In Limbo

An easy retreat, this walkabout in existence

Strolling in limbo looking for signs of

Direction, uncertain, unyielding, unstopping

Not moving, no feeling, no pain, no joy, no care

Empty. Silent. Safe. Apathy. Ambivalence.

Exhausting sublimation

My Daughters and Sons

I’ve had many..many.. Daughters and Sons

I packed their lunches with their favorite foods, a blessed fruit, and a note “No Matter What, You are Great! You will do your best because you are the best!, I love You, signed Mommy and (smiley face)

I zipped their coats and helped them with their backpacks..Tied the laces of their shoes so they wouldn’t trip. I pinched their cheeks and hugged them tight.

I’ve had many..many.. Daughters and Sons

I watched them from the living room window as they crossed the street…”Look both ways!” I called out.. “Okay,…..

Dark Clover

Under the clover I will hide me today

Darkness descends here where I lay

Shroud of mist help me not breathe

Stay very still and then he will leave

Oh God where are you I almost forgot

That fear and foreboding, this is my lot

Gandy dance now and someone may hear

The voices of evil that scream in my ear

Be very still and perhaps you will see

The girl who lived in dark clover was me

Tears of White Wine

Sing to me softly in tears of white wine
Speak of time’s passing; tell me I’m fine
Linger with me on marshmallow clouds
Lay with me now on rose covered shroud

Stir moments in chocolate that drip on my lips
Stay close by my side with sweet rosemary clips
Teach me the heartache of love’s newborn frost
Then hold me in warmth that makes me unlost

Sing to me softly in tears of white wine
Speak of time’s passing; tell me I’m fine
Regret has no place…

Night Terror

The Dream has left me feeling

Wretched and afraid ~ and so

Alone it feels as though I’ve

Never even had a friend ~

Tatters and wisps are all that

I have left ~ and shadows of

The fear that filled me ~ no less

Real because I cannot see the

Faceless terror which

Bedevils me ~

*****************

My enemy is cowardly ~

The Apple Blossom Parade

For the past 66 years, as the apple trees bloom, my little town of Sebastopol, California hosts a ruckus festival and parade downtown and at Ives Park. Until recently, people were allowed to walk around with open containers of alcohol. While that is no longer permitted, heavy partying in the bars and at the park continues throughout the weekend. Sebastopol is a quarkly town that likes to do things their own way. Much of…

On Connor’s Cruiser

Thinking about you today in a time-warped collage
Actually I was thinking about that day on the boat
All of us there, friends together for years and bonded
We were on Connor’s cabin cruiser, mostly drinking
Well I didn’t, unless you count that watermelon saturated
In some Grand Marnier for the mariners wanting a buzz

And a good one I had as I climbed the ladder to the flat roof height
Connor had speakers blasting great sounds that floated down the river
The breeze…

That Lady Sang Dem Blues (Tribute to Billie Holiday)

“Chile, That LADY sang dem BLUES”…

She sang of Men and Women, boys and girls, Love and Beginnings and the Beginning to an End.

She sang of her trouble and triumph

She sang through lynchings and beatings, in basements and back alleys

She sang in front of All White faces telling the destiny of Black Glory

She sang of Right and Wrong and the Wrong in what “They” called Right.

“Chile, That LADY sang dem BLUES”

BLUES singing under BLUE lights

BLUE Notes tapping…

The Pipe Burst

The pipe burst, showering
the bathroom with scalding water.
Forcing me to flee naked into the cold.
I quickly grabbed my bathrobe,
and an old dim flashlight,
to scurry under the house,
and turn off the main valve.
Covered in mud in the dark,
I found myself looking at stars,
the blueness of the sky,
and the violet hue of sunrise,
silhouetting the mountain range.
The smell of coffee wafted outside,
as a pan faced barn owl swept by.

Can We Learn?

This is an adaptation and update of the song, Summer of 64. This song concerned the Mississippi Civil Rights movement. It expressed the need to make real efforts to overcome injustice, oppression, and resistance to constructive change. Recent events should have awakened all of us to the need to continue making such efforts in the face of violence, voter suppression, attacks on the civil equality of women. and marriage equality there is no reason to be idle and no time…

Loss of Heaven, Pains of Hell

This is the one, my first love
I hear no trumpets touting
A dirge, perhaps, but no trumpets
In college we met, you see
In college we married, you know
So happy, so young, so innocent
In the naiveté of life’s unkindness.
It knocked on our door uninvited
Like a portend of grief undeserved
Something happened
Something unfair
His laughter became fear
His thoughts lost in a maze
Faltering
Flailing
Floundering
Communists in the TV
Communists, I asked
Everywhere, he answered
His essence evaporated
Leaving only the physical shell, now distorted
Riding home from the diagnosis, alone I…

The Bell Tolls

At the nape of your neck.. my pale fingernails linger in thin curls..

softly pressing you into my cheek..

your ear to mine..

around my shoulders you rest..

tender grazing on soft sheets..we wrap each other..

We hold and console…

carefully concealing one another..

tightly safeguarding…

At times, I am underneath you.. hiding and retreating, guarded, kept warm and protected

At times, I become your wings..stretching myself…

Stuck

I never meant for you to stay…But…you have.

