Finally!!

Success!  This marks the end of my year of poetry.  That's right, 365 poems, one for each day.  There were times I didn't think I could make it.  Thank you to everyone who has read even one poem and particularly those who have encouraged me on this adventure.  Most of all, I'm just grateful to have completed such an ambitious task. 

I don't yet know how this website will continue.  I am certainly up for suggestions.

Happy New Year to all!  Make a resolution of your own this year.  You never know what you could accomplish.

The End and the Beginning

two edges of the trip
fused into an ongoing loop
where nothing truly stops
each event siring the next
a forever domino effect
hitting square in the chest
sometimes knocking the breath
and others starting the heartbeat
with only forward motion
and no fall is ever the end

Bare Necessities

tapping her manicured nails on the desk
she expounded on her hardships
tugging the hearts strings with her needs
she couldn't live in an apartment
not after a gorgeous house
and the landlord should understand
how could she afford the rent
after quitting her benefit-providing job
blinded by the multiple diamonds
I bit my tongue to retorts
internally fuming at her entitlement
couldn't return to school
without paying for the first time around
greedy government wanting their loan repaid
and though I wished her well
as she clasped her Gucci purse to leave
mostly I wished her clarity
that before she dug too deep a hole
(possibly too late already)
she adjust to the life she has
instead of the life she left behind

Going Pink

flush creeping across the collarbone
then climbing the pillar of neck
gradual yet total
until even the ears glow rosy
physical manifestation of racing thoughts
giddy with sudden possibility

Dangerous Indulgence

avoiding temptation
with its luscious sweetness
undeniable in this time of year
serotonin laced evenings
when the shadows play
and the mouth speaks of want

Elvis in Footie Pajamas

a half quirk smile
Elvis in footie pajamas
with his iron grip
and the weeble head nod
he holds attention
swept up in the wake
we are powerless
against his half smile

The Moving Car Phenomenon

once a deadly trap
snare that caught the minute the door closed
and in motion I sat immobile
a traveling capsule of disapproval
staring at the road ahead to fight the tears
once upon a years ago
now a pocket of uninterruption
asking questions never answered before
with affection unmatched
a diffidence born in shouts and awkward silence
lessons learned of ago

Grown Up Christmas

a very different Christmas morn
not shuffling socks on stairs
and quietly disassembling the stocking
before parents wake to join the day
instead greeting the dawn lazily
slow burn expectation
gifts still days away, but family in reach
a highway away with lunch plans on
the grown up Christmas

For Unto You

breathless

whether fear or awe

to be filled with the spirit

not sinking into the lungs

like heavy air

but truly filled

swollen with child

later to arrive as a flame

now simply a spark

striking flint of life eternal

Critic of Art and Other Things

would bounce away

like a mirror image

of the way things should have gone

in a different world

where rules are just

and follow the heart of the law

instead they stick

hard and fast in place

a life I would not have drawn

until the scene

unexpectedly leaves

me awash in a feeling of awe

Can't Sleep the World

they tell of shadows
behind the eyes
from regret and loss
born wisdom lies
where hours can pass
or even days
the soul does flicker
once set ablaze
and though no surprise
to one and all
I'm back on my feet
after a fall
true words, I may shake
but still I'm awake

Girl's Best Friend

to not be interchangeable
special, one of a kind
without a  gift receipt
no substitutions or exchanges
in the simplest terms I wish to be me
to someone who understands
that like a diamond
the flaws distinguish it as yours
dancing feather down the heart
a signature or fingerprint
the cut and clarity of a soul

Saving Nine Stitches

one word now
a single gesture or touch
compounded over time
growing in the investment
fed again and again
by the first taste of compassion

Happily Right Now Anyway

once upon or long, long ago
with dragons and brambles
girls always asleep
just passively waiting
for someone charming
and of course very brave
then because he arrives
fate is sealed by his side
cleaved to the first prince
with no thoughts beyond
and these are the tales we tell
hemming in the heart
denial of the self saver
watercolor reproductions
devoid of depth and purpose
where I can be my own rescuer

