Twirling, running, climbing, leaping, laughing,
a gleaming celebration of life is this small boy,
illuminating a strip mall parking lot
with pulsing energy. Continue reading
Family portrait
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Category Archives: Poetry
Spring into summer: Five poems
Midwestern spring
A spring breeze rustles the trees
whispers across my neck
and disappears in the heat of summer
Freshness Spout
Our garden fountain
turns birdie bidet
whenever a robin comes to visit.
Dipping and bobbing,
ruffling his feathers, Continue reading
Sleeping dog
I sit curled on my chaise writing,
engrossed in the parsing of words, punctuation, rhythms
when the snoring dog at my feet
starts to thump his tail
and I am pulled back into the physical world
where the clamor of his dreams
and the warmth of his rump on my toetops
reminds me I am happy
Free association
Driving home from work tonight I heard the word “copse” in the audiobook that’s currently keeping me company in the car, and my mind set off on a path of word association that took me deep into my childhood.
I grew up in the rural Midwest, roaming 300+ acres of pastureland owned by my family and my best friend’s family. “Copse” immediately took me back to the wooded alcove set between two hills in my grandmother’s pasture, near the creek that ran in summer and froze in winter, a place where I played and rested and read, both alone and with my sister and friends, for hours and hours on end. Continue reading
Father’s Day, and the dogs are resting
We hesitate, glance over our shoulders,
hear whispers from our past,
and murmur, “Mother,” “Father” to ghosts long gone.
Old dog
This grief is familiar –
I feel it in my abdomen and jaw,
knit eyebrows,
clenched neck and shoulders.
It tints the brightest days gray,
paints blue tinges on my reds and yellows,
wakes me from deepest slumber. Continue reading