my mother’s birthday
surrounded by flowers, kids,
laughter in all forms
Bloomsday
family
Rhubarb Rules
what you don’t see here:
picking rhubarb in the rain
for salvation pie
First Day of Summer
a rare, masked smile
his first roller coaster ride
our life’s hills, splashes
Sunflower Girl
entrepreneur
winning with her lemonade
even as a teen
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)
Seasonal Love
the best time of year
is strawberry-rhubarb pie
(yes, it's a season)
baked by my daughter
the sweet and sour combo
shines as bright as spring
What’s for Dinner?
graduation day
bleeds into normal doldrums
(life's quick, painful truths)
Last Childhood Milestone
she graduates now
my baby girl, all grown up
in this Red Rock Land
Promdemic
from prom to vaccine
in a short eight-hour night
(let science save us)
Pandemic Prom
there's no heartbreak here
just my girl, eighteen years old,
ready to face them
sneakers underneath
(pandemic proms are outdoors,
under tents, in grass)
she's taller, braver.
in her silver floor-length gown,
she masters the night
and aren't we a crowd?
this master-mix of humans,
standing on these rocks?
unsinkable us
right below the Molly Brown
(ready to swim. Win.)
Step Write Up 