Fingerprint in Red

I felt a pulse

And bruised her neck

A fingerprint in red

Two rounds of work

That broke her ribs

Heart now barely beating

Her blood so thin 

Skin now yellow 

Unnaturally prolonged

She’d spoke that morning

And ate her lunch

She’d laughed about her twins 

Now they’re here 

    and ask me bluntly

Ask the man who bruised her

If anything can save her

I shake my head

The doc agrees

We wait for time to take her 

Decatur Street

The Road Song plays 

Coffee tastes sweet and black

Crawfish and some Jambalaya

Lingers like a bent string 

Reaching for a bit more

Of the note, the flavor

What I was looking for

Steamboats

Watching the wheel churn 

Brown water from the North

Hauling barges and their cargo

To New Orleans and Barbados 

Much safer now than then 

For both Huck… and Jim. 

Don't Cry

I watch him

Almost ended life 

The quiet desperation

Health destroyed

His loved ones

Are now visiting

When cancer is almost done

They will sob

They will mourn

He just wants to say goodbye

And hug them 

Smile 

Don’t cry

Angels and stones

Can't sit down or stand up

It goes from back to front

Deep aching sword of flame

It rules all with iron fist

Pounding my left lower back

My eyes see stars through pain

Nothing works, hospital time

I wake her with the dawn 

She drives me in and waits 

Speaking for me, I only

Say hello and thank you 

Morphine touches nothing 

My Angel holds it all

Through seven dark hours

 

She watches over me

The two millimeter stone inside me

Undiagnosed

The pixels curve and wallow out.

The screen is bad or rez is low?

The colors smudge, but in a line,

Organic in its journey South. 

It takes a sagging turn due East 

Before it rounds the corner North.

Ever tighter ellipses seek

To distract 

From the plot

I'm watching...

My fingerprint on the projector lens!

Third Time Pays for All

Addis then to N'djamena rolling 

Paris passes underneath me

My supplies beside me in the belly

Flying the team both here and there 

Patients waiting and those at home

Anticipating 

Here we go

Midnight Bus to Georgia

Gas station squalling 

A tussle with cops

The kite was crashing

Tube now trailing out

Doing the talking

And me to say good morning

Take it down a notch or two

Let's send you back on

The bus you wanted

But too high to catch

Last night off the ground

With no shoes 

Passed the hat

Sent you home with shoes, food, and well wishes.

A Nurse’s Song

 I don’t sightsee.

There’s not much there to see:

Sand and goats and the French military.

I go to do.

Give my hands, my back, and a few 

Long days to see the surgeries through.

So, if this is my last swan song,

At least I went out with my scrubs still on.

Cut and Suture

Back to where they took me

Back to where I went

Back to cut and suture

Back to pray and wait

Drowning Man

A Levite's in the river

Leaving bodies in his wake

The Spirit's leaving heaven

River rushes over face

A body floating downward

Looking up and contemplates

Like Jonah in the ocean

Is he self made fishing bait

Glass and Masks and Hoods

I held his hand until he passed
And then again until he died. 
His air had stopped. but still his heart beat on

I watched him as his color changed 
That tell tale sign that all is gone
A yellow hew that stays when pink is drained

His loved ones were behind the glass 

Had waved and cried without a touch
They tried to get what comfort could be had

By his own words and his own hand 
Mask off  and ready for the light
He looked ahead and faded by

Leaving us 
Behind glass 
And masks and hoods. 

Christmas Waltz

I'll romance her
That's what I want to do
Gently dance her
Down the isle to view
Christmas movies
After dinner for two
Lightly talking
Of all we're going to do
Slowly floating
Down the Danube with you.

Hypomanic Patter

If meds will help, then meds I’ll take.
If running helps, then shoes I’ll buy.
If darkness falls, then light I'll find.
If pride stands up, I’ll wash some feet.

The Lament of Bob Parr

Isolation
Packed in a cube
Away from view
From anyone in need
Of what I do.

