Dissolution of a Union

                     

In lieu of togetherness
of my own free will and accord

I have served notice

and am going on the record

to show cause

that I wish to cease and desist

being your chattel

declaring our contract null and void

in perpetuity

After the fact

of having sworn an oath

signing on the dotted line

the party of the first part
through the discovery process found

a breach of promise

extenuating circumstances

demonstrating that you obtained my consent

under false pretenses

conclusive evidence shows

that our partnership

is not bona fide

due to the questionability

of your moral turpitude

I assume liability

as a matter of record

for asking the leading questions

which met the burden of proof

knowing I can not exist without

possibility of parole or probation

serving consecutive life sentences

of meaningless quid pro quo

Tender Allies

I can’t help but notice

the way you look at me

discreetly

stealing glances

full of meaning

when you think I don’t see                  

I can’t help but appreciate

the quiet comfort I have found

in cherished, tranquil moments 

spent together                                                                     

as pleasant companions

tender allies

for many years

I can’t help but wonder

where within the earth’s

many revolutions

our comfortable friendship

spun into something else

infinitely more precious

which has turned me into

a tongue-tied schoolgirl

hurled to fits of bashful shyness

unable to recover my voice                                                                

or wits

Too Tired to Love Today

I was too tired to love today

anyone but myself and I

too defeated to stop and pray

cared not enough to even try

to guide a friend or point the way

for someone struggling through the day

I cared only for me-my-mine

I ticked the hours and lost the time

I was too selfish today to care

so wrapped up in my own desires

no smile, laugh or hug to share

in claiming kindness, I am a liar

a hectic, busy schedule leeches

energy – effort - time - emotion

ignoring all that goodness teaches       

to freely give of self; no notion

I was too tired to love today

Lord, give me strength to live your way

The Saving of Me

Your words flung me against the walls of my own prejudices

bruising and piercing me

in ways I could not bear

My heart beat against my ribcage

like a free-born; now-caged bird

flailing, fighting for remembered freedom

I can not share in your exact hurt, Sir

with pinpoint precision

nor can I isolate

or excise the tumor of misunderstanding

that has metastasized between us.

Insulated and separate, perhaps forever,

you are unreachable and shrink away from my touch

My fear prevents me from reaching towards the crucible

that you have become,

filled with violent, volatile, inhuman heat

Breathe sweet self, breathe …

I will not allow you to take my breath away, Sir,

for my breath is my own

I am injured and grasping for a foothold -

seeking something solid, something known and familiar

knowing I have stumbled,

I will move

onto more solid ground

and

away from you

Back I go, 

into the cage of my own making

clutching my breast to quiet my flailing, fighting bird of a heart –

which flutters and trembles still

Let it be that today my heart will once again rest easy within me

I have done my best to carefully cup and cradle her

within my hands

protectively soothing her

with gentle, charmed cooing 

as a dove

Whenever the breeze that carries your name 

whispers throughout the night

Of our shared and unforgotten secrets,

I will awaken and stop my ears from listening

oh wind of soulful voices, you are not real …

tormenting tempest which caws my innermost yearnings for all to hear,
you have lied

so beguilingly you tell of dreams unspoken, yet denied

Awaken and breathe deeply of self, breathe … damn you …

I will not allow you to take my breath away, Sir,

for my breath is my own

Back safe in my citadel of self

one day

with satisfaction I will know

it is better to live safely, alone in a known and comfortable room

than to share your ample palace

a prisoner to your petty words

and pain. 

Two Dozen Red Long-Stemmed Roses

Two dozen red long-stemmed roses
arrived with lots of baby's breath and                                        
a healthy dose of fern
a month after you left
for home on
your side of the pond

I must confess I called my friends
to brag about
their beauty
your generosity
and the implications of your gift

Two dozen red long-stemmed roses
held court on my dining room table
presiding in a formal place of honor
for almost two weeks
before I questioned your reticence
stupidly ... ignorantly ... unforgivably
allowing myself to believe that

Two dozen red long-stemmed roses
were a sign of mutual respect and affection
a celebratory place to begin us
but your messages did not come
except as replies to my inquiries
your short snippets as my tea time meal
of tripe and inedible gristle
served with indigestible trivia for pudding

on our infrequent, transatlantic calls you were surly
brusque and unkind
which cut me to the quick
slowly ... it dawned on me that