Knocked On My Throat

quiet
not from lack of thoughts
more the constant barrage
bowling me over
voice crushed beneath its weight
because what would I possibly say
in upside down world

Five Hail Mary's and Let's Do Lunch

we talk so long the room gets cold
programmable central heating
the bane of all night confessions
and yet the chill is only slight
laughter warms my heart if not my feet
nuclear potential news simply child's play
sweeping past with an ease only distance brings
while I realize time has slid from beneath us
friendship built on sand that was once rock
could be cornerstoned again with talk like this

of or pertaining to Semantics

unobserved

we talk in plain sight

sans hushed tones and bowed heads

still it remains a mystery

not a secret

Flake Math

bright as day
well, bright as days get now
swaths of white
down comforters across the backyard
bouncing moonbeams with a lack of randomness
creating a midnight glow
from their crystal prism echo
somehow multiplying instead of fading away

The Second Other Side

I caught a glimpse
of the other side of the conversation
not the thoughts behind his lips
but how it rolls on without me
up the stairs into his home
settling at her chair during dinner
an echo over roast beef and potato
that turns her meal sour
I caught it in her eyes
and tried to stifle the blaze
the first time we met

Negotiating Warm

light creeping in past my lashes
dim but regardless present
warm air piping in from the doorway
I croak to no one
objecting to the early morning
and chuckling at my cat lady chattering
as my legs slide out silently
I bless the finally conquered thermostat
preceding my rising
shunning goose bumps for static
a calculated compromise

Prodigal Soprano

only slightly shivery
like basic nerves
and not transcendence
still a lost connection
found on page five
with my hair tucked
on black wedge heels
as the shower of sound
washes transgressions

Sagittarius

bow pulled taut and taken aim
pacing upon his perch
quest for truth his only claim
restlessness at the search

never to be fortune's fool
the sun does always shine
each friendship a precious jew'l
long as you don't confine

Thistle Analysis

I come full circle sometimes
back to where a problem began
to soak in the wrongness
feel it like barbs on my skin
remember the scratch at my thoughts
when I couldn't make things right
before washing sorrow and thorns together
spiral down the drain in full circle

Stories from the Grand

hard to imagine
the endless row of faces spinning like a carousel
trying to match a name
one of hundreds from the reaches of her mind
and so sometimes the generations merge
a mother for a daughter
off by thirty years
such a slim miss approaching a century

Sew Very Much

fabric sliding under my fingers
as the machine eats it bite by bite
joining disparate yards
to a union of flowing water beauty
sharp dress corners
and gift of a happy heart

Résumé Living

encapsulating

transforming a breathing life

to a static blurb

Instructions Not Included

step one completed
and subsequently scrapped
as completely wrong
such is the creative process

step two, the step one do-over
partial success needing tweaking
fully adjusted to specifications
such is personal determination

step three scheduled
when the night isn't so long
and the ideas flow again
such is exhaustion calling

Losers Weepers

scouring corners and shelves
completely absent a direction
only frantic with worry
months of work lost
like a horrible movie joke
and yet the clock is ticking down
until I have to give up the search
cut my losses, move ahead
sadder but still resolute

Tying Ends

graced with her crisp smile

as the darkness sank around

slow came our goodbyes

Fighting Galileo

softly disappointed
still, not into making waves
nibbling my tongue
until it's thick in my throat
choking my reservations
instead saving a spot in my heart
to remind me the Earth is not flat
and I am not its axis

Bunsen Burner Blues

home kitchen chemist

uncertain of my expertise

mixing a new world

rank amateur tad more apt

though faltering with much love

Forever Knocking

missed the boat
or the point
regardless
lost in my own head
watching the blank spots
where opportunities used to shine
like doors to open
some just dark closets
others portals to another world