Before lights out
a small pleasure
milk and a cookies
childhood revisited
yet
wracked with guilt
for the child
cowering from bombs
on an empty stomach
Bethlehem forgotten

If you don't have a reason not to smile... Try smiling.

I’m not sure
I amount to much.

Just an
Expired thing
In the cabinet
You forgot to
Throw out.

A dog you should’ve
Put down years ago—
Barely walking,
Still biting your ankles.

A song you know
Will only make you worse.
Why press play
If you’re not ready to cry?

The pool you should’ve drained.
I pull you under,
Hold you there,
Watch the bubbles stop.

A broken fire alarm,
Screaming you awake,
Making you worry—
Why else would you?

I’m not sure
I amount to much.
I never did.

Life is a whisper
Yesterday, your laughter filled the air,
Today, the wind carries my tears.

We are candles in a restless night,
Flickering…
Never knowing
When the flame will fade.

We sense it because it comes inexorably,
this is the beginning  of good-bye.
Her eyes avert his, a touch with no
feeling, a caress more cautious than
caring, a kiss when lips do not meet,
this the beginning of good-bye.
A perfunctory placement of the hand,
a conversation moribund, sipping
scotch and sodas in silence, a call that
never comes, memories that have grown opaque,
this is the beginning of good-bye.

TOD HOWARD HAWKS