Rows full of seats

In a dark room

Silence fills

Until laughter erupts

A cinematic masterpiece—

When did everyone stop clapping at the end of a movie?

Underneath a familiar night sky 
In Moon, Kentucky, with the stars above 
We gathered around a fire 
Laughed and talked and cooked
Made new memories to look back on 
Shared dreams and aspirations 
Hopes for the future and for our children 
A time to cherish and celebrate 
A time we will always remember 
A time we will forever hold dear.

I’ve reached that point in my life
where I can’t see far away, 
and I can’t see up close. 
The optometrist tells me
I need bifocals, 
but calls them progressives
as if that would somehow
soften the blow.
It’s no blow to me, 
this aging of my body.
I like this version
better than the ones before.

Flicker furry flame
thump frisky feline rhythms. 
Purr against the night. 

hold my hand along the midway
waltz with me past the carousel
smile in time to its calliope as we
toss rings at slender soda bottles,
ride the swing round and round
until, giddy, we fall madly in love

I remember a silence
filled with chirping insects,
a far off screech owl on
silent wings among the
white pines.
A constant rhythmic 
humming of spring peepers
occasionally seen, bright eyes
a glow on the tree bark
of the maple in the front yard.
Wind in the leaves,
a whip poor will call
but no cars, no air conditioners
overwhelming the peace
of natural symphonic 
night music.
Silence as delicate as
the clear black sky
sparkling with stars or fireflies,
one fading into the other.
I remember the distant
heat lightning, illuminating
a summer evening,
soundless and magical.
I remember silence
and peace.

KW
6/28/24

i’m always riding shotgun in your roommates car
i’m always crying because all of my favorite songs are ours
he’s in the backseat and you’re always driving

you won’t even bum
one cig or a stick of gum
so you can’t owe me anything of yours
we both know i’m not the one

my food stuck to the paper
like i stuck to your side
you paid my way but
you wouldn’t stay i tried i tried i tried

once you cracked two eggs into the same pan
sometimes i think i’m still your biggest fan
i didn’t like onions until you caramelized them for me
i can’t do anything without thinking of you it’s so embarrassing

if i say i’m eating for two i mean cold leftovers of me and you
whether the glass is empty or full it’s still only half
and i’ll always gladly take the scraps

You’re a candle in a dark room

A proud defiance of the way you’re expected to be

Perceived by many, understood by few

Your persistence is unlike anything I’ve ever known

How do you fit such tenacity inside of you?

Your honesty, a cool spring in humid heat

The love that pours out of you is warm and sweet

Your hate is something I hope I never taste

Truthfully, I know it in my heart, I was made for you

I Guess This Is It Now  

Forever after it ended wouldn’t
have been slow. Enough. My
muse, my everything-even-after.
Even after, forever is so slow.    

Virginia At The Ballet  

Woolf works in a way
because, about this life, we can say
so many overlapping, aching waves.
Each tendu a laser, each word a ray.    

—after American Ballet Theatre’s performance of Wayne McGregor’s Woolf Works—

Heel Strike Hits Hard Today  

My ovaries feel like peanuts
Popping in my pelvis.
Being a woman is so very,
Very weird.    

Collect  
Chinatown, Manhattan

Subway rabbits.
Pigeons and bread.
Whisker vase.
Hand-pulled noodle.