Ink in the Blood Posts

Squares

her hands

needed something

to fold

something to carry

something to put away

and in the rhythm of repetition

she returned to the woman she was

who remembered she had a husband

and boys and girls

who called her, “Mama”

and she could remember when her husband died

when her children left home

and she could remember the garden in the back

full of fruit and flowers

and how the roses blushed and burned

and she remembered that she was worn

slap to the bone

that soon she’d leave her children

for her husband

and when the last of it

was folded

and carried

and put away

she returned to the woman she was

who could not remember

her name

TL

Frames

she sat in a corner

like Little Jack Horner

bellowing out,

“EVERYTHING must go,

even the house!”

and this was her greeting

to young and to old

and smiled we did

as we sifted

all manner of ware

strewn here, strewn there

and down on a creaking knee

we bent to see

what walls would wear

long scenic shores

through Tuscan trees

off the white of France

mid fields of frozen flowers

carbons of Renoir, Monet

and again, she bellowed out,

“Take it all, $50 for the lot!”

but a museum we were not

and later she would say

how she could not stay

in a house too big

for a pair

and as we left her there

we heard her holler

to the next dollar

“EVERYTHING must go,

even the house!”

TL

Hereafter

dip of hand

leaves a swirl

of satin ribbon

that snakes across

a lake in morn

where ripples

even out

to edge

like wrinkles

from a made-up bed

and night is nigh

as warm you were

and waking

and stirred your cup

and drunk the dreg

and fore you left

you said

later and after

like there would be

later and after

but ribbons unravel

end to end

so, if you’re waiting

for a lull

in the lake

that is your life

don’t dally the day

twilling later and after

for nothing is more

than here

than now

TL

Jennifer Mejia

her little sister’s

on TV

and probably always

wanted to be

but not like this

not like that

and little starts out strong

like she taught her to be

but little gets lost

in that broken place

and you ache for her

the little girl

who’ll walk the world

without her sister’s hand in hers

and you ache for her

TL

Roberta Flack

3 a.m.

and you’re here

with me

and the moon

and I play your song

and it sounds the same

so it must be me

that’s changed

and I thought I knew you then

like I know you now

but time tells

otherwise

and you realize

too late

the mistakes

were not

“things we can’t untie”

