rain in the Smokies
greening the enchanted woods
our daughters long for
Road Trip Haiku #3
rain in the Smokies
greening the enchanted woods
our daughters long for
Move
hidden in shadow
i will never know his heart
i wish i had light
Road Trip Haiku #2
Smoky Mountain sun
brings another red morning
beauty on my bike
Acceptance
message of love lost
beneath judgmental hatred
my girls will see love
Road Trip Haiku #1
red sun rising dawn
over midwest misty lake
beauty for a lens
I and Love and You
I and Love and You by The Avett Brothers
a year ago
a lifetime ago
i stood on this same step
i rang this same doorbell
i retrieved these same girls
i hardly knew you
i stood awkwardly
in your living room
trying to explain my taste in music
you cringed when i said folk
(perhaps you’d cry too
the first time you
heard their song on the radio)
we’ve made music since then
sometimes heavy metal
sometimes hip hop
just a taste of alternative
but you still haven’t heard my song
i stand on your doorstep now
you won’t answer so i walk in
(it is like home to me)
i pull them out of the room
three in a row, sleepy-eyed,
begging for breakfast
(they are starving)
you open your door
sleepy-eyed too
and there are no words
there are no lyrics
that can fall to the floor
in this awkward living room stance
as i shuffle our lives out the door
You Were Ours
your clock still reads 11:45
we looked that morning
you might have been late
you weren’t late. you were ours
will it still read 11:45 in a year?
i wonder
you ask what i am thinking
i am thinking of my bed
his arms around me
i am thinking of my bed
no longer mine
add this to my
insurmountable list
of why’s
there will never be a because
of all i have lost in
seven weeks
seven months
insurmountable
You Are
the teary eyes that mask sadness
behind a superficial smile
the gray clouds that just can’t quite
put out the wildfires
the kind gesture resulting
in an empty wallet
the me i fear
(small child filled with doubt)
83
my grandma’s birthday
used to mean more than sadness
more than passing thought
June (2012) Daughters
Riona
we walk Venice Beach
we’re offered everything
from CD ash trays,
a strip-tease picture with a dog
in a pink bikini,
and endlessly legal marijuana
(doctor on premises!)
mostly oblivious,
you trot alongside
and point to the homeless man
sitting in the lawn, complete
with office chair and
sleeping bag
i explain. you respond:
he lives outside?
in ALL that grass?
well that’s bigger than our house!
and your five-year-old wisdom
has made this beach day better.
Mythili
the conversations
in the 2000-mile backseat drive
are circular and cute
none cuter than
sisters, learning about the Gold Rush
from historical mama, declare,
We want to dig for gold in these mountains!
with your usual no-nonsense logic,
you casually reply,
You’re going to need a drill.
Isabella
for you,
a trip to California
is no more than an excuse
for a brand new story
to share with all your friends
upon your happy return
that’s my girl
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