Whimsy
The day I saw the life-like
parrot swaying on a string
in front of your kitchen window
I knew you had made a pivot
in the cage that trapped
your hardness
now headed for fresh air,
lighter, you offered me a
gingerbread-man cookie
letting me believe you
were feeling powerful
telling me you could
get a head on a plate
if you wanted to
as you sat smiling
next to your prayer plant
Offshoots
I am most comfortable staying behind the lens
looking to take just a second of time for one
picture, one frame taken in an open meadow
that keeps teaching me
I will be surprised by what appears after one click
when it is time for me to look at the finished piece
when I find rays of light I didn't see with my eyes
go full spectrum, out of nowhere, illuminating crevices
when a blur of cloud formations come to reveal
a window in the blue where a lit-up man sits
with his arms spread out over this kingdom
reminding me that even when I am out of sight
trying to hide in stillness, trying to avoid hard doors
that may slam in my face, nature will open
will speak out loud through closed spaces
bountiful eyes share with the poor
from fields of view in the making
Turn Up
I send you a picture of a rutabaga
while you are hiking
with a message that says
the rutabaga and I love you
you call me instantly
because it is just what we needed
I thank the farmer who planted
the rutabaga, who helped
us harvest our urgency
First Cousin
Only six years older than me
you seemed to be so much wiser
you were trusted to take me
to the playground, so we could
go on the seesaw up and down
I wanted to be as pretty as you
I wanted to put my sneakers
aside, be shiny in patent leather
like you, until you jumped off
while I was smiling high in the sky
making me fall hard sideways
onto the cracked pavement
catching only the look in your eye
that frightened me more than
the pain on my face
I told no one when we went home
as though I seemed to know it was
safer to calm myself than to
speak of this new found lowdown
Comments