At The Checkout

At the checkout an old, thin woman argued.
She was being overcharged.  It was, maybe, fifty cents.
“Com’on” muttered another - impatient,
Carrying self-importance as much as groceries.
 

“Maybe she’s poor,” said a voice in defense.
“I’ll give her the money.  It’s just fifty cents.”
 

Maybe the old woman argued because once
When she was younger she held the world

With authority, with flesh, but was now reduced
To change, to the memory in her bony hands.

A Sudden Change

A sudden change in the weather.

Yesterday, sunlight silver, fall was

Stirring cool air through park trees

And turning out the seasonal sheets.

First to color them, then to slumber them.

Now, today, summer has reappeared,

Hazing the sky, warming stiff

Bark with a mother’s golden breath.

It tickles the undersides of thick green

Leaves plump as children’s feet.

"Night & Dreams"

Watercolor, Lacquer, Japanese Paper

Struggling For Relevance

I woke from a vivid dream.
It had rattled my sleep and comfort.
I thought: To write, now,
After all of this.  And I cried,
Struggling to do it,
“It’s lost.  I can’t retrieve
It” – it already slipping
My fingers like a kite string –
“And nothing will be the same.”
Then you gave me your hand,
Replacing my emptiness with
A purpose to hold.

Age

Like sunshine, a dancing mark:
A stained heart-manufacture
Which requires structure -
But needs the wings of a lark.

"Sun Dance & Adobe"

Watercolor and applique; Japanese paper