Denver ReCycled

through cycling
 in and out of neighborhoods
 brick by brick, i fell
 
 love lost, and then won
 bungalow to bungalow
 my city wooed me
 
 the wheels spun me back
 (sold my heart to Cheesman Park)
 from bad-boy breakups
 
 all along back streets
 Park Hill, Cole, Cory Merrill
 like love at first spin
 
 bikes are trendy now
 (they’ll dress like freaks to prove it)
 but my bike love lives
 
 in this uphill ride
 with mountain sunset backdrop
 my girls guiding me
 
 i see them falling–
 street by street, scraped knees and all–
 in love with my love
 
 

Love’s Labor Lost

beach day ends summer
 (though it’s already over)
 school can kick our ass
 
 she’ll paddle toward sun
 let weekend sparkles shine through–
 make this week worth it
 
 with our lives packed up
 these small moments so matter
 more than i can say
 
 even with the rain
 that raced us back to our car
 we dried off. and won.
 
 

Smooth Migration

my thousandth visit
 just as pretty as the first
 brings peace to my stress
 
 and seeing her run
 beating her time on day two
 goose wings to the sky
 
 

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)
 
 
 
 

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
 
 

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
 
 

Announcement

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

No Words Tonight

the baby turns nine
 halfway through her childhood
 my heart half broken