curled about my neck
a three-colored cat
unassuming in her posturing
a languid paw extends to pat my arm
and stay there at length
there’s a fear in crowds
this reaching and touching
the person you know
might not know
they’re crazy
or you yourself
and all this craziness could be the stretch of an arm
a hand placed on your coat
a warm greeting
Tag: Poem
The bothersome idea of a tree
what happened to my path
it was here leading me
and now branches
i walk down through the broken shafts find the tree
split by lightning
is this how people get lost
looking for symbolism in the everyday yes
and how they are found
walking paths night and day
Painful Feet
only a bath can get my feet warm
painfully cold all day
the heat nearly blistering now
and then just as cold in the steaming bath
socks, i suspect, will be needed this spring
my tuxedo cat braids herself between the chair in the bathroom
the clock ticks
the bubbles pop
A/C hums
so peaceful i could sleep
and awake freezing at dawn
This
this is air beneath my wings
to talk unafraid
or bravely
this is the way i trip
same
this is how i love
interaction
this is my anger
silence
this is my healing
closing the door
Writer
stars explode over hilltops and mountain range
billion year old fire-fights frozen a billion ways
beauty
more than you or i can attain
and yet
we dabble and scribble
our canvases
and notebooks
within another’s murmurings find art
then why not within our own voice
unless to strangle the growing light of our own quiet star
when the time comes to question
who did this
to stand no matter the inflection
and say
i did.
or to call to a soul as proud and rebellious as thine
to find your work on another’s wall
in another’s heart
well
to preserve the quiet swell of life
or the lows
well
don’t you want to know?
Master
this is the end
no more time for counting
all you’ve earned and accomplished
are unchanging
you can take more but it will only count against you
there’s no balance
pushing towards a bitter credit
sequel’s coming
but who has room on the ballot?
seek for balance then
be the weight that tips
in favor of goodness
put your palm firm and decide
who you will be
Heart
through the sliver between the curtains
spring’s expanse
a holy door ajar
to rain on desert’s circumstance
these blades of reason
sway as grass
to grab these branches
and swing away
Daily No. 9
traded books for books
nearly even
ate and read poetry
for hours
the cat takes our time
we wonder if she’s deaf
if she’s happy
fed
we click when we run our hands over fur and bone
click when we pick her up light and brittle
she sleeps with her head pressed to the waterbowl and meows hello when she sees you
we watch her unmoving ears
Madness
strings converge
cross
tangle
i see the pattern
connection after connection
vans park outside
cigarette burns burn anew
the TV is talking about me
every channel
every line
they notice my messy house
engage in my favorite activities
dance with and torment me
i make notes copious and brazen
i hide bits with Susan
bits with Jill
you’re not well
their replies
I’m awake
I’m awake
and upon sleeping again
the journals become those of some foreign hand
restless writing and hiccuped language
graphs and charts of imagination
once
so
clear
muddled
the bug in the fan
no longer needing a sane smile
no longer needing to deceive the ceiling fan
I’m asleep
asleep
both dreading and dress rehearsing
for awakening again
Pandemic
i am warm through my center
tired and about to dream
an ordinary life
AbyKittiwake 