I never thought you to be.. what I wanted…I only planned for you to be (just) what I needed for a short time. You were meant to be a band-aid, a temporary vice, a handkerchief ..a meaningless yet special secret.

You were meant to stay invisible once away from my view…but now (YOU) are all I see.

I never really meant for you to stay…But… you …

In Memory of One Who Has Fallen

In Memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on the 44th Anniversary of his Assassination

I sit and remember when I first heard the news;
Though eleven thousand miles away I still felt the bruise,
An authentic hero had been shot down in cold blood.
And my mind still reels at the emotional flood.

When I wonder, will we ever see his like again?
He gave us so much; like few who have ever been.
I wrestle with loss; I struggle for breath;
For what was taken from…

Crying Woolf

She scours the shore for the perfect stones,
Earth’s little party favors
Strewn, spewn from the river as confetti for the landlocked.
No rush…she has time.

Each must be perfect
Each must be chosen

Sharp eyes must seek out those that contain
Infinitesimal bits of her heart…
Her youth
Her Soul

The weight of her pockets sag under her collection
The weight of her life sags under her past
The weight of her heart sags under her breast.
Must rush…she has no time.

She names them for those who have stolen…

Ring Those Bells

This is an adaptation of a Bob Dylan song, Ring Them Bells. It is written in memory of Trayvon Martin and all other youth of any color who departed too soon because of laws and profiteers who have put guns in the hands of people who are unable or unwilling to control themselves or their weapons. May they rest in peace, and may we never rest until they and their families receive justice.

Ring those bells, ye brethren
From the city that…

Melancholy Whine

Melancholy wraps itself around me
Deceptive in its warmth and allure
Like notes in a song I once heard
That gave me Blues for my blues
Pennies for my thoughts

Great enabler of elusive escape
Eraser of time in my zip code
Duller of senses in twilight sun
When time ticks senseless tocks
And stands me so still

It was here until it wasn’t
Strong and then faded
Like those jeans I once wore
Like the music that played
In notes from a voice too far

Perhaps tomorrow shall be…
Perhaps I…

The Counting

The cobblestone street on which I once lived
Has today been paved with modern mix asphalt
Too bad really, my yellow brick road
Has been depleted of its charming path
And the stained glass windows of my house that
Had beamed light in hues of rainbow blushes
Now replaced by Eco-friendly panes of
Glass tinted to hold rays in, colors out
The cherry Quansan planted by me with care
Has been left unattended and abandoned as
Its shape withers from wanton winter storms
I count the ways we…

A Child Is Dead!

Breathes there a person with soul so dead
As never to oneself have said
No matter what excuses may be pled
A child is dead!
In a seemingly prosperous Florida town
A young black boy was wantonly gunned down
The police were summoned and quickly came
But the lad lay dead all the same.
Must we not all wonder why?
A happy, friendly child had to die.
He went to the store and was coming back
Then was slain for the crime of “walking while black”
For too long this has…

And I Ain’t a Woman!

When men are overheard to say
A woman needs to be helped and guided
Even with steel wands shoved inside them
Or having only to prove they can tell when they are raped
No man ever gave birth or breast fed
or struggled with a rapist or the incestuous aggression of degenerates
And I ain’t a woman!

     Look at them.
Look at their arms!
They have plowed and planted
and gathered into barns
and no man could do more.
And I ain’t a woman!

   They could work as much
and eat as much as any man–
when they could get to it–
and bear the…

Mockingbird has a Death Wish

A mockingbird perches
on the highest limb of a young redwood.
Mimicking the other birds,
as well as the cats, cars, and tractors.
Fiercely defending its nest.
This tiny bigmouth has become a pest.
Tempting me to take the bells
off the necks of my friendly feline pets.
Let all hell break loose
and put this annoying avian to rest.
Yet, that might upset
the delicate balance of my entire back yard.
A mockingbird perches
on the…

I am NOT Nameless!

I am NOT Nameless!

I am someones daughter. I am someones mother. I have sisters and brothers! I have a face.

I am NOT Nameless!

I am a soldier! I am a fighter! I am a woman, a daughter.  I am a Human Being!

I am NOT Nameless!

I am recognizable.  I am REAL, I am NOT invisible. I have a name!

Who said that I did not exist?

Who said that I was not present?

(They lied)..(They lied)..They lie.

I…

The Passenger

In the cable car she rode alone observing

Not the city before her but something near

Cast in gold shadows and light fading upon

The vacant seats

Yet a presence was known and bidding her to

Dark thoughts and portends of what may come

As the car bumped and groaned upon the rails

Halting then swaying

Her thoughts toward present, past, future and

The certainty of the uncertain, fairness of unfair

Then peace upon her came as she knew that this

Presence was divine

Not evil, and would…

The Color of Loving

Mildred Jeter was of African American and Native American descent, and Richard Loving was a white man. They fell in love and eventually married in Washington D. C. in June 1958.

Married in Washington, D C

Capital of this land so free

They returned to their home state

Where a vicious law lay in wait

The Sheriff broke into their house

And charged them as each other’s  spouse

He would not listen to their cries

And enforced a law based…