Birds and bees

He bumbled and buzzed
staggering across the bar
toward the woman
with feathers
in her hair
who

flitted and flirted
from one end of the room
to the other with such
staggering grace
he could not
resist


---

November PAD Day 28 - bird

Black Friday

Hallmark cards can't express how
much I loathe
Black Friday super mega sales


---

November PAD Day 29 - commercial

Sunsets

You rode into the sunset
disappearing behind a
horizon of your own making

I the steadfast sun and
you the earth
turning ever away from love



---

November PAD Day 30 - disappearing

Free at last

I had a dream
that one day
we would hear
church bells
clanging
like the love
in our chests

that we would
no longer
walk alone
but be an oasis
beckoning
each other
across the desert

--


November PAD Day 26 - free (blank) or (blank) free

Eclipsed

You eclipsed my view of the stars
when I put you on that pedestal,

leeched on like a remora to a
wretched, self-immolating man 

lost in the sun.

--

November PAD Day 22 - use three: ideogram, remora, casket, eclipse, selfie, wretch

S.O.S.

I never sent
the letters I wrote you
turns out that

the scribbled words
were really more for me
than for you


--

November PAD Day 21 - secret message

Baby

How do I
hold on to one who's
outgrown my embrace?

How do I
embrace letting go of the
grown man before me?

--
November PAD Day 19 - love or anti-love

Always a bridle

Hold your tongue
and stay the steady course
for the win

Don't dream of
letting go of the reins
to run free

--

November PAD Day 20 - Always (blank)

Alchemy

Sparks may fly
but I cannot turn leaden
heart to love


---
November PAD Day 17 - element

Maybe

Maybe
we would
be laughing now
rolling on the floor
like the children we are

Maybe
we would
be holding each
other's hands as we
journeyed into old age together

Maybe
we would
be bouncing babies
on our arthritic knees
remember our own little ones

Maybe
you could
forget the words
that drove you away
and remember this life instead

--

November PAD Day 18 - forget what I said earlier