shindig

cuddled under blankets
we dream

of spring
of bees and dragonfly cotillions
a swanky shindig on gossamer wings
debutantes waltzing the warming of days
the summer a promise of winter memory

we dream
cuddled under blankets

penultimate

time is a knife
we balance
on its edge
a tightrope walk
on a sharpened ledge
over a precipice
while blood drips
from the incisions
in our tattered feet
lacerated toes grip
lest from time
we slip
we dare not
lose our grasp
until with our
penultimate gasp
we sigh relief
let go and fall
and where
or if
we land
well,
that's anybody's call

gallivant

take your chances
when they come
gallivant across the globe
dance badly in your bathrobe
jump into the pile of leaves
roll up your sleeves
splash in puddles
swim the seas
tomorrow has no guarantees
but today is not yet done
the thing you fear
may never come to pass
sadness happens
but need not last
joy persists
love insists

impervious

my shield
and armor
a glow within
I become
impervious
to the whims
of the moods
of all but me
joy has set me free

punctilio

the indrawn breath
held and released
to steady hands
steeped in tradition
teatime punctilio
precision required
for the perfect pour

whipsaw

as the new year approaches:

beware of being whipsawed
by conflicting advice

remember worry means
you live catastrophe twice

but plan for eventualities
just don't get caught up in banalities

if I could manage the one without the other
that would be nice

evergreen

beyond shadow
phantasm clouds
rumble in the distance
the evergreen truth
grown from the sands
like desert flowers
too brief and beautiful
tended by the winds
future blown by
hope buoyant breezes
to scatter seed
far from fallow ground
to grow in other climes

luminaria

for once I know
my path lit
as if by luminaria
the lovely glow
leading me towards
a new year
of joy and hope

discriminate

it can be hard sometimes
to discriminate between
that which is good
and that which feels good
they are not identical
but blur your vision
and so sometimes
you make the wrong decision
thank god for second chances
and wisdom in revision

fulgent

resplendent in
her fulgent raiment
a gown of gold
and light and sparkle
that stretches from
the bottom branch
to the tippety top of the tree
she sits above it all and
watches your wonder
for a month or under before
you box her up again
to wait until next winter

kowtow

the ones who
destroy their legacy
eradicating history
to kowtow to indecency
for the sake of expediency
will be disappointed by
the inconstancy of trust
in their continued hypocrisy
and the eventual outcome
of democracy

xenophobia

brick by brick
you built a wall
to make yourself feel safe
you built it very tall

you built it very tall
until you blocked out the sun
to make yourself feel safe
you built it so it holds just one

the bricks were made
of clay and xenophobia
the bricks that built
your personal dystopia

and in your darkness
you finally realized
you'd built a well not a wall
with your bricks of fear and lies

now you are at the bottom
and though you can't see the sky
you can hear the rain
the walls thunder seems to amplify

the water level rises
so you better hope you float
you thought you'd build a wall
but you'd have been better with a moat

haggard

he wears
the weight
of a thousand cares
a thousand fears
a thousand tears
a thousand years
haggard and worn
he walks the world
never dying
always trying
to atone

aught

too much to learn
too little known
i know a lot
but still so much
i don't know

and nor do you
we do the best we can
but for aught that i can tell
know-it-all's don't do so well

more important than
facts and figures
(we can find those if we try)
is to have imagination enough
for empathy to grow

flibbertigibbet

giddy girl in bows
heart upon her sleeve
sings and dances in her chair
cares about pop culture
builds castles in the air
those uninformed may judge
her a flibbertigibbet
confusing jollity for frivolity
but seriousness of purpose
need not dress dour
and those who so presume
ignore her power
at their peril 

