Smiles“Keep your face always toward the sunshine and shadows will fall behind you.” Walt Whitman I smile because frowning causes wrinkles.I smile because things can really be worse.I smile because I deserve happiness.I smile because the world is full of dark places I choose not…

Misty gold peers over the mountains The grass cold and glimmering with morning dew Small details so meaningful and fulfilling   Away from the city Away from all the pain Just me and my gold   Watching the sun float through the sky Dawn break…

Why do the snakes Keep creeping in my rooms Every rain, every monsoon? And why do I have to spend my life Sealing the gaps I did not make? Why does that window simply not fit Back into its own frame any more? Just –…

You’re emotional, he says. It’s all in your head. I’m a kind man, caring, sometimes even love you. But that 80 proof and 100 proof helps me cope, you know. Me da was that way. And sure my family understands. It’s how we all cope….

Hour 4 – Bop poem For Love’s sake   this echoing heart reaches into spaces where pain layers over so many pieces like fine dust in china cabinets we thought would protect our treasures from wear, weather, and weak fingers prone to drop the most…

For Shania Rey; Whom I miss so much.   Dating Going to prom Pickin’ out colleges Walking across the stage You didn’t do these This should have been your day too. the day to celebrate the beginning of your life like so many before you…

I became this person I wasn’t familiar with when I aligned my hips, I felt the breath float down my spine and I wanted out, out of the hold, the tight hamstrings, the pain in my lower back. I wanted it all out. I’m not…

24 poems “The Dinner Party”   Three Days Before   Prunes already in Vodkoi ‘soup’ and the beef is also soaking in a syrupy collage of ginger and spice before my feet need soaking   So, I will make the pie it will keep well…

I search for cleanliness through the clutter like a lost soul in the desert seeking a sip of water. Books, blankets, clothing, games, computers, dishes, puzzles, food, groceries, wrappers, laundry, mail. Clutter in every nook and cranny. I pray for cleanliness through the clutter.  …

I’ve moved down the street in and out of every empty house but no shadow would dare to plant a seed in me or pollute my sterile house of cards   each time you open your fertile mouth words feed swamps into a home for…