Two dozen red long-stemmed roses
were your memorial epitaph
a remembrance, of us
an odd funeral offering
as you were too cowardly to tell me
that we were at an end; not a beginning
so in ignorance, I had made a fool of myself
a daft, Yank hen - gone barmy

nothing tangible now except
the mass of rotting stems and petals
of  two dozen red long-stemmed roses
which faded and withered
leaving indelible stains on my best carpet
and
the only heart I possess

Chicken-Little Magpies

 

Chicken-Little Magpies

tweeting and twittering

screech the horror of falling skies

each new nano-second

I am plugged in

I know ... smut sells
but also
it smells
of someone else's pain and funk

Did I need to  …

revel in the excesses/distresses
headlines: "He Confesses"
dysfunctional antics
as addiction regresses
a once brilliant talent
into the public butt of jokes?

get the down low
low down
oh, so slow
blow-by-blow
of an Uber-rich couple’s break-up/breakdown
uptown
smackdown?

Does knowing that the Governor’s hemorrhoids

are healing nicely now

add anything

to my person

my mental state

or the richness of my life?

It upsets me

that war, disaster and poverty are too

ubiquitous

and mundane

to hold our stunted attention spans

Go stuff your trash talking “news”

I don’t care who is diddling whom
if whom prefers boys to girls

or which politician rates highest on the scale of slimy

Scandal-Rama is so last year

So get hip you Magpies …

tell me something

worth hearing

sensational because it is so
inspirational

uplift me
so I can lift up
my family
my community

my world

Tell me something
that will enrich us all
or tell me nothing,
nothing at all

This Woman's Scorn

If I could but hate you

I would

roundly, soundly

completely, replete

with loathing

awash in the negative flow
of icy emotion

drifting through eddies

cold and angrily swirling

bitterly biting back

my feelings

for contemptible you

If I would but hate you

I could

float on a river of malice

indulging myself by bathing

in currents of vigorous rage

filled with self-righteous indignation

bitter but wiser; animosity’s sage

mercenary woman

hell bent on a mission to hell

no inhibition or quiet submission

vengefully venting vitriolic venom

Oh, if I were a hating woman

I could have; would have

hated hard

been disgustingly mean

spiritedly unspiritual

would gladly have eaten

the poisoned apple

of willful, stubborn unforgiveness

knowing it would kill us both

while not caring a whit

Dance of the Mature Woman

I’m no spring chicken

In the midst of a gaggle

Of middle aged birds

Giggle, whisper, babble

Music swirls around me

Like the swizzle in my drink

Rhythmic beat so pulsing - loud

I simply can not think

You touch my hand, heroically

asking me to dance

As you lead me to the floor

clucking hens look on, askance

Whirling in the storm of sound

Spellbound by reviving motion

My bloom reclaimed; sparkle found

Ecstatic thrill – sparks emotion

Tomorrow’s reality will dawn

But tonight I sway; a gliding blur

Heart-beats tempo as time moves on

Old age, tonight - I will defer

Running Hot and Cold

hate while raging, boils                                                       

soon chills to killing cold

where no heart can live

icy fingers choke out love

depth of feeling; devoid of                             

unforgiveness grows

to stunt, deform, isolate

stone cold hearts which beat

only for themselves; not you

hard-dead-frozen; through and through

Song for the Moon

oh, luna

singularly funny-faced luna

reflective orb of smiling light

you dance the sky most every night

as crickets sigh, chirp and moan

with gilded threads as love was sown

‘neath harvest moona

my sweet luna

watchfully bright o’er nights eterna

a following friend to terra firma

cheek-to-cheek you tango; effortless grace

dipping-turning elegantly in airless, inky space

beloved luna

sing to me a remembrance of my youth

I knew too little to future fear; for this is truth

I danced – flirted – kissed – loved

I held the heat in hands ungloved

afire with fever you slipped and trickled

down to me on mists and moonbeams

reluctant luna

you show yourself

in dribs and drabs

like an Arab beauty at the souk

your shy-eyed; lingering gaze hovers above

silky veil of night - cloaking your visage in mystery

then suddenly - a full blown lantern you become

shining, as the noon-day sun

taking up the lions share of night sky

in vain stars vie
to equal luna

Silent Testimony

