He Ain't Got No Soul

glacial ice

crackled

cracked

fashioning

the shard

which is

your heart

inky night

descended

from its perch

in starless sky

to spawn you

grim shadowy

yawning - empty

human cavern

thou art a

soulless

man

The Difficult Lessons

When a man says …

“We’re just friends”

friendship

will have to suffice

believe him

or else ready yourself

for truest

bluest heartbreak

“I don’t ever want to get married”

he doesn’t

no kidding

nothing you can do

or say

will ever help him

to change his mind

“Would you mind picking up the tab, again?”

smile ...

your most dazzling, disarming grin

say, “Not at all”

as you reach for your wallet

to pay the bill

oh yes,

once more,

you’ve been taken in

At your first opportunity

gallop away

as quickly as you ever may

never, ever

glance back his way

lest your

best

highest self

you betray

Lord, Have Mercy

I am

a southern woman

having been painstakingly

trained to be

unquestioning

demure – docile 
imagine Scarlett O'Hara
without the sassy attitude
or hoop skirt

raised to be almost
sickeningly sweet
much like

those heaping cupfuls of

refined sugar added

to our

syrupy

iced sweet-tea

Like most here

I accept God

as being real

alive

listening

So, I dared asked him

"Hey, God

do you  

have any faith

left in me"?

I make no apologies

to any reader

whom I might offend

by talking openly of 

matters spiritual

know this …

my upbringing has

shaped my faith

my core

the very person

whom,

in essence,

I am

I’ve been praying

fasting

pleading

for an answer

to my prayers

maybe Jesus took a

holiday

my calls

deferred

to his voice-mail

or perhaps my inquiries have escalated

to be handled by his Dad

our mutual father-God

is it possible

our Creator

has grown tired

from my

too frequent pleading?

I am beseeching him

for an angel

beautiful

celestial messenger

to relate

from here

to near the foot

of heaven’s highest throne 
to whisper

of my

respect

honor

reverence

love

"Hey, God
it's just me again
I have faith in you
yet sometimes I doubt
whether you have faith
in me".

In Need of Some Reassurance

Will you still …

love me

once
all traces

of supple

toned

smoothness

melt away?

When this pate

is encircled

by a

silver

halo

replacing the

coronet of

thick auburn

tendrils

which I

now wear

will you still …

care enough

to smooth

grayed locks

with loving

absent minded

abandon?

Will you still …

want me

to cup your face

in my hands

once these fingers

wither

disfiguring

themselves

into

gnarled  twigs?

Will you still …

think me beautiful

once

my spine

curves

to form

a question mark

my shoulders

brought low

by time's

heavy

millstone?

Will you?

Cuppa Joe

Simple pleasures

sweeten this life

as a spoonful of sugar

dissolving

disappears

into

early morning coffee

my nectared cup

of warm ambrosia

If

I were a

gazillionaire

with loot to spare

I would not abandon

this custom of

quiet meditation

with a cuppa joe

brew most jolting

superb concoction

of roasted beans

so sublime

I Must Confess

I could lie

by saying that the wine had gone to my head

that I was somehow

inculpable

innocent

incognizant

of my actions

As I said

those claims would all be lies - on the grandest scale

for I knew, yet cared not about the consequences

with full knowledge

I leant toward you

to embrace

as friends so often do
I must confess
that I longed for so much more

You kissed me

fully … most fully

kissed me

with warmth

passion

the desire

 … so surprising

most unexpected

my soul

my life’s essence

soared

circling the cosmos

past heaven

to boomerang homeward

my eternity
past - present - future
melded

distilled

perfected

into that very instant

was paradise found

rapture was born

that night

rapture

on the grandest scale

Firelight

Autumn has self-announced

her arrival

wearing

a splendid coat

of many colors

rainbow of earthy tones

as did Joseph

in the bible

Dreary gray, chilly days

whose long shadows

of twilight

emerge earlier

each evening

giant of a sun

diminished

to a dwarf

First fire

of the season

lighted in this hearth

we revel

in its heat and glow

as an old dog snoozes
blissfully

stretched out

before the flames

to warm aging bones

cats chase the dancing

light, shadow

flickering

along the walls