Consolidated Stars

Some day If it still exists
The Sun will kiss the warm dust,
Earth
And take in what it snared
So many years ago
Consolidated dust
Debris of matter formed
From interstellar bangs
Encircled, never touched
Until the day
Its kiss extended to our shores
And took back the dust
The Earth had snared
So many years ago
From the ones
Who used it for a while
To love
Each Other
Circled one another
Incomplete
Till he kissed warm dust
Being formed of stars
And fused as one, destroyed as ones
And life began again
Some day
As long as we exist
A son will kiss consolidated stars
And take in what she snared
So many years ago

1388

It sat empty
Ripped up wire
Plumbing missing
The cash in hand
Made an offer
 God Damn Flippers

At Work Today

Every freckle is a bed bug
Every tickled hair a look down
Every glance or stare a judgment
Every hope and breath it's not found
Every moment a new freak out
Every twitch a bug to see
Even now they get their work done
Everyone but me

Exploring du Maison

The bookshelves call my name
Spines whisper as I browse

Trilogies of mutinies
Empires in the sun
World wars on far flung shores
The enormous room
A eulogy of Mr Hanna’s deeds
From the Senate floor

Marker’s Mark, an empty chair
Ignoring all around

Friends to Miss Her

off to the doctor's
to say goodbye  
to a friend
she is finally
decidedly
moving on
her mother is gone
children are gone
nothing left
but friends to miss her

Why I Came Home Depressed

I hesitated in the seat
It sounded like she said
They were chopping up their EHR
So they could move ahead
To fracture up what they had built
The interview was dead

Grandma Helen Rides Along

She hears you
Or you think
She looks at you and smiles
When the joke's a zinger

Then she laughs
And says something in return
That belies her age

That sometimes curtain
Of her recent hazy
Sight and mind

Family Today

My youngest becoming a teen
Demanding attention good and bad
Still young enough to snuggle in, yet bite

My teen becoming a woman
Old enough to see the end of home
And try again to snuggle in and hug

My woman fighting for her health
Chronic issues causing fear and grief
Snuggles in in we and I feel what we are

My father sees his end
My mother seems content
Her parents holding tight

39

Ten spot and a single short
Of fifty years
Cruising in the space that stays
Till old-age sets
Forty shouldn't smart
Like thirty did
Don't miss twenty, but I see
It don't go on
Ten more and a single short
Till mid-life's here

Left Pocket

It vibrates rhythmically
Almost like a heart beat
But slower in the thigh
It feels like my phone

Had to get a smart watch
To not miss all my calls
Left pocket tells me lies

Monday

It all looks fuzzy
In the whiteboard
Opposite my desk

The flowers blooming
Wind is blowing
Opposite my desk

I'm wanting outside
Out my window
Opposite my desk

Statler and Waldorf

I have paid my tithe to relax
Soy macciatto and a scone
Satisfy my soul and make the words flow

Watching bakers roll the dough out
T-rex on her shoulder
Kind instruction from the owner standing

Late night in the office
So, I took some time off
Tithing and relaxing with some coffee 

Music flowing from the 90's
Bopping, typing in my world
The one-year old is singing, dancing too 

A friend strolls in and shakes my hand
We've sat here like the Muppets duo
In a box seat watching what they show us

 

Maple Flavored Haiku

Falling from the green
Ohio Maples bursting
Twirling to the ground.

The lush canopy
Bringing forth their joyous song
Notes wafting gently

For the ears and eye
The grand symphony of Spring
Renewal of life

A Father's Anxiety

She leaves in three weeks
More than ever
I have to let go

I have to let go
More than ever it sits
On my mind

On my mind
She'll be gone in three weeks
Let her go

Let her go
Off to London she flies
How she'll grow

But I know...

More Time With You

Don't pull the sheets

Past your face 

To make it through the day

Hiding from the monsters

In our genes
We cannot wish away

Medicine has found us
At our age
Three pills a day

So, walk with me
Hand in hand
Together we will stay 

 

Youngest

Her eyes have come alive
We banter back and forth
Delighted with the joke
She knows she's in the game
I know she's in the game
We now begin to talk
At a place that's not a fight

Civilized

Instead of peeing on a tree
I pee into a bowl
Instead of satisfying me
I piss it down a hole.

