sunrise wake up call
to start farmland forest view
save me from the drive
kids sleep, eat, play, grin
laugh with their pit-stop cousins
sunset goodnight view
all America
lies between the road and sun
the love for travel
poetry
Day One, Road Trip 2015
car packed to the gills
girls who have earned their own spots
road ready for wear
grandma entertains
with arts, crafts, and laser games
happy all the way
new car, smooth sailing
across the Kansas highway
windy black fly beach
red tinted sunset
Missouri River dream run
shy of St. Louis
what makes a summer?
freedom to choose departures
on a dream road trip
Love=Family
a morning discourse
to get me through the last day.
she gives in. i win.
when one of her five
desires the same gender
will she change her mind?
families surround us:
single, married, divorced, set–
love makes children grow
not biology.
(we’ve been friends forever now.
we have climbed mountains).
valleys take their turn.
she will judge, blame, point fingers.
i will love, love, love.
Hazel at Best
four weeks: iced mocha
from his teacher’s salary
to my starving morn
one more disruption
to make my students argue
(entitlements rule)
his blue-eyed gesture
almost makes the sacrifice
worth the sinking sun
he knows and i know
that he can’t buy my return;
best or not–i’m gone
no blue eyes at home
(from my man or anyone)
on my girls’ faces
nor a mocha bribe
for the heart-winning teacher.
cynic? true. best? yes.
no film, court judges,
observers, department heads
are worth this money
’cause money can’t buy
another summer soon lost
in a blue-eyed search
Summer School Blues
filmed, nitpicked, observed
teaching methods analyzed
no simple summer
Imagine the Play
camp frustration lost
with weekend full of lizards
imagined lizard lands
only the oldest
was given this camp present
childhood relived
teaching her sisters
how lizards, mermaids are made
best of all: she PLAYS!
Immersed
this is what i need
moments of full immersion
you give us so few
carve out each hour
fit in dialogue, writing
is it hard to see?
fish swimming upstream
we flail in your fishing line
unable to breathe
you could set us free
let the stream of words chase us
to our fluency
(it’s not your version,
but success lies in small bites
just give us a taste)
Atardecer
sun sets on weak legs
worn out from the bottom up
urban nature view
Bike to Work Day
battle scars unwashed
floods, fallen trees, tornadoes
nothing but the bike
Too Cool for Creeks
in the golden light
i pretend it’s one year back
when she still loved creeks
she smiles for me
for this gilded summer pic
to placate my wish
but after? they play,
she lies back in the shade, bored
of being in creeks
no crawdad searches,
no hiding out in the fort–
grown in just a year
but i’ll take the pic,
make it my background; pretend
just like she used to
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