too far, too long
away from my home
missed the day
most of the night
not much
achieved
considering
the effort
the sacrifice
the disappointment
of unfulfilled dreams
99%
99%
My morning dose of chlorine gushes from the spigot with a blast of cold water
toxic enough to turn the bottom of the bright blue sand pail used to wash the dog a faded canvas speckled with bleached out spots of white but nowhere near the fatal dose needed to immediately end my existence
The sputtering spray is adequately wet enough to scrub the night’s rest from my skin
Sufficiently warm enough in the morning chill to let me linger under the drizzle
Delaying my return to cooler than comfortable room temperature routine
Allowing me time to seize another quiet second to remember
I have achieved my dreams
How could I know those dreams would be so attainable
The nuns draped in black and white reality
Stressed possible goals for the likes of me
No need to reach for blue skies when concrete was already under foot
Target the likely instead of a maybe and ignore the perhaps
I have achieved my dreams
and life is good but it’s not amazing
Achievable goals are fine but they are always shy of amazing
And when those very possible dreams are in hand they are so lacking compared to any two hopes
perched on a high limb beyond reach but not out of my sight
this poem was rejected by Ploughshares 1/30/12
lost yesterday
in a winter gust
festive colors cloud
the raging chaos
of comfortable living
in a place where
nobody starves
but oh so many freeze
walked
to the end of
my world
to catch the sky
waking from
star lit dreams
spectacular
simple
beauty
remember, always
happy birthday, Mom
missed much
especially when the cold winds blow
and there’s snow in the air
and the faint sound of Christmas
drifting on the breeze
missed the minutes
i let the day slip away let the light leave the sky toiled under wood and stone and brick and mortar until the sun drift low in the afternoon blue it was nearly lost when i emerged barely a glimpse on the horizon a fleeting moment in view before disappearing, ending the daylight and me losing my chance to see the rays dance on the rolling sea
10 years of tears
i want to go to New York and cry
i want to remember all who died
i want to promise to live
i want to promise to laugh
i want to promise to dance and sing
i want to promise to not be afraid
i want to promise to unite the divided
i want to promise them we will stay free
i want to make my guarantee
we will heal each other
we will nurse our common wounds together
we will dry our tears on one another’s sleeves
we will help each other up
we will hold each steady against the tides of grief
i want to do for them what i hope they would have done for me
The wind remains
the storm has passed
we endured less than promised
but more than we wanted
it is easy to forget
the natural violence of
our untamed world
until the fury of wind and water
tosses all that we know
loose from the shelter of home
built with nothing but sticks and stone
i am grateful to live in the shadow of the Atlantic
but i’m mindful, always, of her temper
today she merely toyed with us
tomorrow, i pray she falls back to
her cold flowing slumber
evening
the wind rises with the approaching tide
darkness will descend early
more than night arrives
fall has come too soon
to my shore
winter will not linger long behind