it’s a public street
they can’t tell us we can’t park
in an unmarked zone
rich white people suck
all the joy from their mansions
and spit it elsewhere
yet, we shall obey
for we’re mere public servants
who just can’t get home
how can one measure
twenty-five minutes a day
taken from our lives?
simple math, of course:
the same numbers measure how
we teach our students
it’s a public street
and we park on our soap box
with no microphone
poetry
One More Year
in the midst of darkness
after weeks of moment-by-moment loss
today we have a win
a Green Card on the horizon
of this young man’s dreams
Postage Paid
i want the cute cat
and not the cracked-up pavement
through the broken woods
Loss Lost
my defeated dog
is my exact expression
only calmer (him)
Too Many Lines
for days i didn't write
how i tire of haikus
how they plague me with seventeen
when i want more syllables to squeeze into a day
a life
all those moments, days, weeks, moths, years lost
how it feels like loss
her hating, ignoring, hiding, wishing to be somewhere else
anywhere but here
and now she is
and the full house is emptier than ever
with these smiles that mask the truth
the bitter truth
and her grin gone
her childhood over
and how can i feel
anything less than the worst mother
to come home to more tears, more accusations, more truth than i can bear?
and i'll soon lose my second
(i've already lost her to
her friends, her habits, her goth music, her hatred of me)
and then she'll be gone too
and when i try to look back across monument valley,
there will only be smoke.
Goodbye My Beauty
it's almost over
(we say goodbye tomorrow)
for now, there's a view
Where to Begin?
my classroom awaits
a roster of empty seats
(only time will tell)
Youngest Driver
my baby's driving
(i can't believe she's fifteen)
and finding her way
Teacher Tired
broken copier,
mushroom chicharrón tacos,
and this sad puppy
it's only Wednesday
of my first week back at school
and exhaustion wins
Disappearing Milestones
the youngest’s birthday
(an early celebration)
before big sis leaves
Step Write Up 