Sunday, November 30, 2014

Headline Poem 11/30/14 -- All

All 

All 
   most of us 
want 
is to be 
from a place 
we're proud 
  of 

Saturday, November 29, 2014

Headline Poem 11/29/14 -- my future Josephine

my future Josephine 

Her, 
my future Josephine 
from Kansas, 
daughter of a beauty queen, 
daughter of a master 
in disguise 
who washed his hands 
clean after years of so called stains. 

He opened the closet and walked out and now walks among you,
proud of his preference, 
proud of himself. 
Free of the demons. 
Able to float. 

He'll call her on Sundays to send 
his love 
and say hello to his grand babies.  
He thinks it's enough, 
but 
for her, who has pretended to cradle so many others in his place, 
it's 
just 
not. 

So, she puts on the face 
and orders her Grande Chai 
and longs for the Midwest dogwoods and her grandmother's garlic fries 
and lays down on her ceiling,
hugging herself with fire rings 
and 
cries. 

Friday, November 28, 2014

Headline Poem 11/28/14 -- Yes

Yes 

Some things are best explained        
     while holding hands under
           the moonlight and 
              drinking cheap 
                champagne 

Thursday, November 27, 2014

Headline Poem 11/27/14 -- That's right

That's right 

I'm so grateful 
for all I've been
given
and promise to
appreciate 
the life that I'm 
livin' 

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Headline Poem 11/26/14 -- I want

I want 

I want a soul that runs 
when it's tired, 
     leading the way, 
tall and slender 
from fox holes and mud
 energized by truth, 
and fueled by 
skies the color of mid-June. 

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Headline Poem 11/25/14 -- giving them away

giving them away 

At the medical center,
I keep my curtain drawn. 
When I tire of my ceiling view,
I muster a walk to the window 
and look down 
to see 
my granddaughter smoking a cigarette on the balcony.  
I'm up here bartering for breaths 
and she's down there 
giving them away. 

Monday, November 24, 2014

Headline Poem 11/24/14 -- There's so much to be

There's so much to be

I'll not wander too far 
 as long as    
you do     the same 
            For 
Broken Promises 
exist -- thankfully --
to 
pave the way. 

Sunday, November 23, 2014

Headline Poem 11/23/14 -- Memories

Memories 

There's really 
only one album
that's all mine. 
The rest, I've 
unwillingly 
shared. 

Saturday, November 22, 2014

Headline Poem 11/22/14 -- by

by

by watering 
logical roots,
with predictable 
branches and 
revivable leaves,
i actually take 
care of most things. 

Friday, November 21, 2014

Headline Poem 11/21/14 -- Some lyrics take longer

Some lyrics take longer 

That many years of unfinished songs 
    was a long time 
    to be gone, 
but 
he   came back to 
   put the 
pieces together    
           again, 
and that's  
the    most beautiful thing 
    anyone's 
        ever 
       done. 

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Headline Poem 11/20/14 -- She was

She was 

She was a women 
with eyes 
poised, aged wisely, 
but hard. 
She birthed babies in bathtubs
  and frightened scarecrows 
away. 
On an island covered in 
Italian storms, she 
gained and lost control. 
She nailed down desires
like drifting, 
too-free leaves, floating aimlessly 
in wind without direction, 
and motherhood that came too soon. 
She learned to reopen arms
she swore she'd never open again. 
She breathed for years through 
streets and celebrations,
and losses 
that shook and rumbled 
her stoic soul. 
She was the concrete jungle. 
She was the master bearer of secrets and misery past. 
But when
pain swooped in like vulgars 
on a line, 
she passed 
away, 
and lay
floating above those she left behind. 
Whispers follow them 
down hallways 
now,
          I'll never really be gone... 

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Headline Poem 11/19/14 -- I'll not

I'll not 

I'll not stay up and 
 worry
 about you, 
the things
  I cannot change. 
Instead, 
I'll remain on the trail of steady, 
on bridges that bend, 
and lead to 
places 
yet to be seen. 
It is when my scenery 
stretches, 
that I notice new things. 
If,  in  the  morning,
I wake with thee,
I will be kind and 
greet you in a most friendly way
with a mind clear from slumber
and a 
smile half-suspicious 
     on both sides. 
Then I can 
decide if 
you should join me 
for another day. 

