entrepreneur
winning with her lemonade
even as a teen

entrepreneur
winning with her lemonade
even as a teen

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)

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

my perfect symbol:
trying so hard for peaches
even while dying

graduation day
bleeds into normal doldrums
(life's quick, painful truths)


she graduates now
my baby girl, all grown up
in this Red Rock Land


from prom to vaccine
in a short eight-hour night
(let science save us)



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.)
graduating girl
ready to face the world
one ray at a time



vaccines could save us
(yet not from the ignorance
spread without needles)