Sorting of shoes at Auschwitz

mountain of shoes

moldering pyramid

monument to death

wailing wordlessly

of unknowable life miles

danced-skipped-walked-run-marched

tiny children's boots

the saddest by far

held toddling, unsure baby legs

learning to stand

beginning to move through the world

weeded out as tender seedlings

never permitted to grow or blossom

shoes of women

mothers, grannies, aunts

stepped by inches; feet

to their deaths

with brave trepidation

comforting themselves

and frightened children

strong steel-toed work boots

factory workers, machinists, farmers

well made expensive loafers for

well heeled; professional men

trudged hard towards death all
at the end of bayonets and gun barrels

strong, steel-spined men

each someone’s beloved

helpless to stop cold, steel-hardened hate

other mountains of shoes

other places

other grudges

in different, more modern times

tell of indecent-inhuman deeds

each generation striving to

best its predecessor’s

dedicated zeal in the killing arts of genocide

will humanity comprehend?

we have murdered
not

“those people”

so different, unimportant and

"other”

but rather, our own …

Mothers

Fathers

Sisters

Brothers

Recliner Power

middle aged woman
sits rooted in recliner
unmoving fossil
too tired to exercise
mind, body, faith or patience

middle aged woman
alone with remote control
channel surfs her life
recording all; she often
fast-forwards the now
replays the unchangeable past

aging woman
blustery day dreams
needs fresh breezes
blowing through her hair each morn
asking her to risk comfort

goddess recliner
worshipped daily without fail
feet higher than all
bled me dry with sacrifice
of real present or future

Smoke and Fire

smoldering eyes heat
sudden flame sparks this flint heart

dried dreams as tinder
avert gaze or be consumed

by flash flared stare to cinder

Digital Technol Oh Gee

zeroes and ones - zeroes and ones
seem so chaotic
haphazard
too simple
yet everything runs on
zeroes and ones - zeroes and ones
are ordered; not random
always working in tandem
those zeroes and ones - zeros and ones


symmetry through digits
has created the widgets
we believe we can't live without
yet man through the ages
has thrived using pages
made of vellum or paper, no doubt


the pen and the pencil have days which are numbered
I fear this is all but too true
like the abacus and slide rule
they are facing extinction
and one day will be viewed at the zoo


zeroes and ones - zeroes and ones
are changing our world as you read
we trade insults and info
and all the world's knowledge
at magical, lightening speed


those zeroes and ones - zeroes and ones
are ordered; not random
always working in tandem
zeroes and ones - zeros and ones

Soaring



crazed drafts lift dancers
avian grace pirouettes
swept up to blue haze

The Nature of Words

 

Squiggly, wriggly, higgledy-piggledy; words across the paper fly

Jiggle-y, giggle-y, fickle-y, wiggle-y; I don’t know the reason why

The words, the words, they never rest

From buzzing round my head and breast

Once they’ve hatched they will not nest

Nor let me slumber there

Words zip ‘round my head like flies

Nipping if I fail to rise

To give them life

Or fix their wings

They are the most contrary things

Rhyming and rhythm created a schism

Between the pillow and my head

Dreams full of meter

A penny per liter

Please drive these torturers from my bed

Squiggly, wriggly, higgledy-piggledy; words across the paper fly

Jiggle-y, giggle-y, fickle-y, wiggle-y; I won’t rest freely ‘til I die

Man's Work

Up and down the ladder he schleps

a sweating ant

repeatedly defying gravity by

working his way up and down the drain pipe

Cleaning the gutters

painting the shutters

re-glazing the windows

caulk gun wielded like a sten

in the expert hands of a stealthy sniper

Dried paint droplets

cling to a beloved shirt

ratty and too often rescued from the rag bag

splatters on his work boots

testify silently

to projects challenged, dueled and won

Mists of wood and shrapnel

cling to bed-head hair,

eyebrows and a steel wool beard

beneath squinted eyes the glint of

noonday sun is tamed

I remain on the ground

shouting helpful instruction

and encouragement

cool beneath the shade of my large straw hat

I am full of white hot inspiration

and cold beer

Still my hero

diligently

sweats and schleps up and down the ladder

defying gravity by

clinging to my heart

A Happy Surprise

Blazing summer's rays
exposed melting lovers gaze
of most beloved friend