POETRY WORK

Oh, this poetry work
Every day
Reliving the pains and joys
Of brother / sister poets
Whipped from a cold wall
To warm waters
And back again

NOT YET DISCONNECTED

In remembrance of her birthday this year
I dialed Jackson 3 – 4147
For the 54th year
“You’ve reached a number that has been disconnected or is no longer in service”
Only partially true
While she is no longer in service
We are not yet disconnected

ENGRAVINGS

I noticed two engravings in my house today
A rubbed spot the size of a quarter
On the toilet flush handle

And almost a palm print
On the wall at the top of the stairs
Where I brace myself for the descent

I’m sure there are other unnoticed patterns
Habits of utility ordering my ways
Reflections of my life and predilections

Someday others will notice
They’ll then realize I was here for years
And years later, they’ll discover their engravings

And seeing the detritus of their lives
They will know in a fresh way
The comings and goings of all of us

Delayed

When your developmentally delayed child
Finally rolls over on his own
And the world cheers for the accomplishment
Then the parents weep
Knowing not all future hills will be climbed

No Victory At Sea

I first wept
As a boy, only 11
During the Pearl Harbor episode
Of the TV show Victory at Sea

I saw no victory
My young psyche was crushed
It wasn’t the evil I recognized
It was the pain and loss

More than 50 years later
I still weep about war
But now it’s not just the pain and loss
It’s also the evil

Hot Tears

I shed tears because I must
And so others see
My sorrow and sympathy

Pity those who do not cry
Who are not sure
They could survive
An ocean of hot tears

No Flower Named For Me

I live in a house with paintings on the wall
Poems in my heart and birds in the garden
I know the pleasure of friends and flowers

I eat regularly and well, knowing it won’t last forever
One day my name will only be found on a headstone
And no flower will be named for me

I Will Remain

Happiness and sorrow
Come when they want to
And leave when they please
But I remain

Happy is light weight
And cannot be captured
Sorrow is heavy
And cannot be avoided

Yet I will remain

Update

Sometimes ideas change gently
So gently
We are not alerted
And may forget
To update
What we think we know

Let Things Be

When I wake in the dark
And talk to the dead
And trouble myself
With fears and sadness
I search for the grace of living in the moment
Letting things just be

I Share the Sun and Moon

Sunny days and starry nights
Have lives of their own
And I have mine

Sun and Moon
I hold and share them both

I Will Not Turn Away

I’m starting to see
Faint edges of death’s net
Reeling in my life

The paint on my door
Has begun to peel
I’m more often being ignored

But I persist and love survives
I’m shaking off the sadness
Grasping for an abundant life

I will not turn away

What I Am Waiting For

I must remember
Life’s wheel
Will come around again

Wounds will heal
Leaving only faint scars

I will wait patiently
For love’s rain
To wash the edges
Of my scorched psyche

And I pray
That what I am waiting for
Is what I am longing for

Buried In Installments

The U.S. government is making
Our young men of flesh
Into a mountain of dust
The politicians
Are beating the drums
Of our hearts
For their war chants
And our youths
Are being buried in installments