TL

Dear Dad,

she just sneezed

down the hall

dust or dog or bunny or bird

and she was just here

a second ago

with her pirate patch

but blinked

five now

and too beautiful

for words

and has no idea

an inquisitive child

sensitive and serene and silly

there’s a look she can give

like she can see past it

all your flaws

and she tells you like it is

then does a little jig

and screams for ice cream

and a cone

but never eats the cone

just the cream

and she loves salmon

swimming in malt vinegar

and pours too much soy sauce

too much salt

 too much lemonade

 too much Mr. Bubble

and she’d rather the frosting over the cake

and when she finds a penny in the parking lot

she thinks she’s rich

and she is

TL

My Love

never said

but saw

that was all

TL

Left

and after all

that

no need

just want

aware to sit

too spent for else

or much

leave it

to the young

to that

to the puppies

to the kittens

to the calf

leave it

to that

leave it

to the leaves

let go

of the trees

leave it

to that

leave it

to the tables

to the chairs

to the silent stare

leave it

to that

leave it

to the glass

to the rim

to the cube

leave it

to that

leave it

to the gold

to the greedy

to the cold

leave it

to that

leave it

to the wind

to the dust

to the smoke

leave it

to that

leave it

to the word

to the syllable

to the verb

leave it

to that

leave it

to the sea

to the sand

to the weed

leave it

to that

leave it

to the mouse

to the cat

to the trap

leave it

to that

leave it

to the song

to the dance

to the second chance

leave it

to that

leave it

to the lies

to the truth

to the bye

leave it

to that

leave it

to the memory

to the mind

to the sublime

leave it

to that

leave it

to the wept

to the mirth

to the earth

leave it

to that

leave it

to the love

to the unloved

to the mud

leave it

to that

leave it

to the up

to the down

to the turn-around

leave it

to that

leave it

to the broken

to the whole

to the speck

leave it

to that

leave it

to the best

to the worst

to the first

leave it

to that

leave it

to the line

to the pins

to the cloth

leave it

to that

leave it

to the time

to the moment

to the beep

leave it

to that

leave it

to the quiet

to the loud

to the proud

leave it

to that

leave it

to the hit

to the miss

to the if

leave it

to that

leave it

to the travel

to the ticket

to the top

leave it

to that

leave it

to the can’t

to the won’t

to the could

leave it

to that

leave it

to the lone

to the crowd

to the rest

leave it

to that

leave it

to the trace

to the trail

to the tomb

leave it

to that

TL

Movie Magic

sitting there

in your body

still in your story

staring at a square

and the scenery

and the sound

and the emotion

carry you

off the couch

to the shores of someday

and the words

are the words you would say

to someone

if you spoke

and the song

is the song you would sing

to someone

if you sang

and the moment

is the moment you would give

to someone

if you gave

TL

Unreal

ad-apt

ad-just

ad-here

womb to world

knees, toes, soles

the first time you bleed

and the grass is green

and the dirt is brown

and the shadow of someone

disappears

and there are bones in a box

and it’s too much for the mind

what with days

and a million moons

weddings and babies and balloons

and there are forms to fill

and forms to file

and you’re in

and you’re out

and the occupation

turns to weather

which way the wind

and what hurts when

falls and breaks

cataracts and canes

and it sums the same

less it happens

out-of-order

 bones in a box

without length

and it’s too much

to contain

TL

Pine

underneath a Georgia pine

the cones are constant

and I find myself

searching that

all along

that even

in the toss about

and in the stillness

of the ground

the cones are constant

and I find myself

searching that

all along

TL

Oprah

if only

she had had

a daughter …

if only

she would

TL

Compass

this road

I’d never taken

has become

“The Beaten Path”

where leaves have left

tall trees

and rain has fell

from gray

and rays have followed days

opening a year

that on the first

well was …

the amputation

parents know

the limb of letting go

merely a warm-up

for the stretch

and there are plenty ahead

and plenty behind

and plenty who have

crossed that finish line

and winded there

they are

at a crossroads

“The Beaten Path”

behind

three roads

ahead

TL

Well Then

should you

have to ask

and ask again

and wonder

why and when

no not

a friend

TL

Bouquet

weeks of

no wind

not a hint

of sway

so it seemed

that day

tossed the mold away

and returned the plant

then long I’d sit

and see it

like a facing window

framed it

and when night fell

fast asleep

the gust

a distant hum

muffled in the mildew

of the mind

then the sun

shown the splattered paint

damage done

TL

In Limbo

her husband

had somewhere to be

her kids, too

so she’s standing there

fidgeting

can’t feel her feet

no one to follow

forgot how to lead

how to walk into a room

and it be enough

she used to dress up

for no particular reason

but pretty

pearls and perfume

heels and hose

lipstick and polish

but that was ago

now she hasn’t

the time

nor the inclination

or form to fit

or will to want

and it happened to her

on an ordinary day

much like today

when she wasn’t looking

like how her kids grew

her husband, too

how sixteen

handed her a senior discount

she didn’t ask for

how her teenage daughter

slammed out the door

how her husband ignored

and in the thicket

she gets a call

at 3 a.m.

her daddy’s dead

and her mama

hasn’t a clue

and it’s all she can do

to pray

and in the blur

she’s faced with it

like that photo somebody took

and made her look at

and the choice

is hers

get up or sit down

TL

Divine

cut Gardenia

to bottle

the scent

like Lilly

of the Valley

its fragrance

leaves none

to turn

decades down

the line

the power

of its beauty

subtle and sublime

lingers there

in the memory

of the mind

that first time

TL

Full Bloom

the bulb

glowed

by her door

chandelier of yellow shade

much too small to read by

but big enough to see the print

beyond the day

she buried it

no promises of bloom

or a season chair to sit

dark it lay beneath the bed

sleeping ever sound

not even her steps would rouse

nor the vibration of her voice

calling for him

and in the daily dish

and market fare

and Sunday sermons

who, what, where

the bulb but memory

distant as a child

grown and gone

and widowed there

she waited

not for promises of bloom

or a season chair to sit

late of day, long of night

her vase already full

by the door she stood

no sound she made

yet he heard her

calling for him

TL

Graduate

her in her

red footie pajamas

stomping around

Thing 1 and Thing 2

her with the hose

watering everything but the flowers

her in the shower watching the water

f

a

l

l

her with her laughter

her with her tears

her with her arms

and she’s holding me

too tight

not tight enough

and we’re crunching Doritos

sipping ginger ale

pretending we can fly

and she’s wild

and wonderful

and way too smart

to be hanging out with me

this little girl next door

who stayed in the country

waving me down

begging me not to move to town

and I thought about this

as she sat there

tables away

brink of 18

‘bout to walk

out into the world

and I’m waving her down

but she’s already gone

and grown up

her in her heels

cap and gown

TL

James Durbin

got busy

and too sure

of TiVo

but TiVo’s

a machine

that gobbled up

another show

so didn’t know

‘til this morn

pick didn’t make it

the screamer

who could sing

the rocker

who could croon

the guy

who could cry

didn’t make it

stead he got chewed

spit out

and left

but won’t

stay there long

his wife

won’t let him

neither his songs

all those songs

inside

gotta get out

gotta go somewhere

take them there

TL