the sound of leaf breeze
is impossible to miss
from the top? perfect
there’s just nothing like
five giddy little-teen girls
breathing us all in
our poor Daddy
outnumbered seven to one
without one complaint
Road Trip 2022, Day Five: Tree Heaven
choices
We’re All Ears
so like her black cat
always calling for her needs
hoping we’ll listen
HoCo Royalty
my Homecoming queens
who will never win titles
will still win with me
and what have they learned?
just how to love everyone
from all walks of life
Street Smarts
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
Only a Few Servings Left
a weak pea harvest
(summer slips through soft moments
between camping; school)
yet the girls giggled
as they shucked their peas from pods
(no longer my peas)
summer’s soft moments
so fleetingly green and fresh
each year grown harder
High Water
the most perfect park
the most perfect afternoon
marred by words, actions
my innocent girl
who only wanted this day
not a broken mom
but it's just a blur
one day bleeds into the next
watered with defeat
Rhubarb Rules
what you don’t see here:
picking rhubarb in the rain
for salvation pie
Good Steps
three-thirty a.m.
my oldest’s footsteps. good steps.
intentional steps.
this is not a moon.
this is a lunar eclipse.
(Super-Flower-Blood)
and she’ll be gone soon.
(no early-morning steps).
and i. am. eclipsed.
shadows of loss win
the afternoon shines bright.
(we still have our moon)
Spring Forth
a midnight rainstorm
brought early this raging creek
and stole seed-planting
yet, cycle views burst
with blossoms of spring color
saving the lost day
Without Vaccines
we'll never escape
the "boot straps" mentality
or fix these numbers
Step Write Up 