First Snow

Level two traumas on the way

I hear the sirens pulling in 

And crews in choppers flying out 

First snow of the season fell today

Waiting Room

Sitting in the same room
We waited for her Pops
To find his final peace
Unnerves me
Waiting for my wife
To finish up her surgery

Hair in the Laundry

It tickles me
From in my sleeve
Evades my eye
Till I look 'round
And 'round and 'round
And 'round and 'round

A joy of x and x
My x and y
Could never do without

The start of day

gushing over the causeway
edge
of the trees the sun comes
up
in my bed I see it
fill
the room and
dance
in my eyes,
then.
gone.
it's day.

Frogs of Spring

Yesterday, I heard the frogs sing

Still cool, the air vibrated

With their throaty calls for more

My heart sang to hear it too

Whisper of the Dead

Never have I had
Such a sense of dread
And whisper of the dead

And yet I know
It soaked my bones
And wet my brow

It whispered to my soul
Took my eye and fixed it
On the great divide
 

A Wild Man in My Basement

A man lives in my basement

He's sitting in my chair

His knees are in the ashes

With cinders in his hair

He's playing with the fire

Without a single care

A wild man's in my basement

Away from the world upstairs

In Reponse

The Winter Solstice is upon us.
The days will soon begin
To lengthen out and bring
The sun back out again

Less of Me

Mastication
Molaration
Second on the chew.

Ectomy
Left of me
Tongue is searching through.

Hole in me
Hold of me
Wholly something new.

Look Up

One day will become two

The third day will follow

Pick up anew 

A new day tomorrow 

The clouds will not stay long

The sun is returning 

The bridge of an old song 

Your heart still is singing 

So look up and lift up 

Though rain may be falling 

The voice of your gladness

Sadness spurning

End of Shift

What a hell I worked today
Never stopped until just now
Sitting in my leather chair

Relaxing all my cares away

Downtime Pilsner in my hand

Eyes closed drifting from the day 

Nothing moving, body still

Happy in my nowhere land

Waiting... waiting...

Pounding
Slowly
Pressurize my skull
Inside
Aching
Allergic damage full
Mold or
Weather
Moving in to kill
Growing
Intense
Pace the floor until
Waiting
For the
NSAID to kick in

"Preach"

Angel's walk on her head 

They rock her back and forth

Causing her to fill up

Her body out of whack 

She feels it deep inside

Her soul and heart and feet

If only she could stand

And release the pressure 

In her gut-sack sagging 

She used to fear to speak

Till she hovered over

Heard the word that scared her

Today

sun

done 

clouds

proud

green

Fenian 

brown 

town 

today

play

morning 

snoring 

3rd Stage

of four stages, three i have come
not yet being of two score years
in the journey of my life song
this is the sorest of them all

first of fear and much trembling
i beheld Him as a judge
fire at my backside waiting
i implored Him for my safety
i listened, learned, and sat
soaking in the knowledge given 

'till I asked My own deep questions of the burning
and found desire in myself to know him more
drawing time of inward focused seeking
emotions in the rolling of My ego reeked
fingers, pride in good deduction
showed their eager tendrils spreading 
soon were pruned by those still watching
caring for my inner seeking
second stage of mortal meaning

for the waning of the magic thinking
tugs of Mortal feelings,
third stage of spiritual seeking, 
ground me of my lighter musings
set me straight on path of contemplation
of darkened consciousness, the possible nothingness
of my eventual demise

yet, in it all i see
what i saw when i was young
and have begun to see again
none is in control except the heart that is within
and where it goes
when fourth stage of this journey ends
and shows me, maybe not, where it begins
is Faith in things we cannot see at all

Black Tea

Black tea, not coffee
Honey kind o' day
Soothing in the cup 

Somehow it feels colder out today
Feel it in my bones
Premonition like

It settles in the corners
Nagging at my joints
Whispering unwelcomeness of age

A Birthday Toast to My Wife

A toast
To the most amazing woman I know:
Lead me
To be free in her arms and shows...
Even
An opinionated schmuck, ugly feller,
Can land
The hand of stunner, a woman like her.
Here's to
Many years till we're old and graying, thriving;  
Praying
She's still forgiving the luckiest man alive.  

