Headline Poem 10/31/14 -- A lover's tale

A lover's tale

Maybe there's a world that's as flat as my hand where ghosts come to find the sweetest of lands,

fish for treasures among the bears who hibernate through the winter without a care. 

I'll sleep like them but when I wake I expect a buffet 

and for you to take 

the golden rod

of spectacles 

and open

the eyes 

of all

you meet

in order to

do good

and then 

repeat. 

Headline Poem 10/30/14 -- Sweet!

Sweet!

Singing at the top 

       of my lungs, 

window down, 

feeling the breeze, 

the biker next to me

gives me a thumbs up 

because he heard the whole thing 

Headline Poem 10/29/14 -- Anglesey, Wales

Anglesey, Wales 

The fertile land 

beckons them home 

partly 

because they romanticize farm life 

and drinking at the pub,

and partly because roots in sacred places

grow deeper

than in any place else. 

Headline Poem 10/28/14 -- Overview of Remorse

Overview of Remorse

The sun is so bright on the 

days you don't expect it to be

     so you stand, unprepared, blinded

by this thing that's good, but that hurts. 

You squint as a tractor drives by, 

with big wheels and endless pride

  But then --  it runs over 

what it's not supposed to, and

you scream like you would at an 

old lover who you are now forbidden to see because

your encounters were a release, 

a place to breathe,

but what mattered was scattered

and so it's now an 

     overview of remorse,

a thing that shines 

from an outside source 

that judges

when it shouldn't 

because    each    of    us 

has been in a place where we didn't belong, and have stood, completely assured that justice should be served when right is outbid by wrong,

but then when it happens to us,

our views on all kinds of rules start to change. 

    Maybe second chances aren't so         bad. 

    Maybe third aren't so bad either. 

Maybe it's when we walk in on our

own disposable 

shit,

that life starts to matter. 

Headline Poem 10/27/14 -- It's right around the corner

It's right around the corner 

I love that you do not ask

for what you have yet to get. 

There really are no words to 

request such a thing, 

a web

sticky and sturdy and sweet,

a car parked under a bullet proof sky,

a full cloud above 

already green grass, floating suspiciously by,

a best friend wearing no mask,

a crown, the center of a tic tac, an open wound. 

It's waiting for the perfect temperature, a powerful storm,

for the eyes of it to open 

and feel warm. I'm here, and I'm ready, it will say. But not today. 

It's right around the corner, packaged as a spring sunset, or a pelican's feast-filled dream,

natural, instinctive, perplexed.  

It waits while we move

and helps make

all of this 

easier for me 

to maneuver through--the directions of you,

April echoes through magnetic walls. 

I wait while you do,

content to 

make sense 

of geese who fly East 

and stars that twinkle till morning. 

Headline Poem 10/26/14 -- A Sunday afternoon

A Sunday afternoon

Stretched out 

ear to ear,

it nears 

each time

that 

you do. 

Headline Poem 10/26/14 -- A Sunday afternoon

A Sunday afternoon

Stretched out 

ear to ear,

it nears 

each time

that 

you do. 

Headline Poem 10/25/14 -- Curves Ahead

I saw this sign on a walk, and... 

Curved Ahead 

When the street sign says 

there are curves ahead, 

do not balk or turn your back 

like an eye that's blind 

or a watch out of time. 

Shiver if it's necessary, 

but then get back behind

the wheel that turns 

where you take it. 

Salut with respect, 

tip your hat like you've 

finished the last show, 

closing night 

when you're exhausted 

but grateful 

that there were people 

to watch 

and applaud 

     who know 

nothing about 

your yellow warnings and black zigzag lines,

but 

thankful that by watching you 

for a little bit,

they were able to forget 

their own. 

Headline Poem 10/25/14 -- Curves Ahead

I saw this sign on a walk, and... 

Curved Ahead 

When the street sign says 

there are curves ahead, 

do not balk or turn your back 

like an eye that's blind 

or a watch out of time. 

Shiver if it's necessary, 

but then get back behind

the wheel that turns 

where you take it. 

Salut with respect, 

tip your hat like you've 

finished the last show, 

closing night 

when you're exhausted 

but grateful 

that there were people 

to watch 

and applaud 

     who know 

nothing about 

your yellow warnings and black zigzag lines,

but 

thankful that by watching you 

for a little bit,

they were able to forget 

their own. 

Headline Poem 10/24/14 -- Forgiveness

Forgiveness 

There will come a day 

when she will wrap 

her arms around 

his heart 

with forgiving grace, 

and smother

the forgotten things with 

her best self. 

Headline Poem 10/23/14 -- New Neighbors, Welcome Home

New Neighbors, Welcome Home 

Let's all settle down 

in a somewhere nowhere town 

to the North or right 

of here. 