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Headline Poem 11/18/14 -- Sometimes it takes a stranger

Sometimes it takes a stranger 

You are amazing, 
and I hope 
that 
tonight, 
even if I'm the only 
who tells 
you, 
you believe it. 

Monday, November 17, 2014

Headline Poem 11/17/14 -- I wouldn't

I wouldn't 

I wouldn't let just 
anyone 
crawl so deep inside 
my soul that 
I hardly notice 
where he 
stops and I begin

Sunday, November 16, 2014

Headline Poem 11/16/14 -- prodigal winter

prodigal winter 

look for me. 
in the multitude 
of   silver.    stars.
     and  dreams
 i'll be the one 
 resting      easy 
with insatiable.  
    .wanderings. 

Saturday, November 15, 2014

Headline Poem 11/15/14 -- When I come home

When I come home 

Will you be waiting for me, remembering I've been good to you,    
    or will you be on the verge of a leave, surprised 
that you've survived, existing through ice that's cracked 
and barrels that exude at the seams
like caves filled with dripping mistakes 
and crystals the size of Everglades? 

Friday, November 14, 2014

Headline Poem 11/14/14 -- Banana Peels

Banana Peels 

Banana peels don't set us up. 
They don't grow and then fall and then get eaten up 
only to spread out on the ground and wait for us to trip. 
It's misfortune 
or a set up 
or an accident. 
If you see the yellow laced with brown and decide not pick it up or step around 
and you still go down, 
then what?! 
Who's to say you didn't trick IT into lying there?! 

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Headline Poem 11/13/14 -- On the eve of my daughter's seventh birthday

On the eve of my daughter's seventh birthday 

My heart walks around with you 
every day. 
It is there when you cross the street 
and when you smile up at me. 
It runs with you at recess
and skips a beat every time you hurt. 
My heart works because you do. 
I'll try for the rest of my life to explain all of this to you, 
to show you my insides wrapped up in yours, to help you feel my warmth,
to know that my kisses and hugs will never end, 
and that no matter what,
I will honor you
and believe in you 
and love you until way beyond my last breath. 


Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Headline Poem 11/12/14 -- A Life Full

A Life Full

I stared at the page, 
lost in the noises 
of sprinklers 
and dog barks 
and evening mist 
    forming. 
I realized     at     that     moment 
that the sounds of life 
were all around me, 
and although 
I had nothing 
to say, 
the empty lines 
described it all
beautifully. 

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Headline Poem 11/11/14 -- Dear Love

Dear Love, 

I found a place
where we can stay until 
we're old and grey     
and 
although we might be 
outsiders looking in, 
I say we begin again. 
Ya, let's begin again. 
We can just sit and say our prayers, 
and drink our cider and look for bears, 
and 
remember why 
    we     
      fell     
       in     
         love. 
We can light
  the fire 
and walk on wire 
and 
begin again. 
Ya, let's begin again. 

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Headline Poem 11/9/14 -- I would rather

I would rather

I would rather spend my money 
on walking out the door
to explore 
than on buying new things, 
because really, the first is 
all I need! 

Saturday, November 8, 2014

Headline Poem 11/8/14 -- Highway 64

Highway 64 

I went for a drive down Highway 64 on the way toward 
Wichita. 
I was 
    tired 
of fighting and kicking my own ass and needed a place to pull my truck over and 
relax. 
I wanted to forget but 
needed to remember. 

When I got out, 
arms stretched in the autumn breeze, I felt November wrap her arms around me. 
She welcomed my stopping, because most just drive through. 

Things are always better after I've been with you, where I've had a chance 
to wail 
out lyrics I could have written myself about 
cats and dogs and doves that cry, 
stories about shooting stars and rivers and mountains to climb. 

We are all floating and trying to gain our strength. 
We are all our looking for a place to stay safe, 
the road of yellow 
that will ensure we don't slip 
off the cliff. 
We are all searching for the town called Bliss (most are already there and just don't know it). 

We are 
roses with thorns put on display, 
on the dashboards,
for the world to see -- 
We may be prickly and weathered 
from the sun, 
   but we 
were alive once, and will be again. 