Bitter Sweet Revival

Do it again sweet lady
Pour hot milk
Into bitter grounds
Froth it in ceramic cup
Past my lips
The bitter mix sips
Well down my soul and pours
Into words
Out of my fingers
Thursday morning at your shop 

Ressurection

An incomplete five year print 
Good luck finding all the rest

Parts of me
Stuffed in folders tight
And overflowing
Forgotten on the bookshelf

More lingers in my mind
I know I wrote it somewhere
Napkins thrown away
Printed, stashed, hidden
Waiting for you to see them
And turn them in your hands

'Cause by then I might be
A Memory, remembrance
Just like the Christmas carols
I hear now 
You might be hearing too

So we're connected.
Once again, I'm in your ear
The carols fading
My voice now louder  

Gentle, harsh,
Profane, and loving.
Imagined, direct,
Hopped up or sober,
It is mine and no other.

So, daughters, wife... who ever else 
When you hear me in your ear 
Even if I'm gone,
Rest assured it's me, was me, 

When to when
And
Then to then

Gathering who I was;
Adding, cutting away
Ashamed, proud
Of what I am, was
When this was printed
On the page    

It was worth jotting it down

And now you hear me speak it
Feel me in your ear drum
Trickling down
The cochlear nerve

My voice immortal
Five years long
But only if you read it,
Find it.

Resurrect me from the grave
Parts missing, but here I am 
Stuffed in folders tight
And overflowing

Punch Card

I miss it
Tactile assurances
Of the voting power
Physical
Reassuring feeling
In action, in the hand
Pushing through
Making more than ones and zeros   

Life Long Duet

She sang
Long forgotten notes in thirds above
His aging tremelo
Dancing steps they hadn't done in years
Sweet hymns above
Her inability to know where she was
Transcended by
Remembered melodies from behind the pew
His wife

He sang
Now gray and dapper sitting by the bedside
Gazing
With her in the moment, both now and then lost
In the love dance
His tenor wavered by the years, but no less tender
Time invested
In their tender duet that now transcends the physical decline 
Her beau
   

The Show

He stood for her
And caught her eye
Felt the pain of loss
When she walked by

Saluted her
Her walking pout  

And winced when she left
Sipped his drink and thought it out

His hope had risen when

She walked into his space

An extra syllable that

Then left him in his place

Much too complete

Sipping his gin

To be there whole

When she walked in

So she walked out

Sipped drinks with someone who
More than he
Was present too 

Three Weeks

Parasympathomimetic
Receptor agonist
The nightshade alkaloid
Smooth muscle constrictor
Pressure raising
Life shortening
Is three weeks gone for good
Death, out of hand,
Must find a different way   

Better Introspection

sensitive nothings will get you a date
and tears will get you a ring
but a powerful lust
will knock off the rust
put some step in your zing 
and a twinkle in the eye of your mate

Age Spots

I saw them
Staring at me from my hand
From the back I thought I knew
Grandmother's have them
My mother has them
And now I do too

Deer in Headlights

She knew it
She knew it had happened
I told her lies to calm her down
Something, anything, other reasons
It wasn't gonna stick around
Her mind was letting go
She knew it

Seven

(Purple, shiny)

                                      smartness on display;

Not to read, but to see

                                       what other people say.

She says they magnify her beauty

                   
                      [S h e -
                                   s k i p s -
                                                    a n d -
                                   w a l k s -
                       t h e -
                                   c a t w a l k -
                                                          s t a g e .]

More than they magnify the page.

My bespeckled,
                          ...freckled
                                            ...cutie. 