Let's tell all the ghosts who've lived there before that it's our turn. 

Let's explain as nicely as we can 

that dirt's not cheap and either are words. 

You pay to use both,

whether you whisper or run. 

So no promises 

no guarantees... 

Put your shovel in the ground and don't ask for any favors. 

Headline Poem 10/22/14 -- Something I know

Something I know 

A bird flies 

with familiar certainty,

a confidence,

natural and inherent...

     not because 

it is born

with      wings,

but because he learns

how to use them. 

Headline Poem 10/21/14 -- The Man on the Moon

Tonight, I saw a headline about what the earth looked like from space in the 1960's. This, and the loss of imagination that comes with youth, and a bit of undeserved trust that we give to our television news stations, inspired The Man on the Moon. 

The Man on the Moon

From my 

bedroom window

I wondered if I'd be able to see 

the man on the moon

the president promised 

would be there soon. 

I waited. 

Each night, I asked my mom and dad 

if he was up there yet. 

Not yet baby, they would say. 

But soon. 

I never saw him 

because as the nights went on,

and the years passed by,

I stopped looking up. 

I knew if he made it, 

they'd show him on the news. 

Headline Poem 10/20/14 -- October Monday

October Monday 

Tonight 

I stopped and 

closed my eyes 

so that I could hear 

the trees lose their leaves. 

Headline Poem 10/19/14 -- There comes a time

There comes a time 

There comes a time 

when the people in your life 

reflect you 

and what you want to 

become 

and so you allow yourself 

to be picky and 

choose to 

surround yourself with those 

who are lovers and thinkers 

and huggers and givers, 

      because life is too short to 

spend your days and nights 

with those who suck 

the energy 

out of your soul

with no intention of

replacing it. 

Headline Poem 10/18/14 -- This Year

This Year

I watched as you shed 

layers of anger,

replacing them 

with skin 

smooth with wisdom,

aged genuinely 

with love 

I watched as you became 

strong enough to hold up 

parts of the sky 

drenched with abandonment

and inches of the earth 

afraid of their own shake, 

growing and 

manifesting 

with rich new soil 

better for planting, 

but still

foreign. 

Headline Poem 10/17/14 -- Enough

Enough

I smile because you smile

and on most days 

that is enough 

for me. 

Headline Poem 10/16/14 -- Mixed

There are days when 

the messages are 

all mixed up. 

   Your fingertips drip with insults, 

while 

   your tongue covers 

them up. 

Headline Poem 10/15/14 -- Wind

Wind

It's a call we get

and must obey,

an invitation to escape 

from all things 

 

noise 

and heat and Southern places

like cars and classrooms and 

heavy mistakes 

We wait until it's time 

to pack the car

and grab

some pillows for the long drive

We've five pairs of clothes, 

with a few left in the drawers,

and it's time to drift off --

watching folks fly by, 

we turn the car up North 

 and head 

toward the 

curtain

That's where we're let in 

to live a few days of

make-believe reality 

     in ferns and moss and rain-soaked leaves, 

we answer when she calls, 

because we believe 

     

in 

silver walls and other things 

We know it's in the wind 

and in the color of her skin

and so we go home

We know it's in the wind 

and in the color of her skin

and so we go home.

Headline Poem 10/14/14 -- DEFEAT

DEFEAT

I turn spastically from the

left-hand turn lane 

  to  avoid entering 

      the on ramp 

of uncertainty 

for. the    third     time    this     week

in an attempt to 

face the. speed 

       

      and not evade 

the     suffocating lanes 

  that I once   called 

FREEDOM. 

Headline Poem 10/13/14 -- Falling into you

Falling into you 

I close my eyes 

like our children who fall. first

and ask   questions     later

 i didn't dare before 

out of fear 

    i'd 

be dropped or overlooked 

or criticized    

for my approach 

 i just knew 

   it was a game.

And although i like to play, 

 i'm no good at games 

where i become the fool,

 a patron,

crisp ticket in hand 

for the traveling show 

    calculated      and set up 

in the name of 

tradition 

without     rest 

where you are rewarded. for 

earning a second guess

      What   kind   of prize is    that?! 

When lives     falter 

where 

money thrives,

the tasks 

performed are. 

not worth the cost 

(though THEY will assure you    they are). 

      Deny the they. 

I gain confidence 

each time I decide 

to fall into you,

regardless of the rules, 

regardless of the price,

     for if you miss, 

     I'm still stronger 

     for trusting you. 

Headline Poem 10/12/14 -- You'll be my friend

You'll be my friend 

You'll be my friend 

until we can no longer 

get to each other, 

until we are out of reach, 

or out of touch,

  perhaps with reality, 

or maybe... 

well, not so much. 

