Posts for June 29, 2021 (page 7)

Category
Poem

Ma’am

do you think i am my Mother 

wandering through grocery aisles 
arms full of dry goods looking 
for a cart to pour all 
this money into 
before we spoil

do you think if i stood right 
at the edge of the lawn
reached far 
back into brambles 
i could drag myself up and out 

16 and covered in scars 
roll me up in sunlight and say 

you do not have her eyes


Category
Poem

A QUIET POEM

On the floor shadows
Of plants my mother tended
A cloud passes by


Category
Poem

a parallel of some past dream

maybe in another universe 
when the outcome might have shifted 

clouds of pink and blue
overtake the senses 

the scenery down below 
breath taking

somewhere between now and everywhere
we’ll meet

ignoring thorns and bristles
of the language we no longer speak

how ridiculous of a dream
to think we’d ever meet again

when all you’ve done is run away
from anchoring down and taking responsibility

but still i’ll hope
ignoring faith

that existence is far more
then my world bargained for

don’t forget me over time
please remember all my suffering

so my image
might live on


Category
Poem

The Fan-Nu Shu

…..Inspired by Lisa See’s Snow Flower and the Secret Fan & Linda Bryant

Gatherings fluttered
Me round acknowledging 
words scribbled in pleats
Printing her own in floral
scenes hidden, unspoken dreams.


Category
Poem

the plan

it’s interesting to me
to consider the plan
I label myself as a middle of the roader
     if that’s a word
I like a plan, sure, but let’s not get crazy
time will make a way, let’s be spontaneous, come what may
all that jazz
but here’s the thing
I am also uptight and like to know, in exactness, what’s up and down and all around
for example, it’s June but let’s discuss October
and don’t the financial gurus tell us
as well as bosses and leaders of the free world
we need to make some allocations based on the calendar 
so I am in a constant push pull of wondering if I am on the right track
all the while trying to maintain the lifestyle of freedom and surrendering to the wind
I long to be one way or the other
the uber organized, disciplined follower of my own agenda
or
one of those hell’s bells all will be well types who seem that never a worry arises 
at this point in the game, I doubt I will manage either
therefore I’ll most likely continue as a moderate 
which maybe, perhaps, is the essence of balance and I truly have mastered the plan


Category
Poem

NYC Pride (Yesterday)

Today marked the 52nd anniversary
Of the Stonewall riots
In 1969
As well as the 51st anniversary
Of New York Pride.
It should have been a celebration.
A party.
A place of community,
And it was.
But also,
3 people died
In the hands of their protectors.
Hearing this
Made anger strike
In my mind.
Sadness,
Disappointment,
Fury,
Fear.
One of my hopes
For high school
Is to be in a safe enough space
That I can ask teachers
To use my pronouns.
Headlines
And stories
Flash through my mind
Every time I consider it,
Putting me in the place of
“I’ll ask someone if they’ve been safe”
Instead of
“People should respect me.”
One of my dreams
With my friends
Is to go on pride summer trips
In the years we can drive before college
And to visit parades
And celebrate.
I don’t know if I feel safe
Anymore.
And I can’t
Handle
Losing these people.
We need safety
And joy
And
Most of all
The murders
Need
To
Stop.

Category
Poem

What The Doctor said to The Nurse

  /bro͞ot/  
it’s bruit
coming from
this brute
caused
by brut 


Category
Poem

Dog Days

Summer, virgin bride, hides in winter’s
Greedy grasp to make us wait
For her promised glory. At last

June wends its way past
Borning of summer to
Seek July’s pressing fire.

Days of grill fed smoke,
Sunstroke and rude shock of
Black powder’s shriek and boom.

Ice cream cranked under shade
Of smoke house wall, flags
Both loved, scorned, waft under
A listless wind curling round the oak.

August waits in the wing, scritch
Of locust and hush of sun burned doze.
Baked earth,
Dry sky,
Baby birds fly.

Remember summer hidden in winter’s
Greedy grasp . . .?

I wish instead
              The gift of April’s easy
                                       opening of her flower,
                                                                        shower,
                                                                                   and promise.


Category
Poem

untitled

Long dead, there you are,
standing in my bedroom door.
I say, You again.


Category
Poem

Miss Noncey Offerrhyme

(a dishy bish)

i am a black and cream striped silk dress.
i sandal. i turquoise. i dream—
in the aisles of i.g.a., in air, on train,
i dream—in fluid black and cream.

i am a foo-lard shirt with contrasting seams.
i turn up. i orange. i rain—
run in libraries from Maysville to Aberdeen, 
i rain—on corners of pattern and main.

i am a wide legged pair of pants.
i platform. i saunter. i flow—
on a river of tunes, in car, in boat,
i flow—between freestyle and rote.

i am a sundress with a big back bow.
i hold forth. i flower. i beam—
i let down a shoulder. i preen. in sweet obscurity,
i beam—a baby blue rack of linen dreams.

i am a nonce-word, off-rhyme ishy mess.
i am a black and cream striped silk dress.