    

Watch

The hands tick away of their own accord
As if to say, "No more, no more."
They follow round and just behind
That moment now from all else gone
Cutting it sharp, the past, a sword
What follows, rust and dust, and evermore.

Fleeting By

Steel skies
Wet stone 
Spicy throat
Speakers drone
Drums roll
Ink flow
Write now 
I should know
My thoughts
Up, down
Fleeting by
A small town 

I know what I am.

Joan Jett loud on the radio!
Makes me want to run,
Get stuff done...
Smoke a stogie.
Find the wife;
Make some love,
Until she's done.
Infectious beats move me
In the air and top down! 

Bluegrass Morning.

Syncopated blue grass
Alison Krauss and Union Station
Flow over me like waves on a rainy day
Makes me move and sway
Triggers neurotransmitters that chase the blues away 

I say, "Pooh-Pooh"

Everyone loves good haiku
Not me, oh no, and
To the lion in the zoo...

Marley's Ten Year Ghost

Young man quietly places chains
On his own wrists
To be silent and to silence

Ten long years of penitent pride
Flesh grows over steel
The chains feel (almost) good

Cold steel shackles clink
They clatter like a pharisee
Praying proudly for all to see

Piety of the widow's mite
Power of the sinner's prayer
Have yet to set him free
From public, picked, and open wounds 

Ohio

Snow on Wednesday
Rain tomorrow
Sun today
Oh, Ohio!

Ins and Outs

Five plastic bags
And a pillow in my hand
Everything we could find
We carried out the door

A life reduced
To a bag of clothes
Taken out a swinging door
The room's already sold

He's lying in a bed
With tubes protruding
Controlling fluid in
Machines are breathing out

This room is full
Of ins and outs
Loved ones, skilled ones
Motion in the air

Training kick'd in
Comfort, education flowing out
Pizza on the table
Hugs and listening for the rest. 

Some are crying, sobbing
Stories flying 'round
His eyes open now and then
Perhaps it's sinking in 

The bags are in the car
Forgotten, unneeded
Mostly comforts now forgone
For family ins... and maybe outs.

I took it "well" until today
Pressure needs an out
It's dripping down my face.
Letting in and letting out.

Fair Warning

I admit it
I put Grandma to rest a long time ago
But it's still hard  

Talking to Dad
And hearing sixty-three years of love just breaking
His voice shaking, edgy 
My training kicks in
Just listening, keeping the edge off, tears down tight
Dad knows it too

He's not hiding
Says he "feels like shit... no reason to hide it now."
He's right, it'll hit me soon.
It always does
When I see the terrible job the undertaker tries
It's not his fault

It'll remind me that I can let go
Of the shell that clung so long when her mind let go
It's not her fault either
 

The Walking Wounded

He steps down off the curb and waits
For traffic flowing by
His pant leg folds unevenly
He pauses with a sigh
Nothing bends from hip to foot
A wound from years gone by

His gait is slow and even toned
The traffic doesn't yield
Self assured and steady goes
He walked the field
In Vietnam, perhaps Korea,
The wounded 's human shield

Tended now, the medic's wound,
By younger hands at home  
In grateful payment of
A phantom limb that's gone

How I Drink It.

I love coffee shops and greasy-spoons
Where I can belly-up to the bar
To drink my brew

With classic rock or obscure beats 
Rumbling through my brain  
Keeping time with the ink I spew

Don't snap your fingers when I walk in
Don't ask me what I want
It's me you're pouring to 

Just serve it hot and black in a ceramic mug
And put the next one in a paper cup
For me to breeze on out and bid adieu

Smears on the Screen

How do you write tears of joy?
The paper used to soak them up,
But now it splats and smears
When I blubber on the screen.

So here it goes what may;
I got the job I wanted today! 

