Life's Laundry

large load
cold/cold
agitate
high heat

heavy duty
extra soiled
fast!
spin!



delicate

the years disappear
like the leaves
on the trees
called by the bright
afternoon sun
i remember
afternoons in the park
bikes and guitars
walks and talks and time
stretched ahead of us
into the summer
of eternity

Red, gently applied over yellow

with a dry brush.

Cold apple.

Facebook Falls Silent

Facebook falls silent when a friend is dying.

Somehow the banal updates
about the torturous nature of daily chores
seem disrespectful
when multiple communities
on 2 coasts
are in deep mourning
over a life--
so well lived--
that will end
way too soon.

We all are saying the same things
to him
and to each other.
Prayers are being said,
novenas offered.

Memories resurface;
regrets are mulled over.

Time has been cruelly compressed.

Suddenly
we see
the end
of the road.

The News

After the news
we held our loved ones long and hard
as if to make them real
and remind us we were still alive.

Winter

Winter falls.
Cold surrounds
and tightens
her icy fingers
on our souls.

Chilling raindrops
are lost in the
inky darkness
which
slowly seeps
under the windows and doors
that we have determinedly
shut against it
and we are powerless to
stop the advance.

We put the kettle to boil,
wrap ourselves in blankets,
curl up with a book
and wait.

The Edge of Night

I lie awake
in restless dreams.

I watch the
pairs of people.

Two with red hair and black hats,
walk quickly away.

I wonder
how will they hide themselves
with their flaming hair
peaking rebelliously out of the their charcoal fedoras.

I follow people
through confusing corridors
and notice
they are dressed
from another time
and place.
Refusing to come out
from behind
their inflexible homogeneity,
they will not join *this* group.

I see two brothers, unnaturally attached
in inexplicable ways.
I ask
how is one
born of the other
and never get
an answer.

I watch the pairs
of people.

I watch
from the
edge.