i suppose everyone
had a goldfish
from the pet
store or school
fair, glistening orange
in plastic bag
captured bit of
rippling nature, and
we tried to
keep it alive
with flakes and
water changes, but
after a few
months it died
and what did
we learn? how
to understand loss
that toilet flush
goodbye, what is
life? what is
death? it meant
nothing, and everything
Category: Poetry
Have You Noticed?
Have you noticed that the earth
is always turning, that shadows
really do move across grass,
stone, everything?
Have you noticed that nature’s
wind touches all of life,
caterpillars, green ivy leaves,
chipmunks, tree trunks?
Have you noticed the white
cloud canvas, sparrow silhouette
in springtime sky, chirping
and flirting with the sun?
Have you noticed the bees
with their stingers, moving
from flower to flower, not
thinking about us at all?
Have you noticed how fast
we move through our days,
from screen to screen, with
all the rest unseen?
The House of Love
This is a second poem by my Grandmother Ethel from her scrapbook.
Our Wisdom
I found this poem in my Grandmother’s scrapbook, I believe it is from the late 1920’s.
Harriet Tubman
what is it
to listen to
God, a voice
within that knows
right from wrong
freedom from slavery?
what if we
could all live
fearless in our
love for humanity
for the decency
of all people?
what if the
north star still
shines bright, if
only we be
not blind to
our inner truth?
what if we
are all Moses
wading in water
helping everyone across
to that dry
land of faith?
Rain
wet is all
and everything depends
on these drops
speaking to us
seeping into soil
down window panes
tickling the worms
in love with
this spring storm
we all are
surrounded by falling
sky, asking important
questions, do you
listen? are you
kind? do you
feed the earth?
Power Outage
what you were going to do
you are not going to do
snapped branches, green
leaves blowing in wet wind
sirens and sky flashing
counting seconds on fingers
until thunder rumbles again
lights flicker, then gone, darkness
descends, no netflix or iphone
nature wins again
COVID-19 Passes The Vietnam War
and when the virus
constricted air from over
58,220 lungs, no one
came to the door
informing us of death’s
arrival, no uniformed soldier’s
solemn words to comfort
ventilator’s failure to save
lives, this war of
no bullets, no answers
to the endless quest
for vaccine’s hopeful solace
we look to blame
those who cannot contain
this invisble reaper, as
if this were one
person’s fault, as if
we could just drop
a nuke and make
it all go away
instead we walk by
black granite names, mourning
the many more, expiring
with each passing day
Ciao San Francisco
24 years later i left
without a sound, wearing a
mask like I’d robbed the place
no longer the 23-year old
point reyes camping in the rain
studio-living kid applying to
grad school while dancing at
the elbo room, time has
passed, but that city of hills
dwells forever inside me
yes, it will always have my
heart, but just like everything
we had to part
Cooking Rabbits
many years
ago i
cooked rabbit
really rabbits
for there
were two
that i
cut with
my chef’s
knife to
separate meat
from bone
and while
this happened
i whisphered
i’m sorry
your lives
had meaning
we will
eat all
of you
and we
did, but
i was
still sad
