One Night at Sawmill and Leadmine Roads
I kicked my sandal across the patio.
I was tap, tapping my leg
To rid it of the cramp obtained from sitting,
My toe hooked the unfooted shoe
And sailed it to the sky.
No one noticed, I convinced myself, at the bottle shop’s
Picnic tabled front, not-really-a-front-porch, porch,
But that concrete area poured to the doors of a store entrance
In a suburban strip mall
Made cool by the vibrant Mexican restaurant
With Mariachi music and Day of the Dead string lights
And the Community Theater spilling out
Its ethnically diverse cast and cast of audience,
Black clad stage managers and production assistants
Mixed with The Art supporters and between-show actors,
Reviewers and podcast producers,
Friends and family at a preview showing
Of a local writer's work, thought provoking and timely.
My leg had cramped among all this talent
And I walked out into the warm September air
To stamp it out so I could return to offer
My accolades without a grimace.
Instead, I kicked my sandal to the sky.
Spring Came Regaedless
I am digging in soil right now,
Planting plants I bought months ago.
Months ago when I had enthusiasm for spring
I bought plants with my granddaughter.
On a sunny day in March
She picked out the prettiest ones
not suited
For my sandy soiled landscape of no sun.
But we bought them,
Brought them home
Placing them near a bright window
Per the gardener’s instruction,
Waiting for the warmth, but...
Then it got cold...
then I went on a cruise...
then I said hell they will die anyway...
then they didn’t...
so I’m planting them,
Bless their little green hearts,
well into Spring, nearly summer,
In my sunless, sandy patio garden.
There is a bird’s nest in one of my pots.
Spring came regardless.
Competition for a Heart
Competition for a heart, she made
her way down the hall. Checking
doors and windows to be sure no one
gets inside. Stuffing her hands deep
in her pockets, avoiding touch and
caresses. Marking heel scuffs on the
floors. Picking lint from her fingers
she lifts her hands to pray.
Competition for love keeps
the sunlight out. Drapes of heavy damask
mask the need inside. Drawn and
pulled with her praying hands, she
cries into the fabric.
Competition for her heart has long
passed. She breaks the brocade and
peeks outside. Happy couples
coupled by their limbs. Intertwined in
soft possession. Gone for her now.
Gone.
gentle kisses
gentle flutter kisses,
taste and feeling,
shimmer through senses,
shivers down her spine,
to her toes
up to her heart
out through her soul
into his,
all in the gentle
flutter, of
kisses