Cross Country

weekend leftovers
 murmur an early Monday
 in my groaning gut
 
 technology blues
 plague two classes, one meeting
 forced into nonsense
 
 data collection
 begins my singular plan
 till phone rings: sick kid
 
 frazzled packing up
 for a stomach flu faker
 then two extra kids
 
 but that is not all!
 cross country registration
 at the last moment
 
 my middle girl runs!
 two days a week, a new plan:
 laps around the park
 
 (he can cook dinner–
 we’ll eat late like back in Spain,
 shed this U.S. stress)
 
 and i will run too–
 take tree-lined tech-free views home
 (run free, not ragged)
 
 
 
 

Border Crossings

sacrifice summed up
 in a hundred teens’ letters
 breaks my heart each year
 
 
 

YOLO

my first orgasm
 given to a boy now dead
 life’s too fucking short
 
 my childhood park
 lit under a cloudy moon
 is what calms me down
 
 i’d walk the world
 to find my way back to you
 eighteen years in, love
 
 we’re all grown up now
 me a woman, you a man
 let’s let bygones… be
 
 there’s no other moon
 to shine city-bright tonight
 just my love, your love
 
 
 

Twelve Years In

dancing in the street
 with her dress flaring around
 still my little girl
 
 
 

Two Too Many

end of day feet up
 hours on end of walking
 then pickup, dinner…
 
 day two of two jobs
 the runaround’s new to me
 exhaustion takes time
 
 the girls say it best:
 hang the dolls on bike rack noose
 and call it a day
 
 

Hatched

first day of too old
 can’t believe how big they’ve grown
 so far from our shell
 
 yes, they’ve broken free
 walk out into the world
 chick fluff gone with grins
 
 

Problem Solving

she wants an answer
 and i want a solution:
 not an easy mix
 
 i stare at Wash Park
 paddles, crayfish everywhere
 and think of that day
 
 when we were problems
 we were each other’s problems
 and that was okay
 
 she’d never been there
 and we pedaled that huge bike
 each one disabled
 
 we ate what we ate
 we chewed what we chewed: bitter
 yet: so fucking sweet
 
 and why i hate now:
 because i have everything
 (nothing without her)
 
 money doesn’t buy
 that once-in-a-lifetime love
 trapped inside boxes
 
 so what’s my answer?
 there’s no easy solution
 to a broken heart
 
 but let us fix it
 pedal away from Wash Park
 be wholly ourselves
 
 

Dusks and Dawns

red sky at night brings…
 allergies, fires, candles…
 and love. my love. love!
 
 red sky at morning
 sailors give warning: heart bursts
 for what’s lost at night
 
 

Daykeep

eyes burning, itching
 allergies taking over
 lost words from far back
 
 yet, i’m so happy
 house tucked into dream pocket
 i could let this go
 
 this and my students
 who deserve America
 (this dream we all have)
 
 and i’ll fight for them
 and she’ll praise him, she’ll praise him
 (but he wouldn’t fight)
 
 and we all know it–
 how deep my love grows. hard ass?
 abso-fuck-lutely
 
 hard ass, heart of gold.
 that you can’t forget. you can’t.
 and why now, why now?
 
 cause it’s easy now?
 cause you have a house, a home?
 cause we’re good enough?
 
 cause we were good then,
 as golden as these lost days.
 i’ll keep my days. thanks.
 
 
 
 
 

Announcement

published now for all:
 our dream come true in a home
 we’ll all find space in