I hear the belled calico
In her nightly ritual
Of chasing a hair tie
Her nymphic purrs
Otherworldly dance
And stop
Gratify the deep down of soul
I hear the belled calico
In her nightly ritual
Of chasing a hair tie
Her nymphic purrs
Otherworldly dance
And stop
Gratify the deep down of soul
When sheared of fault
Lines of indifference
Speak
The rustling of the dryer
The blasting fan
All are alike
In silence
I can tell when the night has fallen
By the ache inside my bones
By crawling inside a bed alone
For I weep more easily
Even when you’re here
I can tell when the night has fallen
Blooms regardless of grammar
Hums out veins whose strands follow the strains of sun
Replaces man-made with once-there
Forgives ramblings repeats itself repeats itself repeats
Itself a truth untied though fettered by man
Never was a place
-went there all the time
Until we disgraced
Stayed in anytime
Where all the same things wandered
Where all the same things roamed
The only difference being
In never we had a home
We give more candy to the young Trick or Treaters
When they won’t eat half of it
Leaving the older with measly handouts
To punish them for celebrating in their oldness
Then wonder why we can’t abide the lines in our face
In a time of pandemic and impeachment
Twice
We stand as uneasy deer
Whiffing the familiar
Fear
Of generations in our bones
No place to run
When place is home
gather me in
focus my eye
We are all lights of truth
Intelligences before the world began
Give me the words
Teach me the signs
Help me be a light of truth
Help me learn by being thine
You never mention snow in June
But now you mention her
As if she’d swirl in like the wind
And always be your girl
So if I’m packing parkas for a summer camp
Be sure I’ll know you’ll mention her
How pine trees made her snap
And the grand canyon couldn’t out-grand her smile
It’s been awhile, I’ll say
When I see her someday
On your arm
I don’t plan on laughing more lady-like
I quite like a well-placed guffaw
And one day I’ll be having a grand ole time
With someone who loves me as much as I loved ya
And I won’t mention you in passing
For you’ll have faded like a winter day
No, I’ll be laughing
Laughing, laughing
Sometimes laughing for no reason at all
Her grace wades through the muddied water
Each step stirs up a mealy goo
But on and on she goes til trudging up the banks
Frail moon barely a toothpick
Watches her press on
Up the banks
To breach the castle gate
Where her king has been deposed
And the halls of her kingdom will hear her wailing
See her muddy the steps
And the throne
Yes, even burn it to the ground
Yet even burned
The foundation and framework
Remain true
Burned to the ground
As if the castle made the crown
A faint sigh was all was left of her