Morning Hope

She sniffs my cup
A little apprehensively
Wanting mingled apple spices
Two sniffs
She wrinkles up her nose
The acrid scent of coffee
Black
Wasn't what she wanted
Directives given
I will try again
She laughs  
"You're fired, till it's right"

Three o'clock blues at ten

the house is cold but the fire's hot
for my workin' woman who is not
here with me and rollin' rounds
while the blues are playin' mournful sounds
through my speakers, in my head
got me down! waitin' in my bed

Friday's verdict comin' soon
either way, today,
I drink deeply from the cup
of three o'clock blues at ten
BB's keepin' me afloat
and Clapton feeds me from within

Breath (draft 2)

I cradle your head in my arms
Thanking God I hold you

Your hair smells sweat
I nuzzle in and drift
 
Some day our oath will have ended
The sweet and bitter pill

The Lord's own time 
His will be done

I hold you close
And work on now
Trying not think about then
The loneliness for a job well done

Your head rests on my chest
I hear your breath come in and out
I match it just because I can
And drift back into dream

Lice!

They do not die
From natural causes,
Organic rinses,
Or mayonnaise washes.

They do not fly
From child to child.
They do not care
If you wash your hair.

Other children
Are not hinderin'
With their louse
Your child's shot at the White House.  
 
Breath.
Don't curse.

Respectfully Yours,
The School Nurse

Gazuntite!

If you have to

cough or sneeze,

Make sure it's in
    your elbow please.

 

A View

To dangle my feet above the street
With a view of the passers by
Would be for me heaven at about seven
When the rays of the sun come out
The warm wind blow, the bright sun glow  
The rats as they scurry around
The goal that teases all of these meices
Is lost as I look about

I Shut My Mouth

I sit and read
   I write and think
   You fill me as I piss in ink

The crack of the wood
    Beneath my feet
    Beneath my pen in metered ink 

The trees outside begin to sway
    They seem to say in rustling leaves
    "You are arrayed as one of these."

What name have you for me?

Let me see Your hand!
Let me feel Your side!
Let me know know You're here,

Not the whisper in the wind.

I tell you-
Tear the mountains!
Shatter the rock!
Earthquake and fire!

Ask me why I'm here!

I stand braced like a man,
I wait your questions.
I will answer your voice.

Do not break my upraised arm!
It shakes at you!

I will wrestle you.
I will grapple you and not let go.
I will not yeild my foot to slip till morning falls.

Yet...

You've wretched my hip.
   I canont stand.
You took my job.
   I have to wait.
My interviews are on deaf ears.
   I cannot speak.

The Shakes

It starts
Like my eyes begin to recede
Stiff neck
When I wake up  at 3am
Muscle weakness
A slight tremor
Seems to get worse
In a few days
I can't sleep
I can't love
I can't stop
Until I get the closing hours right
The SSRI calms them down
I wonder when they won't go away

Exuberant love

Red followed white
And freaked me out
A sleepless night
Followed next day by cautious tests
The fun of exuberant love 

Crude Past Tenses

If thought is the past of think,
Than what is the past of tweet?
Think of thought and not of tweet,
Not of ..., but of meat.

Let Mortality Settle In

One thing I hate
Are the statements we make
When a loved one "shuffles off this mortal coil,"
As if we cannot pause
And let mortality settle in
The Six by Six by Four foot hole
We lay it in. 

I know she'll be back

I miss her with the ferocity of a rhinoceros
Anything else is preposterous
I miss us
 

Dirt and Salt

It's been a long time
Since I saw dirt run down the drain
And tasted salt on my lips
As the water washed me

It's been a long time
Since I helped a friend
Dig a hole, a ditch, and use my chains
To free the roots of bitterness

It's been a while
Since I could say,
To hell with good neighbors and their fences
 I've got love to mend.   

Fireflies

There's always time for fireflies
Purple shirt, short skirt, twirling with the wings
Barefoot, running in the wet grass
Evening sun behind the trees
Crickets chirping, birds still singing
All to say, "fun has yet to stop"

My Nephew's Loss

To speak:

My body is shaking
With tears and sorrow
For the boy
Who's core is shaken
By the news
A pillar gone
His mother's mother in glory.

