process
did what it does
to the human mind
and body
it let the heart alone
let the soul go
on its way
back home
TL
Jeff
these days
your dad
is spending
his nights
away from home
in a room
not his own
and even
in the loss
the disarray
he searches
for an opening
down the winding path
for his cabin on the hill
where he was happy
to be
him and granny e
happy to be
warm in the sunlight
wrapped in the moonlight
at the end of the pier
the fish are biting
pulling on the lines
the grill’s bout ready
for the chicken
the sides are all done
ice in the cooler
sweet tea in the container
a lemon pie in the frig
homemade ice cream cranked
watermelon cut up and cold
crickets going crazy
can’t smell the gardenias
for the citronella
all the ashtrays are full
and every star is out
winking at the moon
the trolling motor
drawing near
and somebody just
pulled in and got out
the screen door bangs open
and shut
like the fireflies
that light it up
on the Fourth of July
TL
Minutes
was running
behind
and didn’t have
time
to stop and get out
and pick him up
and set him down
and I realized
on the way
back
in those minutes
that passed
that nobody had time
to stop and get out
and pick him up
and set him down
a turtle on the tracks
his small shell crushed
into …
“if not you,
then who”
TL
Rock Formation
“adapt, adjust
and overcome …”
sounds simple enough
right
the adapt and adjust part
is repetitive
all the way
and back around
and around
round the hemisphere
it’s the overcome part
that’s hard
to scrape off
given the layers and such
outer and inner
the membrane
not even a chisel
nor a torch
forget about butter
it is a process
that takes more time
than any of us have
on earth
it’s a wearing away
a weathering
of what we think
what we know
about ourselves
strips us and leaves us
at the core
of who we are
what we are
no more
no less
TL
Papa T
from the 7th floor
window
I can see …
the brick building
where Granny E went and died
he never wanted her there
wanted her home with him
but she needed more than he could give
and it feels like granny all over again
‘cept this time he’s not there
sitting in the corner
tapping his cane
telling her, “it’ll be all right …”
it’s been 12 days so far
he had his mind that first day
and we talked as if he were at home
sitting there at the table
feeding himself his supper
and the nurse came in and asked him
a bunch of questions
and she couldn’t type fast enough
the second day
the nurse asked him no questions
at all
yesterday he stopped eating
but maybe today
he’ll be hungry
TL
A Night at the Orchestra
even the dust
danced
there in the beam
lined in red velvet
encrusted in gold
as the lid lifted
the maestro turned the key
and kept winding it and winding it and winding it
tight as it’d go
and the music box played
all my favorite songs …
the rise and fall of Rome
the butterfly that lives but once
the hold of love so full you can feel it
the echo of centuries past
the wind ripping through the treetops
the fish leaping out of water
the spider leaving its quiet line
the rain drip dropping down
the swans gliding effortlessly
and all along the little bird
with its little song
sings not for applause
or ovation
but for the simple pleasure
of singing
TL