Memory

A touch
can be so near
and so far
at the same time.

Like the sun
on your back
it's there
but years away.

Flock of Leaves

Leaves

dance on the wind

a flock of birds

twisting in the air

creating traffic from nothing

then landing

one by one

a whispering mass.

Until they get scared

by a passing breeze

and do it all again.

Enter the Dragon

In China
they are so backwards
use the bathroom standing up
don't form lines
and eat split-pea Popsicles
remember their traditions
and sacrifice for the future.

Love and Stars

To write of the stars

is to write of love

so many have tried

some have come close

but none have succeeded.

Discovery

I remember hearing things

when I was little

that didn't make sense

to my little ears

but now

make too much sense

and I wish that I was little again.

Multiplicity

Never has so little
meant so much,
thank you.

Patience

Patience-
Isn't waiting for summer
but enjoying winter.

Legos

I am playing legos

and I am 25

I made a giant bug

with a stinger

and still didn't clean up.

Sorry Mom.

Revolution

Today is the day

the leaves went on strike

stick it to the man

and put up a fight.

Not sugar for you!

they cry to the tree

We won't be your slaves

and work without pay.

They yellowed and red

in bursts of display

a new revolution

the dawn of a day.

Until they discovered

to all their chagrin

that brittle they grew

and fell in the wind.

For their true support

from the tree all along

was cut out by them

as they sung their song.

Poetry

The song of pen

when no music plays

and when the quiet places of the heart

need to speak.

Moon Phase

Does the moon grow sad

as she wanes from earth

and turns away

from fall walks through firework trees

and summer evenings

spent lit by glow bugs

and giggling kids?

Or is she happy

with the respite

from a thousand screams

dark alleys

and violent nights?

What have we done with the peace of the stars?

Thank You

Does a thank you note

really count

if you were asked a thousand times

to write it?

Anonymous

I remember a note
that I got in eighth grade
left on my desk
scrawled with loopy pink letters.

"If you did your hair,
lost the glasses
and changed your clothes
you'd be pretty cute."

I have contacts now
but haven't showered today
and am wearing a shirt I found in a bin
but I think I'm pretty cute anyways.

We never had a chance Nikki.

Cave Man Games

I remember
I was ten
and we rented Cave Man games
for the NES
that we all chipped in for.

It took us a week
to learn how to toss our wives
and club our friends
and build fire with sticks.

And you would think
that if we played it again
now
we would be too grown up
and it would seem like a waste of time.

You would be wrong.

Hydrology

It's sinking in
like water through soil
drawing through me
out of me
into me.

Fall

The dying lay
rustling like withered flesh
life pulsing out
under the cold sun
as they dry
their veins stretch through their skin
their spines arch
into a ball
where they roll under foot
and crunch
smaller and smaller
until they are only dust
then dirt
then life.

Smilin'

A smile on my face today
stuck on
like sharpie on an overhead
or pine pitch
on fingertip.

But I feel okay about it
Katie said I looked giddy
but I told her guys don't get giddy.

*Tee hee*

Left Behind

When the earth shakes

and we see descending

in flaming architecture

Him announced by golden trump-

we will shake

and fall

and rise up.

I wonder

will it matter what I left behind

or will that be all the difference?

Learning

A smile pulls across my lips

I know a secret

that nobody really cares about

and I walk through

and up

and around

a giant circle

where many feet have stepped

but not in quite the same way.

My path is special

even though

it's worn smooth.

The Human Genome

The Human genome

has been cracked

each nucleotide is known

at least for those

who gave their blood

some template for the code.

and then they talked

how many genes

our DNA encodes

and we found out

we're not too shy

from a nematodous worm!