mellifluous

chanteuse persuade by chanson serenade

mellifluous drippings like sap tapped tree

trickle from mouth to drown the hall

subsume us all in siren song and

we surrender to the sweet elixir

transfixed and beguiled

in the note
raw and wild

emanating from
most delicate throat

proselytizing verse

in both blessing and curse

delectation

delight alights
like a flighty bird
mid migration
to offer you
the delectation
of whimsy met
with outright joy
in a moment of pure bliss
a kiss from a happy dog
a sigh from a lover’s lips
a purr from a kittenface
a call from a far off friend
a smile from a passing child
a hug from a parent
a random compliment
a million little things
that bring content

impugn

st joan was martyred thus
the old and powered
would have devoured her
demeaned her and debased
how dare those who never
cared for anything
beyond self interest
and narcissistic glory
impugn the motives
of one so young
who champions
the cause of so many
and speaks for those
who cannot speak to angels

tractable

credulous suckers
seething with rage
stoked by children
they threw in a cage

how tractable the masses
led by braying asses
who equate Other with Lesser
how sadly few
the second-guessers
those with an eye to history
would do well to wary be

not convince themselves
that time will some day forgive
the harm they make while they live
pretending they serve a greater good
for underneath every hood
a head who claims a cause

but unless empathy resurgent be
we'll all be crushed in the jaws
of cruel and corrupted laws
and mourning what was

belle epoque

both dressed up in grandest gown  
leaping up and dancing down
the Rue de Rivoli in gayest revelry
a belle epoque for you and me 
saying yes we can can-can
to every sir and ma'am-ma'am

sodden

is there a sadder sound
than squish of sodden sock
inside of boot as slush seeps in
sole and soul weeps in winter
rubber seals broken or cracked
too sad to go on
too far to go back

reiterate

fuck your thoughts and prayers
fuck your it's too soons
how many fucking moons
must pass before you get up
off your ass and make a change
a school is not a firing range
yes indeed a knife is bad
but worse, far worse, the easy gun
that abbreviates the chance they had
to run, the arguments that are won
by shot exacerbate destruction wrought
as we reiterate the same sentiment
again again again again again again
and ceaselessly are left to mourn
and beg those who make the laws
to address the overt cause and
not just doling out of blame
and bating those who judge
their hypocrisy while profiting off
their name and NRA rating

oxymoron

she holds within her
more dichotomies
than you can fathom
a walking oxymoron
a die hard dillettante
a casual zealot
she'll spin your head
and trip your tongue
and make you bow
and blush
and for this
flustered flush
you'll love her
all the more
you'll hate her too
before you're through
but never quite enough
to go back to before

circumscribe

we are old dogs
learning new tricks
determined to decide
for ourselves what
we may achieve
and refusing to believe
our future is by our past
forever circumscribed

vexillology

above a tattered fort
a ragged scrap
upon which scrawled
a drawing indiscernible
no learned vexillology
may parse its meaning
but to a few it declares
the freedom of youth
in the summer days
before the school bells chime
a childhood shrine

gingerly

if one possesses an abundance of hope
it is best to make your approach gingerly
the belly freely given may oft deceive
floofy bait to draw in an unwary hand
tranquility's duration just three scritches
before the gaping jaws of death brand you
with the stamp of the gullible betrayed

acquiesce

he held me down
and I confess
I did no more
than acquiesce
I thought
if I fought
I would die
so why would I

coup de grâce

some monsters
seem immune
no sword sharp enough
to deliver the coup de grâce
to slay the wild beast
with forked tongue
spewing fire and fury
where swords may fail
words may win and so
we whisper and wish

ersatz

so many today
live an office life
stuck with an ersatz
office husband or wife
and wonder at the strife
condemned to spend
all their time aligned
with the one that HR chose
and not the one
who shared their vows
no surprise then at the rows

bon vivant

wit sparkling
like champagne
bubbles rising
a bon vivant
in a sequin dream

pointillistic

viewed up close
it’s all a mess
a confusion of color
in glorious disarray
but from a distance
the picture clear
so we stipple the days
in pointillistic precision
to make a life