If you ask me, I will, despite my sense 
of awkwardness, deeply rooted by 
the long years before you came along.   

¿Me sostendrás en tus brazos?  

If you ask me with a smile, 
the moon reflected in your eyes,
I will, without a second’s thought.   

¿Serás mi compañera por un tiempo?  

If you ask me with a gentle touch,
fingers barely brushing my cheek,
I will, long after the lights come up.   

¿Me amarás todos nuestros años?  

If you ask me, a laugh on your lips
from the joy of finding us together,
I will, my heart keeping time with yours.   

¿Quiere usted, por favor y gracias?  

people misunderstand silence: it makes them uncomfortable: the quiet quickly becomes unbearable: if no one is talking, they turn on the TV or radio, even when alone: anything to chase away the stillness: me, i enjoy the silence: there is a kind of acceptance available only to the reticent: there is a peace that only begins to flow into a space after the words have been chased away:

pro level: achieved when you can be noiseless and look others in the eye while covered in the unblinking hush.

No more drooping leaves.

Her eight inch coral globe is tipped 

in tiny yellow dots,

her skirt tipped in blood.

Actually, yes
I do it for the money.
Maybe y’all have nicer landlords than I do,
But I’m doing it for the money.

They don’t pay to do what I want to do,
So until then
I do it for the money.

(As a matter of fact, I’m quite a bargain.)

houndstooth ripples rove
jumble landscape angles
fragments remake beauty

Lean on me when you’re not strong
But now I’m weak
Crushed under both of our problems

For most
Of the summer
I’ve been waking up
Early dawn light
And dirty clothes
Tending a lawn
That has grown wild
Over several years
But today I woke
Watching leaf and sky
Out my window
And I was tired
So I rolled over
And when the light was warmer
And stronger
I came down alone
And drank coffee
And wrote poetry. 

craning our necks
to spot songbirds
we encounter a blue heron

The bottom’s never 
made of rock. There’s always room
to keep on falling.