Posts for June 5, 2026 (page 14)

Didn’t want to write today
they’ve come fluidly
through the crack in the dam
past four days.
Maintenance crew
must’ve finally returned from
the extended coffee break,
or strike for better wage.
To spackle and gum up
the crack I carefully carved
the flume by which my
creative ichor flowed
now waned to naught more than a trickle.
The flow comes and goes each day
that’s the challenge
of a perfect poet’s June—
thirty straight.
Some days I’ve got to apply more pressure
dig my hole by hand
excavate a space for liquid to flow.
Every day, break through the dam. 

The Flowering Of Art

Does one become a writer,

By writing what is in their head,

Or are they only a writer,

Once their work is read?

Perhaps writers need readers,

Like flowers need bees,

The writer puts the meaning in the words,

And hopes the reader sees.

Much like pollination,

Thoughts are carried o’er the land,

And disseminated by the reader,

Which puts the writing in demand.

The writing of the writer,

Then sprouts and grows in the heart,

And the reader grows a need for,

The writer’s budding art.

Soon the bookshelf of the reader,

Is a garden of delights,

Full of flowery words and phrases,

Heady thoughts and lovely sights. 

i could crawl into your skin
nestled tight ‘neath crooked ribs
cocooned close to your drumming heart
and still not be close enough

There’s a reason
I can bend the
reeds on this
blues harp so.

There’s a reason
I can close my
eyes and hit
those mournful notes.

There’s a reason
I raise my head
up to the sky
when I play.

There’s a reason
that sometimes
my hands will
shake.

There’s a reason
I will start a solo
slow.

There’s a reason
that I know
how solos
go.

There’s a reason
I can wail and moan
that lonesome
song.

There’s a reason
why I held that
weeping line
so long.

There’s a reason
these folks came
to hear us play
tonight.

We all have our reasons,
be they wrong or
be they right.

I left my home for overseas
And found that grimdark melody
Was something deep inside of me
That changed as dark as ebony

This is my grimdark melody
My innocence was quickly shed
This is my grimdark melody
Too young were those among the dead

Then I returned home from the war
Still searching for those after me
Thoughts broke and fractured evermore
Found no comfort nor remedy

This is my grimdark melody
Without remorse nor empathy
This is my grimdark melody
Cripples me with anxiety

Please hear my prayer Almighty One
Send olive branches to frontlines
Spare our children and show them love
Deliver them from greedy minds

This is my grimdark melody
I know it needn’t be so stark
This was my grimdark melody
It will not keep me in the dark

Someday I know I’ll start to mend
I know that one day it will end
But until that day comes to pass
I count the sands of hourglass
Because it’s living memory
I hum that grimdark melody

i dreamt about you 
    again
        last night

the ache still lives in my ribcage 
    from 
        moments you were alive

now, the love is a whisper 
    of 
        a shout of what it used to be

i am left alone 
    again 
        you are dead

a garden grows 
    still
        where you are laid

i dreamt about you
    again
        last night 

It’s Toss-the-Stuffed-Puppy time
and we laugh at fantastic catches,
each grasp at paw or tail
sillier than the last, our smiles
racing to be the widest.

My teacher-self sees hand-eye
coordination and self-confidence,
my Nana-self exhales
a ripple of giggles, making
that trip to the clinic redundant.

With the slightest touch
Just there behind my left knee
A whole wide world opens

the street dreams
summer shadows

we slide down moonlight
we dog-walk crunching

acorns kick up leaf mold
we lope across front 

lawns scrape our paws on
sidewalks chasing stars