Wishing Well

mangled dreams
fragmented thoughts
morning glory vines
that dangle
from the fence
searching for
something to hang onto
searching for their place
in the tangled mass
randomly forming
squirming for space
welcoming whatever comes
swaying in the breeze
waiting to see
if their choices
will keep them
safe in the storm
shouting from their flowers
calling the frightened
to the wishing well

Stuff

poets are like
old straw brooms
sweeping up what
falls from life
and settles forgotten
on the floor
like old dreams
past passions
fires gone out
the stuff that
glues the best
and the worst
stuff
poets write about
stuff

Keeping the Peace

I expect things to happen the way they do
oh I don't mean for you to get the idea
that I think I can predict the future
however if you were born at some point
you will die with lots of good and bad days
as you wander the highway of your life
if you are lucky at some point you will get it
searchers usually get it
they are not discontent with their lives
they just know there is more
more they need to discover
like explorers who need to see
what is over the next mountain and the next and the next
they need to see where they will someday
ride off into their sunset
where they will not hear their footsteps
where everything begins and nothing ends
where contentment is their blanket
where the music of the wind is love
where they listen from the mountain top
searches hands joined holding their world in place
keeping the peace

Dew Drops

high humidity
covered
the cabin roof
with dew
this morning
as we sat
on the stone
porch steps
as we do every
morning drinking
our espresso
it dripped off
the recessed ridges
of the metal roof
finding our feet
cool and comforting
we could hear drops
finding the ground
nearby
we watched drops
fall onto
the boat shaped
mandevilla leaves
growing on the railing
next to us
dew drops
making their sounds
syncopated rhythm
morning songs
compliments
of mother earth

hanna

gypsy and me
hanna makes three
we are happy
at our cabin heaven
she is the hummer
we rescued from
top cat bobtails
clenched salivating mouth
pondering a name
for this lucky bird
as she paid us her
morning porch visit
a decision was made
there was one nurse
last week in er
hanna
went out of her way
to make our stay
very ok
our little hummer
will remind us
of her
as we ponder on
the porch
each new day

Need to Know

need to know
really
why?
my quiet life
is mine
all mine
want to know
call letter
visit
time for the
really wanted
tunneling fast
faster fastest
uneasy troubled
lack of self
searching the stars
for a place
to land

Crash of 1957

the crash of 1957
close to sending
us to heaven

unforgetable sound deafening
fright fueling disbelief
queasy aching pain

left behind to watch
all the people
untangling the mess

our 1957 light blue and white
plymouth station wagon
an accordion

body bolts sheared
other cars demolished
bloody injuries sharp bones

hard hit
hurting head
hospital visit tears

2010

unknown secretly
kept trauma
head stored

weekly visits
son nicks office
red laser adjustments

unwinding the puzzle
opening the stored
pain and fright

freeing me from
diluted unknown
trapped trauma


tears in the night
reliving
crash of 1957

body held
body released
adjusted

The Crash of 1956

the crsh of