My mother claimed, not a boast mind you, a claim, that I was independent before I was born. She may have also used the words ‘stubborn,’ ‘brat,’ or 'bold,' but mostly she referred to me as independent. Surely it was no surprise when at 21 I went west. It was always a surprise that I... Continue Reading →
blood moon red cavity in the sky a missing molar lunar dentistry children release teeth win fairy tale prizes, proud of the gap imagine that just dropping a limb a digit or a hip, a wrist, a twisted ankle and blooming a new one eclipse yourself become a shadow a hole in the western sky... Continue Reading →
This is the promised partner poem to "Glass in Our Tortillas." An old poem, that tells the story of food, friendship, and having daughters. Three Variations of Raspberry Jam for Julie Each afternoon we drank atole, Julie and I, in the shadows of the descending sun and laughed, at our lives, ourselves, at her intolerance... Continue Reading →
Rain.* The wet needles of it diving into my skin like a happy cactus my pores open one at a time for each prick wayfinding. Each nettle knocks the glass every headlight illuminated like a kaleidoscope of night highway line and sign even my brights won't distinguish the right way to stay far away from... Continue Reading →
I feel the day’s brevity like sleeves too short when I was fifteen and my wrists were exposed to Detroit’s dull December I pulled down the seams but they would not stretch any further nor would my gloves come up. I feel the day’s brevity and yawn like a bear thinking ‘it must be time’... Continue Reading →
What a day it was shopping with my daughter Riana, not for anything in particular, just spending time together. Talking, laughing, and talking more. But in the course of the day she shared magic words. Words that mothers and fathers wait for all of their parenting lives, and when they finally hear them, they think,... Continue Reading →
One kiss, I was down stories grow like cloudy dawn sun breaks through like truth via Daily Prompt: Faint image dead horse ranch state park by http://themartinsamericanadventure.com/?page_id=624
Nothing to Rely on but October Crisp wood in the shed like a story snipped from July secrets retold in tall columns seasoned logs waiting for slow death no sap or water, a simple bit of fragrance cedar or aspen, or loss, for kindling Left to weather the elements alone no more refined than any other... Continue Reading →
Yes is never alone in meaning yes No means yes Stop means yes Silence means yes Go away means yes I’m sorry means yes Not again means yes I’m afraid means yes Maybe later means yes Please don’t means yes I don’t want to means yes I’ll call the police means yes I have a... Continue Reading →
Skunked Sky as soft as a good night’s sleep pinks like pillows and dreams the ones you don’t need to remember. The air is absent and invisible no burn or chill, not a rustle no risk, just a river guarded by reeds and miles of possibility. The sun sets early here, slips behind the black... Continue Reading →
pocket poet 