Nachtmusik

A nylon tent
can keep out
skunks and bears

can keep in
the warmth of
two intermingled bodies

let in the
smell of wet
pine and trap

the smell of
damp socks and
musty sleeping bags

but our flimsy
fabric walls cannot
keep out the

surrounding symphony of
crickets and creeks
that ring in

our ears as
we fall asleep
to at night


--
July PAD Day 5 - did you hear that?

Man on the moon

Does the man
on the moon
cry for us?

Does he hide
his phosphorescent face
behind stiff hands

and wonder why
he must always
light the way?

Does he face
our blue world
and lean away

wishing he could
hide from our
stiff smiles and

wandering eyes, wishing
man could see
his own light?


--

July PAD Day 4 - night lights over the lake

Greased up

Inspired by the first "summer" song that came to mind ... "Summer Lovin'" from Grease


The scent of sunscreen
always makes me think
of bikinis and boys

the salty sea air
and wet swimsuits
a lubricant for lust

as eyes scan the
sand for some sexy
smile full of promise

--

July PAD Day 3 - in the summertime (music)

A step in the right direction?

I am too young
to know that this
land is ancient
maybe even sacred
and that my footsteps
stir my ancestor's souls

beneath me

I am too blind
to see that this
river has wound its
way through the lives
of my mother's mother's mothers,
women and children
who lived off this land
and built this world

beneath me

I am too wise
not to understand that these
footsteps I'm making
are miles from
my ancestors' paths
and this land will crumble

beneath me


--

July PAD Day 2 - discovery / bop form

April PAD results ...

Super proud poem mom for a very short poem of mine (and when are they not short?), When Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, making the Top 10 list of this year's April PAD for Day 3.

It's my first time participating in a couple of years, so it's definitely an honor to make the cut ... again!

As Robert says:

The poets who’ve made those top 10 lists should be extremely happy with their work. I read through more than 21,000 comments and 5,600 pages of poems and encouragement. 

Only 300 of those made the top 10 lists–or less than 1.4%. In other words, around 1 poem for every 100 comments. That’s crazy!

To be named winner, of course, is barely one-tenth of one percent.

Pismo Beach

Inspired by summer family vacations spent in the sand dunes of Pismo Beach and Big Sur


We spent afternoons
rolling down mountains of sand
laughing as we

tumbled like logs,
all limbs and heavy trunks,
crashing our way

through the salty
air and the slow, thick
stick of vacation

flying through timelessness
ever-closer toward the cold embrace
of the Pacific

and the long
wet ride home


--
July PAD Day 1 - camping memory

Beauty crowds me ...

a lovely stranger pressing his
skin against mine
in the crowded
subway car at rush hour,
nudging me ever so slightly
during the curves
of my commute
as if to remind me
not to forget
he is there

--

Creative Bloomings prompt 160: Emily Dickinson

Refuse

Mom never thought
the house was clean enough.
Because it wasn't.

Dad collected newspapers
and paper scraps he might
need some day.

Piles of randomness
gathered in every corner of
every single room

waiting to be
sorted through or purged once
and for all.

She'd secretly thin
the stacks and toss the
abandoned items that

filled our garage
into the outside recycle bins
on trash day.

He'd rage when
he realized that things were
missing, even though

he couldn't tell
you what had disappeared or
how long ago.

Dad clung to
those scraps as if they
were long-held memories,

cherished moments stolen
right from his chubby hands,
clinging as tightly

as a child
holding their security blanket and
begging you to

let it go.



--

Poetic Bloomings Memoir Project: Part 3: Welcome Home

If I had a hammer ...

She was a fierce little girl
determined to tie her own shoes
and make her own way

"I can do it by myself,"
she'd declare, as if Mom and
Dad had nothing to offer

Stomping into the street in her
pink overalls, plastic hammer in hand,
ready to fix the world

--

Poetic Bloomings Memoir Project Part 2: Look what I did!

The last straw

Oh how I'd love to
save my teeth
from the cold clack of

ice cubes crashing against my
dental work. But
you took the last straw.


--

April PAD Day 25 - last straw