“Of Course, Our Love Has Changed” (Prompt: Change)

Of course,

our love has changed.

Carefree beginnings

beget inevitable scrapes and missteps

which beget arguments and

emotional slugfests

and children

always ruin Eden.

Recalling every pointless casualty,

every sleepless rumination

when tears were the

only language,

I watch as you sleep

next to me,

and I cannot help but feel thankful.

Of course,

our love has changed,

is it now hard won.

Sherri (June 22)

Where are you,

crazy lady?

I miss you,

because I never had a baby sister

to look up to me

and you’re the closest I got to that.

Don’t think that

just because you’re always the one

making desperate decisions,

uncertain of which way

tomorrow is pointed,

doesn’t mean

I don’t need you as well.

You’re one of the few people

who knows what’s

under this skin,

the weaknesses

of our shared DNA.

Sher,

we are more than kindred spirits,

more than familia,

I recognize

the self-deprecating humor,

the desire to please,

and that kernel of doubt

at the deepest part

of the soul

just as I recognize

my own face in the mirror,

except,

you’re prettier.

Call me.

Jeff (Some Version of the Truth)

You were so little

when Aunt Nancy brought you by

the first time,

and I loved to watch you dance

as I huffed and puffed

on the harmonica.

Years later,

when going through photo albums

someone asked of you

“Who’s the Black kid?”

At first, I didn’t see the color,

but eventually

I pieced

some version of the truth together

as I’m sure you must have.

As far as I know,

you’ve never been told

who fathered you,

and maybe your mom

doesn’t know,

and maybe your dad

never knew that

he had a son.

I doubt

knowing the truth

would help now

as you sit in the penitentiary

with your admission of guilt

and life sentence

without chance for parole

for killing your girlfriend’s mother

because you believed

the allegations of her abuse.

I’m sorry you thought

your girlfriend

was telling you the truth

too. 

Welcome to the Mine (prompt: Welcome Poem)

You need to be prepared

to outwit the frustration

work past buckets of sweat

and mostly persevere.

We miners

tinker ceaselessly  

blessed infrequently with

a sliver

a sparkle.

Some days there is

so much to harvest

and sometimes it’s a glint

and that’s all you’re gonna  get.

When you don that prospector’s helmet

and dive deep into the mineshaft

where it’s dark and spooky,

remember, it’s a numbers game

and sometimes

all you’ll have to show for your work

is yesterday’s dust.

You gotta like the digging,

the challenge of breaking rock,

disrupting the Earth

and finding something new.

So, welcome,

now pick up

your pencil

and get at it.

This Desire (Prompt: "Don't Start That Again" Poem)

These moments

of inexpressible happiness

sneak in

as though I shouldn’t hear them coming

and I feel the profound

connection to everything

and then the truth breaks through:

I am only spirit,

unencumbered

to light upon all things

knowing only

the compassion and love

of a truly enlightened being,

but then

just as soon as I become

aware

it vanishes

and I desperately try to gather

the tantalizing details

to hold forever –

and this desire

to possess

that which is not mine

signals the return

of my cursed,

flawed

humanity.

Silly and Magnificent (Prompt: Serious Poem)

By definition,
tomorrow never gets
here
and I am convinced
that God is forever 
re-creating the past
as a cosmic collective
reconstructed memory
for His own amusement.

So all that 
exists 
is in the 
here and now

and even this 
is an illusion.

So, 
when I say
I want my illusion
to be 
beautiful
compelling
sweet and juicy

equal parts
silly and 
magnificent,

I’m serious.