Emergency
you were in the floor
lips white and eyes closed
our daughter and I
shared a look of fear
and all I could think
was that you couldn’t go
because we’ve got so much
to do
Down flights and flights
Of stone stairs
Before you see a thing.
Down is not so hard
As coming back up
When your muscles
Have already hiked
the side of a mountain and back.
The view worth the struggle
Of gasping breath and
soreness the next day.
I could sit for a year
Quite ironic…
how the fears of being erased
Shown through
in The midst
of desperate attempts
to prove the opposite
Intentionally scrambling
all day long
For the right words
The right sequences
To express
beyond thought
And.
What I’ve noted is this;
Anything
That feels remotely
like goodbye
I’ll avoid, overthink
and undoubtedly
revive
Though an end doesn’t portray
adequately what’s actually
brought about an entirely new beginning
I walk out of June as a thriving woman
I’ve soaked up every word you presented
Ive felt your hearts exposure!
What could possibly compare?
I’ve stepped out of the box
that I placed myself in.
I wrote 10 different beautiful
sequences
To express with enough honor
that today’s the beginning of the end
And forget every other
pointless word blurted until now:
YOU EACH HAVE SAVED ME
from myself somehow
This month.. this year almost took me away
Until I was allowed empty pages to safely convey
the dark sides, the hope and the in betweens
God. What beautiful humans that I’ve needed to see!
[thanks to all the LexPoMo folks! I started to run out of time for reading and commenting the past 2 weeks, but I at least stayed faithful to the mission!]
Counting syllables
in the Hilton Netherland
haiku convention
The air clears of smoke
while heat overtakes the place
blast furnace city
pre-teens in sequins
descend on Paycor Stadium
blooming Swifties
she told me she was
To kill time beautifully
is to leave fingerprints on every hour
labyrinthine touch loosed
like fireflies like lightning unbottled
to lose and find and live again
to love in the process
I have been feeling odd-
one moment in tune, clear,
a voice like Emmy Lou’s in my head-
but trailing off to something jarring,
like Iris Dement-the words braying
but still soaring.
I am not quite in step,
the path quavers, but rises ever forward.
I see the glory in the ashes and the flame,
in crumbled walls and smooth paths-
I am no longer certain being orderly
would solve anything.
I sit here
frozen in time.
Unable to move.
The elixir
The salve
The medication
to cure this
well within my reach.
Yet my arms won’t stretch
far enough.
I stay in this spot
unsure of how to
proceed.
Desperate for new scenery.
Terrified of the first step.
Running the fox hunted night trail,
Rapid wind enveloped her foot fall,
Tripping her slippery as salamanders,
the earth coming up icebox cold on her chest.
Her white shirt stained as brown brassiere.
She labored in blackberry briars,
the ruby-like globes splashing her cheekbones.
Cicada songs buzzing inside her throbbing head.
Rising, she held close her newly swollen womb
assuring herself the embryo will still form.
KW 6/30/23