that's mrs. mediocrity to you

half ghost, half zephyr

alight with silence

no compass necessary

carry me home

everywhere i go i see angry people
lips pursed and stiff with indignation
faces red and closed and pontificating

their way towards purple

and some days it makes me laugh and
other days it makes me frightened so
i stay holed-up in my hermit house

digging in a few feet deeper

watching butterflies and dragons
slay petunias and wayward periwinkle and
cedar waxwings choosing only the ripest

berries from a tangled mass of elders

as i pretend not to notice for fear
of scaring them off with a ruby-lipped
smile and a heart burst open

seeds of joy spilling out

floating

away

like tufts of dandelion

and no one questions if it’s fair or just
or whether the gypsy moth has more right
to be alive than the hard-scabbed ugly

beetle

.

.

.

Linking up with the fabulous dVerse poets for Open Link Night, join us!

i found her in a box at
the back of a cupboard
all dust-covered and
crinkled with age

at twenty three
already thinking
life was so dim
and so perilous

so blank and filled
with dark possibility
cynical and funny
and cosmically correct

i want to hug her

pat her on the back
and say, there, there
i want to fill her

pages with platitudes
and posture and
cross out words
like bleak and barren

make notes in red
down the sides of
yellowed paper saying
ha! and really?

but instead i hold her
carefully to protect
her vulnerability and
the more i read

the more i smile
because in truth
i find myself
beginning

to fall in
love with her
a little

she gets me

.

.

.

Linking up with the fabulous dVerse poets for Open Link Night, join us!

i wrap a blanket
’round my shoulders
and step outside
to search for meteors

blinking blank sky
tinged pink by cityscape
and two low clouds
hung just off center

the southern cross
points slightly southwest
and i face north to seek
that one true star

feeling grounded
and whole and tiny
beneath her ever
standing compass

all i need
to find my way
to all the home
that matters

on the periphery
the pleiades dance
because they know
no one can see

.

.

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Linking up with the fabulous dVerse poets for Poetics (A beautiful sadness), join us!

when what i want
is the chaos of doubt

and you

you hide behind
that smokescreen
of birdsong
and pretty sky

where blue
is the color
of everything

but purple

is my favorite

and

three
small planes
crisscross clouds
like geese heading
to triumvirate ponds

while two
grasshoppers vie
for one green leaf

and black eyed susans
force canned laughter
onto the stage

but

the catbird

its very name
an oxymoron

perches high

and watches
a storm roll in

grey squared
in one blind

eye

the butterfly effect
is the quintessential cause
of chaos

we cannot stop living
and so
we keep dying

time waits for us to look away
however briefly
to add tattoos to our skin

hope keeps us going
just long enough to walk into a room
filled with hopelessness

a snake sheds its skin as it grows
and glides into
a larger version of itself

mother nature’s patterns and
illusions only make sense
if you’re a cloud

refuse to look away

refuse to cry uncle

refuse to be broken

for just now

another set of wings
emerges
from a dried-husk brittle
cocoon

translucent

blue and brilliant

flying home

…….

….

.

Sending love and light to the victims of the aurora shootings
and those whose lives they touched.

.

.

.

dVerse poets Open Link Night

the rules of karma
are hard to follow

…….so much is unintentional
…….and yet, pain is caused

…….i never kill spiders
…….but stay away from me
…….if you’re a fly

…….that hardly seems fair

…….i am biased
…….despite all attempts
…….at magnanimity

i sit here in this garden
i pull weeds that want to grow
i displace ants and snails
…….simply striving to survive

…….we all play god
…….in our own small way

bending rules
breaking promises

…….forgiving
…………forgetting
……………..pretending

…….awards are given
…….for best posture

…….stand tall

…….reach for the sky

…………offer penance
……………..for a pittance

……………..next time,
……………..you will soar

.

.

.

Linking up with the fabulous dVerse poets for Open Link Night – Anniversary Week, join us!

but what if the rains never come
she said

and of course, i had no answer

wanting to say
i promise

but instead
changed the subject
to ice cream
and good books

as the hard scorched earth
burned up through
the soles of my flip-flops

tomato plants wilted

we talked of dinner
and sucked on ice cubes
from empty glasses
of lemonade

and there was not one cloud
in the sky

sadness weighs
the opposite of happiness

and everybody wants to fix
the world

we’ve fooled ourselves into
thinking we’re in charge
simply because gravity is
kind enough to keep us here

but look at these clouds
painting mother nature’s
fury

only she knows the truth

and being the good mother

she’s not telling

(for our own good)

you storm out
all stomping feet and
slamming doors

pretending it’s your job
to change the view
to make it clear
to reconnoiter

rescuing hope from
boxes marked fragile

playing god
and hide and seek

olly olly oxen free

at least, you think
you’re free

rain weighs
the opposite of
light

.

.

.

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Happy Birthday to Open Link Night!

earth cracked and dry
like the skin on my knuckles
the only difference
is the blood that seeps
through my skin

signs of life
cannot be mistaken
as proof of growth

sapped out seedlings

burn bury burn

crackle crumble

the will to live survives
the pain of scorch in
this desert of days

moisture moves
beneath the surface
with a ripple and a whorl
as the weight of memory
pulls me under

.

.

.

Linking up with the fabulous dVerse poets for Poetics, Whatever the Weather, join us!