I think these thoughts
Of you, scattered flashes
That you will never think.
Scenes acted out only in my
Imagination. You love me there.
But they are only thoughts
And they mean nothing.

I think that I shall become
A Crazy Cat Lady
When my son grows up and
Leaves home

I shall open my doors
And set out bowls of food and water
For the strays and lost little kitties

My father called me from heaven

He had died a few weeks before
Sudden but not all that unexpected
When I was 6 months pregnant

I had to grieve in pieces
Jagged and small

You call me a monster
Tell me I'm crazy

Call me names I don't dare repeat
Threaten and demean and manipulate

Stare at me with hate and poorly hidden insecurities

I am as
The Great Wall

Imposing and expansive
Long arms stretching strong
Towers manned with watchful eyes
Protecting and
Protected

Bricks and bricks built
By each day's strife

Tears
But they do not always fall

Some do
Soft and gentle
Like the spring rain
That brings bloom to flowers

Others
Crash down
Like fragile diamonds
Fast, heavy

Where does poetry live?

Does it stand tall on majestic mountain tops?
Singing to the clouds
Whispering to the raindrops
Or perhaps it resides even higher
Dancing in the very place

I remember when I found you
At the second hand store
Looking a little sad and lonesome
As if you'd been overlooked
Many times before
Until I found you
I took you home and hung you up

Little footsteps scramble
Into the kitchen
Little arms wrap around my legs
And a warm cheek is pressed to my stomach
As spaghetti sauce is stirred
Before I can speak
He simply says

Is time so fluid?
So ambiguous?

Or are we so brazen
And so audacious

That the clocks do not tell us
What time it is

We tell the clocks
What time it is?

A slow dancing flame
That licks my warm fingertips
And then flits away

Mesmerizing heat
That warms my innermost thoughts
And makes my cheeks flush

Smiles I try to hide

rock, paper, scissors
how likely are the odds that
you will win this round?

We were only children
12 years if a day
We held hands by the river
And watched your brother play
We made believe as grownups
And you called me your wife
Someday we'd have it all, we said

I wake up when the sun's still low
Grab a hot shower and a strong cup o' joe
Put on my blue shirt and off I go
To the factory

I clock in and wander to my chair

Precarious, my heart
Perched on the highest wire
But it is neither the height
Nor the feeble tightrope
That quickens its rhythm
It is the inevitable breeze
That sways the wire