How do I honor The dark eyes staring back in the mirror? She gave me those eyes Painted the shade with the blood Of her ancestors Yet her story fades like tear stained words lifted from the page. She was considered curious for her unconventional…

A beach where we can grow old Not retirement, just returning to dust In the beginning The children play tag Hide and seek Captured youth In freeze frame Vultures, snakes, and fish No creatures can survive The rock’s accelerated lifecycle The dog dies and Even…

Why I Became a Poet   The paper mache puppet I made for 5th grade art class received a C-minus.   I shredded multiple sheets of newspaper, then made paste from flour and tap water.   I loved dogs, and mine looked friendly, though misshapen….

I have sat so long at this broke piano my fingers are numb, my body hollow. Void of all meaning, without any words, Once strong emotions now cease to serge. Yet my autumn song is crisp and clear, even though it doesn’t sound in any…

Darling, I didn’t collapse the Silver Bridge though I did try to collapse the walls around your heart I chased your car that night because I was trying to ask for your phone number but in retrospect I’m sure all you heard through the window…

Alive Too Long   A century, give or take a few, have come and gone I can’t believe we’ve lived this long.   Another century, give or take a few, is yet to come I sure hope I am gone, ‘cause I don’t want to…

Freedom ain’t never been a land you see Where we landed the sea Barely sown or reaped Never handed down cheap Blood soaked and creeped Mr Hughes show warned us That place was never the place it seemed Selling and crushing dreams Even from its…

Skipping through the flowers sipping at the blooms darting who knows where they stop to say hello with wings snapping in the air I try to capture them mid flight wings spread bursting with shiny color My camera is ready but they are a blur…

years and years later, a neon lit cheerful looking museum enshrines,  memories- silver and black faded  photos of human faces; preserved in their emotional intensity. a careful study for all to  observe and consume. purple flowing rivers, black dahlias blooming in crystals, simulated fifth dimensional…

IV. Dreaming in birdsong dreaming in birdsong to learn the tune Did the birds teach us to sing around ancient fires –   our first grounded gutural utterances – elevated.