It Takes Two to Tango

It Takes Two to Tango

She was a walled flower with two left-over feet
No rhythm flowed or surged through her limp veins
Not beat to match her lonely heart moved her hips
But when the moon was full she shed her shoes and
tangoed alone in the lambent glow of night

A Question of Abundance

A Question of Abundance

The crocus and daffodils are blooming
and there is an abundance of small white
flowers in the herb garden – unwanted weeds

that I will have to pull, if it ever stops raining
On my front porch I found a small yellow
butterfly, a sign that the weather is finally

turning warmer and a reminder that my
abundant weeds are its abundant food source
Weeding can wait

A Song in the Storm

A Song in the Storm

A small, clear voice sang out
amid the storm of men at war –
a movie song, a moving song.
A call to peaceful action, a voice
to calm the fears of children everywhere.
A song that children sing from homes,
and schools – from street corners and bunkers.
A voice heard by nations and people
unlike her own, yet understood by all.
A child with the wisdom that children possess,
a wisdom that is lost in the foolishness of growing up

Narcissus at the Laundromat

Narcissus at the Laundromat

I watched him, that handsome man.
He went from machine to machine,
stopping to peer through each little window.
I thought he must have forgotten

which dryer he had put his clothes into –
up and down the aisles, stopping in front of
every door and staring with a contented smile.
He was in front of the oversize load dryer, gazing

longingly at a bedspread tumbling around when I asked
if he’d found his laundry and, without turning to look at me,
he replied, “ I have no laundry.”

My attempt at Day 5 prompt at https://www.napowrimo.net/day-five-9/

Of Poem and Nonsense

Of Poem and Nonsense

This poem is tied up in (k)nots trying to
make sense of the letters swirling around


it – Syllables that won’t keep time, tripping
over metered clown feet – Phrases


of the moon lined up and made to
stan(d)za in groups of four or maybe two


What’s a poem to do when there is no
rhyme or season to its form? When it finds


itself trickling away into an inky stain on paper ?

And There is Beauty

And There is Beauty

Hug a lonely tree
Listen to its heartbeat
Weep for the fallen leaves
Gather them in bushels
Spread them on a blanket
Whisper to them of love
Press them against your heart
Hang them in a window so they can feel the sun
Tell them they are beautiful
Write them into a poem

The prompt over at napowrimo.net today is to write a “prompt poem”

Wrapped Up

Wrapped Up

She tried to catch up, match
up with those trending, mending
rending things until she was wrung dry

She tried to tweet sweet nothing
into space and time until her chirping dried up
She tried not to give up, live up to

some made up expectations that weren’t her
own until her muse was filled up with nonsense
Then she grabbed up some paper and some

deep blue ink and wrapped herself tightly
into the safety of her own mixed up poem

Synthetic Smells

Synthetic Smells

They sell smells boxed and bottled,
ready for noses unused to nature.
Lavender and rose petals packaged
in plastic – manufactured smells
from a laboratory by people in
white coats and hair nets who
work under artificial lights and
breath artificial air. I long to walk
with them in my garden, to share
the warm yellow light of the sun,
and let them brush their hands
across lavender and sage until
they find the smell of peace.