Only the grass knows
where the first flake
falls
till the wind
shutters it
off its shoulders
to lie
upon the ground.
Another
and another
till it all adds up
and we’re buried again.
So why
do your white lies
fall so deftly
that I brush them off
another
and another
till it all adds up
and we’re buried again?
Only your ass knows.
You can toss it out
without any guilt
glugging it down the drain
with your head turned
to avoid any possible
stench
and there is no offense,
for milk proudly tells you
when it has had enough.
I have seen your head
turn from me
and I can smell your
disappointment
gritty
and clumped
with bitterness
while empty white jugs
pile like snow on our back porch.
Winter comes
with bitter warnings.
“Don’t eat that
yellow snow.”
Mother’s predictions of death
froze me in my tracks.
look, look deep into your eyes
behind the color blue
______rimed with darkness
a nebula world, one few know
few care, few will ever see
in twilight, your eyes open
letting in the nights shadows
_______shadows that fill you
shadows that complete you
weaving webs of deceit and fear
beware the dimly lit paths
aglow around you, drawing, pulling
_______like spirit lights on the moors
we will suck you dry and snatch your soul
no second chance, no escape
extreme sadness
____heart empties
into river of tears
hardens
as your face fades
nothing, nothing left,nothing
no you ,no us
_____alone with
just shadows of where you once were
old creaking joints
skin drawn tight
across skinny bones
lips once soft, smooth
pulled slightly apart
reveal yellowed teeth
hideous form caught in time
indurated, it blinks while dreaming
of tea party’s and lacy pink dresses
feeble, mind dull, it stops and grins again
my face, it’s face slid from it’s once firm place
a face that shadows me
useless, feeble, slow when once I know
yes, once I know I ran deer footed
and laughed, laughed out loud
when once I wore those lacy pink dresses
and danced the night away
trailing soft summer flowers
fleeting are our days
count count the hours as they pass
petals drop fore lorn
Bags tied to an old cart
Again and again she stops
Garbage her only friend
Lonely and homeless
Agatha walks on unknown
Day after day seeking cover from the cold
Yielding in the end to the ice and snow
did I remember to forget your kiss
drinking while softly singing your song
did I run out in the rain, too late
where now nothing but silent shadows remain
will you fade from my heart full of pain
Snow fell softly
into rounded mounds
then hardened.
Little critters
leave puncture wounds
as they scurry on.
They can search all day,
but find no food.
I am hoarding
my share.
Cheek cutting wind
turns my face
to find warmth.
I can search all day,
but find no affection.
I am snow,
dark shadowed
and blue.
So hardened.
We weren’t gone long,
but the creek
is not the same.
Autumn
laid a healing
gauze of glass
from shore to shore.
Stick in hand,
I break the ice
letting the water
flow cold and fast.
Day after day
the creek and I
battle,
but the edge
where I stand
grows firm.
I should have laid down
my anger.
My stick,
now broken,
is tossed upon the snow.
Come spring,
two pieces thaw
drifting
away.
Long gone.
The snow began softly.
I’m not sure if I can remember
when one flake landed alone.
Then it became crystal clear
as I watched the ground morph
thick into the white of the sky.
You came up behind me
putting a jacket over my sweater,
a gesture of kindness
before everything snowballed.
It was meant as an apology
to block out the cold words
that were landing thick and staying
as long as winter.
But my brothers taught me
to pack a snowball hard with ice
chucking it to cut on contact
while I dress in layers
staying soft and warm.