Grateful Girls

a small chance to win
with what small time we have left
these teenaged smiles

Stardust

she's eighteen too soon
my oldest baby, my star
i hope she'll go far

i’ll grasp this aspen 
framed by its own starry night
when i need some peace

an exhausting day
with my spirit-week “jersey”
and this fake smile

hidden by these masks
that have broken our world
like a rootless orchid

but this cat. this cat.
a soft purrfection presence 
worth a real grin.

i'll write a haiku
as easy as this damn day
filled with lines. and love.

you will never know
how hard i've tried to earn this.
you can taste the snow.

you can taste blue sky.
it comes in moments, this love.
moments found on slopes.

always the baker
coming up with concoctions 
to sweeten our lives

just a year ago
i taught my boy how to ski.
(he learned in one day)

snow arrived today.
soft, slippery, it snuck in
and brought back this piece:

in the purple night
on our perfect patio
completion beckons.

a busted-lip morn
as i mourn this stage of life:
dry. unforgiving.

one day at a time
I’ll win back my little one
(no longer little)