Damaged
Apple tree set fruit
before the storm broke her limb
Partially attached
and with apples still growing
Will be easy to harvest
How a pufferfish, stripped
1
There was a young fella from Kentucky
still in love with his old rubber ducky.
Who’s your daddy? he’d say,
can we go all the way?
And then he’d proceed to get lucky!
2
There was a young man from Murray
who in bed was a bit of a worry.
Two minutes would’ve passed
& he was ready to blast.
His girlfriend said, what’s your hurry?
3
There was a young woman from Carlisle
who liked to give service with a smile.
She never would flinch
if you just had an inch
& she was good for up to a mile!
4
There is a young fellow from Danville
whose erection is hard as an anvil.
It’s too much for the ladies
who think they’re in Hades
but if a woman won’t try it, a man will!
borrowed from Latin abscessus:
I wish I could say it was nice
Day 1065
There are several ways to approach this new phase at least two positive or negative it was hard to hear you tell the story about the woman who said she made it because all you have to have is one person believe in you & you said that you could tell by looking at my face that you didn’t think I believed in you you do that a lot think you know what I’m thinking or feeling by looking at my face & that doesn’t leave any room at all for me to have any feelings.
Annie Hawkes, an eight-year-old girl in Alamogordo, would gather green glass pebbles formed by nuclear tests and take them home in boxes to place under her bed because they glowed in the dark. She and two of her sisters developed numerous cancers, as well as bone and thyroid diseases. Hawkes says 95 percent of the girls she went to school with in Alamogordo contracted some form of cancer or thyroid disease.
in New Mexico
radioactive grasses
food for cows in spring
June finds me deep in love
by that, I do not mean a romantic, focused on a person, sort of thing
June, rather, finds me looking at dates on a calendar
daughter’s birthday
sister’s as well
Father’s Day and once upon a time an anniversary
friends’ celebrations
love though, is more than a list of occurrences
love is the reason
why I send a message, greeting, a bit of hope
the long and short of life’s choices
love is the solidity, as well as the longing
a promise it all means
something, if only a wish
next June will find me deep in love
Ten feet tall and armed to the teeth
Afraid of nothing
A little man with a good mind
And a big ego.
Always suffered from high self-esteem.
Besides God was on his side.
Never feared the beasts of the world
Not lions or tigers or bears
Or wolves or snakes or monsters
Real or imagined.
But time wore cracks in the armor
And even the gentle rain that fell on it
Caused rust and weak spots.
Injuries followed, and
Ego suffered.
Began to worry about wolves and tigers and bears,
To wonder where the lions are.
To fear viruses and infections and
Other creatures far more deadly than monsters,
And fear for the well-being of those he loved
Those he could not protect.
Now his armor is gone
Broken by time.
And loss and grief.
Gone the confidence,
The fearlessness.
He doubts his own self.
Every time he walks out the door,
Afraid, he wonders
Where the lions are
And where God is.
I settle into rocker on front porch
to breathe in petrichor, word I would
never have known if not for my obsession
with Phish I follow as closely as I follow line
of lilies blooming in neighbors’ garden I snap
picture to send son, not that he cares one bit
about keeping up with the same flowers he saw
open every day on our one week’s (five days/every day)
walks I cherish, (week between baccalaureate/
Europe/Eurail/hostel adventure/and new career)
he may never remember, which is the point. He
doesn’t need to tuck memories like I do.
