Follow me down

She followed me
into my room,

that shadow of
doubt, an evil

Peter Pan with
whom I wrestled

to lose. I did
not want this one

stitched to my foot,
an ankle weight

bringing me down.


PAD #26 -- follower

In bloom

The lavendar blooms on
the tree in my yard
know the secret of life.

They have fought, just
as we do, for their place
in the sun and grown
into their magnificence.

Before birth, in the cold
of winter, they wait, ready
to burst forth, with full
faith in themselves and
the world around them.


PAD #27 -- in the (blank) of (blank)

Please recycle

Dear you,

We were destined to meet this way.
Randomness is sometimes the vehicle of fate.
I was told to tell you that it will get better. I promise.

Until then, laugh louder, live harder,
and love softer. Give freely and be gentle with yourself.
You're as fragile as this glass bottle. But just as strong too.


PAD #20 -- message in a bottle

Think again

We shared a bed and
a life together.
But you had second thoughts.


PAD #21 - second thoughts

Wake

In the end
the trails of crumbs or
tears or what
ever it is
that we leave behind us is
really what matters



PAD #16 - big picture/shadorma

Bathing beauties

The faded photo
in Mother's hallway
reminds me of you.
Our bellies are full and
our cheeks are round
(we were unembarassed
by this back then) and we
laugh in the sun-filled
summer of youth.


PAD #16 - snapshot

Grandma swore

Grandma swore a whole lot.
Mom and Dad did not.
She smoked and cussed and
the Little Me feared her
fierce, loud love.

She would offer them a drink.
And the ice would clink
as she recanted the faces and
places she'd loved
so fearlessly.

PAD #15 - profile

In the mirror

It's so much simpler to
see ourselves in
others' eyes than our own.


PAD #15 - profile poem

In between

Between your legs
Between the sheets
Between you and
your girlboygod

PAD #14 - "ain't none of my business" poem

My Bonnie lies

I napped next to you
when I was young
and again when I was
grown, nestled next

to the withered woman
who once changed
my diapers and
chastized my bad

manners. Your breath
was soft and smooth
then. The years of
smoke had settled

into your cough but
not your dreams,
unlike the mask that
buried your frail face

when I slept next to
you one last time
and held your hand
as you slipped away.


~ to Grandma Bonnie

PAD #13 - remembering an old relationship