Girls in the Garden

a small spot of sun
 shining through Saturday noon
 lights up my weekend
 

Leyden Life

unpacking my life
 an ever-endless ordeal
 that stops here. purple.
 
 because dreams are made
 from last-minute purchases
 that enclose our lives
 
 too perfect for truth
 this house, this home, surrounds us
 here i’ll live till death
 

Location:S Kearney Way,Denver,United States

My Friday Night

a red solo cup
 atop a stack of boxes
 life is moving on
 
 

After You Finish…

we stand scorched by sun
 for a staff pic no one wants
 on fragile bleachers
 
 this after staff talk
 the same pointless PowerPoint
 that’s plagued our careers
 
 after late release
 of the rowdiest last class
 prisoners of bells
 
 after no planning
 scheduling glitches abound
 grade books that won’t load
 
 after absent kids
 gone for testing, Muslim Eid
 gaping holes in class
 
 after percussion
 the endless percussion of
 kids who can’t sit still
 
 after fall won’t start
 with no air conditioning
 and no new pay raise
 
 and you want to teach?
 it sucks the life out of you
 (but—kids blow it back)
 
 
 

Border Crossings

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

Announcement

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

Knowledge

first one we looked at
 offer in my back pocket
 when you know, you know
 
 just like way back when
 looking into his blue eyes
 when you know, you know
 
 some dreams take too long
 too many tries, money wasted
 but now i know… i know
 
 had me at hardwood
 hard-earned years, so many jobs
 i hardly know you, love
 
 but soon you’ll be ours
 no renovation, like new
 somehow i just knew
 

Anywhere but Here

with windows wide: write.
 because you’ve missed my poems, love.
 since yesterday’s dawn
 
 girls in sun’s shadow
 as she announces her move.
 life: cycle in, out.
 


you know you’ve missed me
 my “seven-likes” followers
 ’cause i didn’t write
 
 you count me daily
 amongst the regular loves
 that make us a life
 
 and i was just born.
 (it was like i was just born
 the day i met him)
 


’cause seventeen years
 can’t be measured in mountains
 or wildflowers
 


or whining children.
 but in the steps we oft take
 on our way back home
 
 and in sunsets. Sun!
 lighting my way across love
 across city, life.
 


cutting down this ‘hood
 into what it’s meant to be:
 scraped, demolished, lost.
 
 circular i am
 because that’s how tires spin:
 neverending globe
 


that brings us back home
 wherever that home may be.
 anywhere but here.
 

Sunny Skies Ahead

he comes home with clouds
 hovering over new joy
 (where we could be free)
 
 but then i must ask:
 is freedom found in money?
 so hard to answer
 
 those without know best:
 lack of money’s a prison
 choking month to month
 
 those with all know best:
 too much money is a trap
 biting claws of greed
 
 it was just enough
 for shoes, road trips, water parks
 just enough to breathe
 
 i want that freedom–
 monthly-cycle jail-cell break
 so far from the clouds
 
 

If the Shoe Fits…

reality hits:
 plumber, groceries, shoe shopping,
 clean car, room, laundry
 
 not a moment’s rest
 to really run a household
 two incomes looms big
 
 will it be worth it?
 one week i’ll be back at work
 he’ll have long hours
 
 what i did today?
 dispersed between homework, school,
 kids’ activities
 
 never the down time
 he’s given us all these years
 (but… we can buy shoes!)