Posts for June 4, 2020 (page 10)

“Side! Side!” she shouts,
One cherub finger pointing toward the door,
Waiting not so patiently for me to get the message.
(If only she could always be so clear.)

Before I can fully acquiesce, she has to allow me
The honor of smothering her inch-to-inch in the
Sticky, liquid, goo that comes
In a fluorescent yellow tube
Called sunscreen.

SPF 50.
Clean, phthalate free, paraben free,
Cruelty free, no added fragrance.
Protects against broad spectrum UVA/UVB.
Protects against sunburn.
Protects against damage to sensitive skin.
Protects against knee scrapes and bruises.
Protects against splinters and pinched fingers.
Protects against all future heartaches and lost friends.
Protects against watching the world seemingly shatter,
When she is not old enough to understand,
And furthermore,
Protects against any and all ill will.

Okay, so maybe sunscreen only protects against the sun.
I mean, I guess it is in the name, but that’s okay.
I’ll be there to protect against the rest.

“… and I realized,
I’m not afraid of what you’d
think of what I say,
but of how you’d treat it.”

My beat, these streets.
I walk and walk, but make no mistake – 
Mother Nature 
rules and reigns.

Two-faced, heartless and cold,
She smiles with ruby lips of velvety rose
while sending a hard frost to choke the irises.
Shall I spill her sinister secrets?
Do I dare divulge her dastardly doings?

It began in March, when I spotted during my rounds
evidence of Entering and Breaking,
a classic case, really.
Eggshells, pale blue and broken,
Littered the pavement soaked in early moning dew.
I turned to a robin hopping nearby and shrugged.
“Circle of life,” I said.
It hopped away.

April ushered in Nature’s darker side,
As I discovered when I heard the squawks of baby bird,
Helpless, trapped beneath its nest
Blown out of a small magnolia during a thunderstorm.
I watched its downy gray feathers shudder
as it cried out in confusion, perhaps even pain,
and I sighed.
“There’s nothing I can do for you,” I whispered.
I ran away.

Then Nature cast aside all pretense in May,
when I stumbled upon the scene of a vicious attack.
I slowed my run when I spotted a feather – 
giant, gorgeous, imposing.
A hawk’s striped feather lay ominously 
beside another empty nest,
tossed violently to the ground.
The remains of a baby bird lay lifeless in the front yard.
I looked away.

“Cruel mistress,” I cursed Mother Nature.
She cackled and strolled off,
Leaving a trail of pink peonies behind her.

A bag of fish food for two caught catfish
A batch of cookies for cabbage and kale
A dozen double-yolk eggs that will never make it to market for a chance at a five-pointer
A gallon of blueberries, ten ears of corn, fresh baked bread, and warm peach cobbler for a day of tilling and a repaired tractor
Ledger entries for transactions made with country currency

I got nothin’.
The world has sucked the
Words right outta me. Slurp.

what I think matters none
interests affect our evidence
will mislead you into drawing
false conclusions
skewed world view

Filling the sponge
with facts and acceptance and understanding
identifying everyone in family photos daily
every plant with their glorious colorations
functions of the mundane

He hangs on my words
as he hangs on my neck
safe in my arms
as the world is described
one feature at a time

His babbles
joined with smiling nods
Understanding
that love is
unconditional

The constant clink 
of your fork against the half empty 
dinner plate.
Shoving the food you
so desperately wanted down,
attention staggering
to the hall–
the hall where there’s a lock
on the door of the bathroom. 
Where there’s enough 
space between the dinner table
and the toilet,
that the tv could drown out…

You forcefully scrap the remains
from your dish and claw
the wooden chair.
Show after show playing
in the neighboring room.

If you just sit there
long enough,
the urge might just 
Vanish.

Twenty six paper butterflies 
One real

All pinned in place.

Fifty four wings. 
One body

Empty paper wings without eyes   

Without antennae        
Without mouths
or hearts
or softly breathing lungs. 

We see the beauty in her flashing wings   
The glitter of her scales   

But not the parts that live. 

I don’t know how to quite explain
why their guns are so big to him.

Shadow Moon (November 14, 2016)  

I am standing beneath
a bright night sky
lit by a Super Moon
visiting close for the second time
in my life
 
It is so bright
I close my eyes and wish            
            I could absorb it.  

But there is a shadow behind it            
            almost surrounding it.
A shadow so dark the whole world            
            quakes in fear,  

I feel the light            
            let it wash over me
trying to cleanse the pain            
            the anger            
            the hurt            
            the hate
from those too blind to see.  

This day
this light
this historic moment
can it replace
            the horror visiting me            
            the world            
            my fellow man?  

Shall I just stand up            
            shake my fist            
            cry out to them?  

I cannot,
I must reach out            
             touch you            
             touch them            
             love them
and hope
the cloud will fade and
love will reign,
It is our only hope.  

Tony Sexton