Denial of death,
Against refuted immortality
Anger at powers, Self, Parents, and God
For refuted omnipotence as seen from the here and now
His road is hard and unimaginable
A crossroads to strength and scarring

Yet God is good
Though evil works
To crumble and destroy
His grace comes from those around us
And in His still soft voice
Within our soul

To pray:

Have mercy on the boy
And protect him in your wings
Lord Send your angels to minister to his needs
And may he feel Your love and assurance
The power and omnipotence
Of the life to come
The power of Your triumph over death, Amen.

Prosperity Theology Proposterosity

You can't claim a seed
That wasn't yours
It was a gift to start with
Trusted with
You reap what you did not sow
You sow what you may not reap
Do not claim prosperity
You may crumble when you suffer

8th grade dance

They come alive
When someone else begins
They circle in their group of friends
Never mixing
Parallel play
Showing off and hiding
Like breathing in and out
Testing waters and letting go
Seeing the boat is safe
Finding themselves
Within the danger of the group.

It rhymes!

For those of you inclined
To elevate your mind
And trot out Greek while giving sermons
And Aramaic for the learned(s):
Latin makes me feel smart, pēditum!

I hope

Her
Patience
Wearing thin
I was not nice
I was down right mean
How many times will she
Accept apologies from me

One more at least, I hope

Dead and Living

It rises from the heat below
And throws its carbon to the wind
Child of a flame's desire
For the fuel of fallen limbs
Taken from the living forest
The dead now burning bright within
The body warming body of my kin

John Barker

No shame or doubt
For there is none in that place
Not looking down like heathen kings
But dancing in the isles and streets of gold
And singing praise more fully than he dreamed
And life more raw and beautiful then the veil here on earth

Good morning

Coffee in my hand
And Kipling in my pocket
Gospel in my ears
And a breeze is blowing in

Steps

Down the center isle she'd only walked
I carried her
With seven other men

Up with her dad
At birth, to wed,
And back with Grandad
And now with us.

Down the steps she never took,
We carried her again:
Just like her dad when life began.

With candles, vows, and separation-
Dedicated, married, and now deceased-
She finished what they started.
The eight of us attest to that.

Inside a car she never drove,
We placed her as gently as we could:
The rollers made it smooth.
I said goodbye before I let her go.

Followed by a line of cars and hearts
That stretched back eighty years or more
She would have fussed,
Although she thought it right to do.

Three men await her at the gate,
And two have walked that path before.

Bitterness

Some say superman is out there,
But I just saw him fall
Not to Lex Luther or Miss Lane
But to the noisy few
Who turned their back on him
And kicked him to the curb
Pretending, speaking for us all

She's on her way

She's on her way
To trip the light fantastic
With the older man
Who swept her heart away
Over sixty years ago

With barn dances and bright flowers
She was his sunshine
And then he went away
Still singing their sweet song

His sunshine, his only sunshine
Had waited for this day
With nights of lonely patience

No one could come between.

The task your feet are on

There is a God
And some are wrong
And none can love too much
Three things that make the world go round
And add the human touch

When all is dark
or, worse yet,
When shadows obscure the view
These three things your path will set
Past midnight dark and day anew

Forget your fear
Regrets, laments
And throw aside your crutch
For none of it will matter soon
All hindrance aside, your feet must rush

To finish well with crown and cup
The task your feet are on

God Damn!

God damn, I miss him
He sips wine, but I know his jokes
We can sit and talk and be at ease
God damn, I miss his face
Twenty with and thirteen apart
The other one is with the wind
God damn, I miss my friend
We disagree, but in his core
He stands on what we can agree

Past Desperation

Have you ever thought
That the only way
You would be allowed to rest
And decompress from the day
Would be to steer for the lights
Up the road a way
And find a bed in the ICU
Where your visitors would say
With time and pity in their voice
"It's not his fault he cannot work, or go to school today."

It took me fourteen sessions
Life talks and lessons
To be able to ask it that way
And to admit
The stress, it hurt

...and now my wife is headed that way.