Madagascar morn
biology sugar test
St. Louis pizza?
endangered lemurs
whine-free museum musings
provelle, cracker crust?
let’s not burn forests
enjoy easy-going friends
eat under the arch
saved on raft from storm
evolution miracle
lemurs, 3D, life
two free holidays
first one ushers in a storm
mountains disappear
skyline from here
is always magnificent
minus the whining
how influential
a video-head friend is
shuffled in with clouds
moms must compromise
perk warmth into snowy scene
where surprise awaits
no seats near the girls
overheard conversation
prettier than snow
a Vietnam vet
three decades of war photos
now he snaps for peace
how much do you charge
to bring your eye-witness view
to my refugees?
you see, there’s this book…
as all great requests begin
Inside Out and Back…
Again, he returns
to where he lost his manhood
and became a man
I don’t charge a thing:
without our youth, our schooling
the world won’t change
we make lesson plans
till the girls will wait no more
Happy Veterans’ Day
first free holiday
though nothing is ever free
let snow send us peace
i give her the news
silent tears fall down her cheeks
worse than a tantrum
eleven years old
burden of being oldest
heavy on three girls
she carries their weight
lab rat for parental tests
what should we do next?
we drive the wrong way
arrive before she knows it
i favor her now
it is not too late
to undo this, to change schools
my peace offering
again, silent tears
on her face, trapped in my throat
i can deal with it
but should you have to?
the question that i don’t ask
(but i ask myself)
i’m going to stay
i don’t want to lose my friends
and there is my proof
hours of homework
detention for lost pencils
don’t compare to friends
i drop her off, drive
dawn’s light skids across the lake
as golden leaves fall
a sight so perfect
i want to drive back, tell her
take away her tears
mine are falling now
and i must let her decide
she leads, my oldest
this park is our church
(we rode past three on the way)
god is in details
dress-obsessed oldest
on a limb over a lake
this windy fall day
blessed to have new friends
and her two shadow sisters
nothing like my youth
(how i would have loved
my sister to include me–
just to be my friend)
outdoor play keeps them
a ring of companionship
beauty comes in threes
we don’t need sabbath
just the joy of our family
god lives in us all
Miss, why should i read?
Movies are so much better.
You see everything.
But what you can’t see
is the imagination
that invents the world.
Without reading books
who’d have written your movies,
given light to life?
fast-paced agreement
from Arabic-spewing mom–
he sighs, won’t give in
not five minutes pass
toothless, frumpy, loving mom
begs me to help her
why does her girl fail?
is it because of the shots
she saw as a child?
or her tent life,
her journey across the sea?
but what can we do
but cry out to God
and ask him to help us live?
then i remember
yes–a book i read
Wait–were you in Kakuma?
Yes–for nineteen years
tears swallow my throat
harrowing Lost Boy story
chronic refugee
sitting before me
(brutal book’s truth seeping in)
hope swallows her whole
i wish i could share
the beauty behind pages
that connect us all
if i could show him
the open-eyed life of words
oh, how he could fly!
ironic night ends
with her heart-wrenching handshake
pages of my book
Janis Joplin hair
might as well accept it’s mine
Happy Halloween
drive to edge of earth
that’s how far money stretches
there’s never enough
space, bedrooms, hardwood
three people and all their shit
spread suburban sloth
walkability
on a scale of one to ten?
tractor crossing sign
there is no number
to measure my distaste here
size shouldn’t matter
Americans Dream
big, better phallic boasting
in the shape of homes
American Dream:
be Janis Joplin–different
don’t let it kill you
homework Saturday
spun through web of fall colors
parked our playground joy
old enough to ride
and catch dreams along the way
my girls growing up
last of season cones
pumpkin pie, football flavors
as the north wind blows
still sing childhood
though the oldest’s lost in books
hope i can find her
leaves sprinkle the ground
like fire light our way home
home… life Saturday
just one mile walk home
to car-shop drop-off frenzy
begin evening stress
science fair project
won’t keep quiet on my mind
leaves alleviate
no avocados?
two wheels, backpacked ride to store
guacamole dreams
oldest cycles home
begins three-shower cycle
all by six-forty
spicy tacos rest
on spicy dream-home dispute
taste still in my mouth
all ’cause he worked late
foreshadowing our future:
crap hours, low pay
sacrifice my peace
for shut-in civility?
i’d rather be poor
rich are days with him
those hours in his absence?
a chronic longing
even the girls cry
as they will with no ‘good nights’
tears don’t buy us time
the two-income trap
snagging our life with more debt
all for image, greed
just one mile walk back
where refugee students wait,
offer perspective
wind-swept grassland hike
table-top view of city
where mountain meets home
clear creek cottonwoods
hand-crafted home brewery
where dreamers meet dreams
science fair half done
little girl pianists play
where weekend meets week
lunch date spin cycle
soaking up blue sky autumn
park hopping joy ride
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