I write poetry because of the way autumn light deepens the blush of crimson on maples Because even cherries have pits I write because a poem is an expression I can hold onto and let go of simultaneously Because what is right might also be left I write poetry because I’m thirsty to make sense … More Because I Breathe
Bonnie is practicing her scales in the living room when I get up so I wander into the kitchen where Miss Irene, her mother, is making breakfast for us. Bonnie follows me. “Mom, do I have to practice this morning? LuAnne will be bored.” Miss Irene doesn’t even answer, just waves her back to the … More Promise of French Toast
After Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Morning’s light peeks through a bank of mountainous clouds that soften toward a layer of steel-blue horizon where sea and sky blend toward the shore This dawn does not arrive in thunder like waves that crash upon the sand; it tiptoes in beneath soft veils to tangerine cloud edges A distant … More Birth Day at a Mexican Beach
Rain splashes on the metal roof, the windshield and the hood The windshield wipers whoosh, whoosh yet clear the glass but for a breath Inside the car by Daddy’s side I feel safe within our bubble Rain can dance its nighttime jig beneath the wipers’ steady beat The tunnel comes, the music stops, just headlights … More Rainsong
A waning moon must become empty of reflective light to move again toward fullness A bowl is useful when it’s empty; how can a bowl that’s filled to brim receive more to hold? A clear blue sky is noticed most when birds take flight upon the wind leaving no wing-prints in the air What’s not … More Presence of Absence
after Chelan Harkin and Maria Popova Give yourself permission to dip your good pen into the inkwell of passion The good pen can translate God’s laughter or change stories of unresolved heartache as it splatters over the possible The good pen can howl at midnight to illuminate dark sorrows and let them bleed onto the … More The Good Pen
I hear them before I see them little black birds chattering they ascend into an ancient oak arriving all at once They hop among the branches but stay on the same tree making plans or sharing gossip on the cusp of their migration Travel well, dear little birds may your songs go with you as … More Songs on the Wind
Trees shadow grass littered with dry leaves dry not because of draught, but by thunderstorm energy knocking limbs from home to ground. Tree trunks are branchless till they reach beyond roofs of houses some three stories high. One limb has fallen from such a height it is hard to determine which home it had broken … More Broken Homes
Listen Can you hear the changes in leaves, in wind as the autumnal equinox draws near? Watch Autumn rain stirs the apple leaves, each one a small mackintosh for ripening fruit Notice How temperature and rainfall act as guides to usher the plants into a quiet tilting toward balance Rejoice Gilded, blushed leaves gather to … More Threshold of Autumn
after Alanis Morissette I shuffle, but I get there I forget, but still have memories I gaze out the window, but things get done, yeah My sight is fuzzy, so I see with my heart My joints protest, but I still play bongos I’ve been many people, but I’m at peace with them now What … More Ripened, Not Rotten
