Early Riser
When you leave me in the morning
Giving me that last, warm kiss
Your breath caressing my skin
I feel more peaceful than at any other time
Although it’s true
When you arrive, I shine
When you are funny, I laugh
When you speak softly, I shiver
When we touch, I melt
But in that morning moment
That precious moment
When my dreams weigh heavy on my eyes
And your kisses tug them gently open
I know such peace
Just before you leave
Come With Me
I want to fly my kite in Kenya
Across the Masai Mara
To a cheetah’s great surprise
I want to touch the trees in Tap Rohm
See the jungle taking back
Crumbled stone is its defeat
I want to learn to cook in Kazimierz
My Grandmother’s peirogi
Buy a basket in the square
I want to snorkel into Eau Claire
Navigate the sphagnum bogs
Wear cranberries for a hat
I want to breathe the air of Thimpu
Turn off my television
Have a share of Happiness
I want to sing a song on Pinta
While marine iguanas sneeze
A critique of my performance
I want to wander every wonder
I will open up my eyes
Take my hand and come with me
Pity the Pupa
Chrysalization civilization
We transform again and again
Do we keep the memories of the past
Or make the mistakes of men?
Butterflies are we; apparently free
We seem to be floating in light
But our wings are all flapping in perilous haste
Then relief when we finish our flight
One more moment to savor the nectar again
Oh the sweetness of moments like this!
Never mind that the predators lurk in the glen
We are driven in ignorant bliss
Do we tell the children, who busily munch
They’re oblivious, chewing away
That the metamorphosis takes away much
And for beauty, the prices they’ll pay?
I named a blade of grass after you
It stood near rusting iron rails
Which raced through wildflower cities
To forgotten destinations
In the company of dandelions it grew
Soft and wild
Tended by lumbering ladybugs
Touched by tips of butterfly wings
Its brown edges spoke to me of random life
Where manicuring machinery had never been
To hack and harry
To cultivate and conform
It sprang from the earth joyously
Reaching upward, unrestrained
Yearning toward the sun
Whose color was reflected in the golden blade
While the rest of the world shouted
I leaned close and spoke softly
To a single blade of grass
And it nodded in the whispering breeze
Song of the Hopeless
Another night
Another only single living kind of
solitary night
I lie alone
I add another scribbled line into
this silly book
And you are there
You sleep so peacefully at rest
but you’re so far away
Not really far
But it could be a million miles if I don’t
hear your voice
You didn’t call
If you just knew how much I wanted to
pick up the phone
I didn’t dare
I didn’t know how you were feeling
if you’d want me to
Okay, I’ll sleep
I’ll dream about you in your little room
and then I’ll smile
Cause in my dreams
You want me every single bit as much as
I want you
Now listen well
I’ll only whisper to you now so you
don’t run away
I love you dear
Now it’s been said and I can finally
lay my head to rest
On Behalf of the Sides of a Triangle
Oh, triangle, I wish I knew why
You’re known for three angles instead of three sides
Your angle’s a cute part of you, I agree
But you’re being obtuse if your sides you don’t see
For what could be more necessarily true
Than that two sides must meet to form angles for you
And it is the length of your sides, after all
That determine if you are gigantic or small
Yes, even the straightness your sides show is key
(If two sides were curved, you’d look more like a D)
So from now on I’ll boycott the triangle shape
Remove it from my geometric landscape
And some day I hope the whole world will decide
That instead of triangle, they’ll call you triside