You'll be my friend 

until our children's children 

have children of their own. 

I hope we will still eat cake 

       to celebrate

that turn our teeth purple and blue,

or better yet that we have teeth 

      and zest 

in which to chew. 

You'll be my friend 

even when it's hard because hey,

  we're still here, 

and it ain't always easy. 

But really,

our friendship shows up right 

where it's supposed 

    to be. 

You'll be my friend 

through the next election 

and more, 

how can it not survive 

when 

we've already made it through 

both Georges, Bill, and Al Gore, 

and even though it was heated, 

the last two? 

You'll be my friend 

because some of my favorite memories include you. 

You'll be my friend 

until the day 

I hear you sing Gospel & Reggae while bowling and wearing 

anything but blue --

See? I get you! 

You'll be my friend 

because if I stop

you're down to one, 

and 

characters on The Walking Dead 

shouldn't count 

(I thought you'd appreciate 

a poem in your honor ending 

with a joke, 

rather than on a sappy

note). 

Headline Poem 10/11/14 -- Untitled

No title 

I can't   turn   off 

      the secrets  and lies 

  and   humor 

of your ways.

It's like  I know you. 

It's

like I'm 

   part of you. 

 

 I    should 

hate you 

      and yet 

 I find 

         myself      

 

filled       

    with love. 

Headline Poem 10/10/14 -- Your best self

Your best self 

Breathe in 

the air 

of uncertainty 

and vanity 

and irresponsibility

and breathe out 

your 

best self. 

Headline Poem 10/9/14 -- I will write you because you ask

I will write you because you ask 

Your story keeps coming, taping

  me on the shoulder

following  

  me in my dreams. 

You knock on the front door, 

and my dogs bark as I try 

to ignore -- 

I peek out the window 

because I'm not prepared 

 for the company. 

I'm not ready, but you are. 

And so like a humble farmer, I dig. 

And like a naked maid, I scurry 

to dress 

before my mistress rises. 

I know once dawn comes,

she will keep me occupied until 

another morning

with cold coffee-filled mugs 

and half eaten chips, 

grapes and scraps of paper 

scattered. 

I wrote before, and although I shared,

I didn't listen as much as I spoke. 

I edited the ugly. 

I feared the confrontational. 

I sheltered.  

I prevented 

connections 

that deserve to be made,

but in all fairness,

they were not yet made. 

This time I will 

watch. 

I will listen. 

I will plot. 

You  have     much to learn, 

and I will oblige, 

but writing about you 

will be the most selfish 

thing I do. 

Headline Poem 10/8/14 -- Logic

Logic 

is a pastime

on display, 

restless, fidgety, irrational,

safe. It calls a strike from 

six feet away 

and watches volleys 

struggle and exude 

before they conclude, always

  a winner each time there's 

a serve

      over measured nets 

double-checked 

by both teams

(and the ref).

Headline Poem 10/7/14 -- Tuesday

Tuesday 

Fire magic octagon 

burns 

from all sides

with flames 

that burst 

and then 

fade

only to chill 

in circles 

and fragments

dancing 

to music that is 

never turned

    down 

Headline Poem 10/6/14 -- Words

Words 

Sometimes words

drip like honey on the end of 

a spoon,

anticipating the swim in the warm mug of chamomile. 

Sometimes words

refuse to move, stopped like hair

tangled and matted, stuck 

in a brush 

      after spinning. 

Sometimes words 

speak to strangers despite the warnings, throwing danger to the wind 

for the third day in a row. 

Headline Poem 10/5/14 -- Courage

Courage 

On some days

it hides alongside

hangers and curtains

and lots of 

other things 

that hold people up. 

Headline Poem 10/4/14 -- Although

Although

Although there are nights I 

long to see the world 

of galaxy stars, 

ivory and milky,

from beneath 

other trees, 

I know the view from here 

is mine. 

Headline Poem 10/3/14 -- I know

I know 

I know that love is not a 

simple thing. 

It is more than a mouth to kiss, 

from a stranger at sunset. 

It is more than a golden layered lasso, 

given as a gift 

from the generation

before us. 

Love is tongue-tied 

and twisted, 

a vine free to 

grow blissfully 

without warning. 

Headline Poem 10/2/14 -- Let

Let

Let me come to you 

to steady myself 

in the canyon of orange,

   bright from fire. 

Do not be afraid of the 

sparks though they are 

  unpredictable. 

Embers fade as they rise, 

and will be cool 

by morning. 

Headline Poem 10/1/14 -- Game Day

Game Day 

Silver dollars and slimy snails 

pave the way for 

the contentious masterpiece 

of shovels and shoulders 

and dry heat. 

I shudder to think 

of the power you hoard,

but I'm letting you keep it 

till morning.