We will mingle 
with the air and
  drop our leaves without a care. 
Because in the end, 
our fragrance keeps us company and our colors 
take us home. 

Friday, November 7, 2014

Headline Poem 11/7/14 -- The man who loved the Broncos

The man who loved the Broncos

On my way to work this morning, 
a man with a Denver Broncos 
license plate holder 
sped through streets you shouldn't speed through, 
cocky, and rushed, he blew cigarette rings out of his sun roof

Confused ringlets gathered in already perplexed air, grasping for a route to whiz past 
    And trace what he thought 
    would get him there
what, on time? Ahead of them? 
 
He bothered me for a full three minutes, 
and then I remembered I'd be spending the day 
with positive people, and having drinks with two women who've 
known me through all kinds of shit. 

Then 

I felt bad for the man who was probably rushing to a place 
he probably didn't even want 
to be
with his 
3 and his X and his C 

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Headline Poem 11/6/14 -- Por un tiempo

Tonight, a short poem in Spanish (and the English version). Cheers! 

Por un tiempo
Pensé que los hombres
sólo besó a sus esposas
así
en las películas.

 For awhile 

I thought men 
only kissed their wives 
like that 
in the movies. 

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Headline Poem 11/4/14 -- What I gather

What I gather 

The clock has changed involuntarily, but it's making good use of things. 
I remember learning how to tell time in an English hotel room, 
looking out over cobble stone streets. 

  I never understood quarter of. 
  But now I do. 

When you moved in, 
my town, whose path to the ocean, 
contained a certain truth, 
moved too. 
My sand became dirt   and    mud   and manure and grime. 
    
 I shoveled it because someone      had   to. 

You changed me. You changed you. 
Flannel shirts covered your misery, and softball mitts caught 
what you missed, but then... 

     I fell in love and you couldn't      handle it. 

So you left before I said I do. 
You jumped, pirate-style with a patch over both eyes. 
     
     Were you scared? 
     Were you surprised? 

Or   did   you always know you'd leave if we started to see the real you? 

I've promised myself, 
I will not hate you. 
I released you a long time ago. 
I allow you to be 
the one who gave me 
Long Island and her white, blanketing snow. 
I allow you to be the one 
who let us accompany you to Houston
to watch your idol fall. 

What I gather from our encounters is 
that tin cans and thumbs 
on desolate roads 
are for travelers who are running 
and 
for those who   
     long to bury sorrows they     never      meant to plant. 

But the road is also full of people      who pack suitcases 
without a    plan. 
Dreamers without dreams,
they go... 
I watched you
and know 
that 
even though you'll miss 
what you'll never know,
I accept that 
sometimes 
disappearing 
is the 
best gift. 

Monday, November 3, 2014

Headline Poem 11/3/14 -- Connection

Connection 

Feed the one 
who feeds you
because if you both 
go hungry,
we all starve. 

Sunday, November 2, 2014

Headline Poem 11/2/14 -- Life

Life 

Deep down, 
there are parts of me 
that want 
the other road 
where I do not worry about retirement 
and doing what I'm told

   where I 
do whatever 
the hell I want (now)
like
    take the advice 
        of my favorite  quotes
and 
leave the ants 
who march blindly 
forth 

But, 
there are five of me, 
and I am confident 
I
can be responsible 
and still be free 

Saturday, November 1, 2014

Headline Poem 11/1/14 -- November and Me

Today is the first day of November, 2014. It rained. I cleaned. Here is today's poem. 

November and Me 

I go through 
     the clothes I've worn, 
and remember all I've seen 
on vacations and trampolines 
     and picnics and movie scenes. 

I've been scared and acted tough and melted from my heart hurting so much. 
      All while 
wearing these things. 

I've been free and trapped and happy
wearing pieces of fabric, blue  and black and pink and white.   It's too much and yet not enough. 

Today, I cleaned 
out the drawers,
which in the past, never brought 
tears. But now. 
But now. I 
   remember 
my clothes as little memories  
of 
holidays and trips -- I 
wore them while he wore you. 

        And I 
realize   that   some   have 
belonged to me 
through the 
    whole thing, and
  so 
    they     must     go

because  the fibers of them against my skin can no longer be. 
      They 
are no longer meant  for November. They are   no    longer meant for   Me.