.

*Hypnotized by this
perfect vision drinking in
the afternoon sun,
I can hear sultry sighs
along the garden wall
calling me closer

Falling prey to the aroma,
intoxicated breezes
flow from a sundial’s smile
shading the hour
my heart falls deeply
into her soft petals

A thorn slices
the boundaries of my skin,
releasing blood in
crimson shades
of this fragrant rose
luring me with her beauty

Careful around her stem
I still worry about my flesh
until I realize the pain felt
is worth the scars
that I now see
spell out her name

.

The front yard of her home,
no white picket fence
just a cement curb separates
where she sat with the Crayolas,
she received last year when she turned seven,
63 to be exact
(the umber one lost under her bed months ago)

A hot sunny day,
colored wax puddles blend
with butterflies floating
and tiger lilies swaying like an orange banner
at the VFW parade

The ice cream truck sings in bells,
displaying pink cones
and rainbow push-ups,
but she is not in the giggling line,
dollars stretched for treats

The summer breeze flips the pages
of the mother goose coloring book
Images blur together as fairy tales
fly by, waving farewell
while her impression in the soft green grass
slowly disappears

Red eyes droop on sagging skin
her worried mother can’t breathe,
calling her name in coarse tones,
repeating, hoping, repeating
as another slate gray day passes
in her shattered world
of melted crayons
and lost innocence

.

*Cross water stories
beckon with pictures of auras,
glowing symbols of that dream
cast aside long ago
on a wayward stone,
flushed of soft banks
and cattails swaying
in synchronized movements

Winding down some unforgotten stream
where rivers meet oceans
and waves conjure thoughts
of rhythmic bystanders
wishing you well
as you float to that island,
where days last forever
and heart shaped seashells
bloom amidst the sand

Where the footprints you follow
are hers leading toward you
beneath a Mardi Gras sun
beading sweat on glistening bodies,
sun tanned symphonies
wallow in the warm breezes
while aquamarine desires
coming with the tide,
drench you with love

.

I flipped a quarter and called heads,
then watched as it hit the ground
and rolled through the grate,
staring at me from the bottom of the drain
like a charm seeking its bracelet,
still crying because the clasp broke.
Taking a seat on the curb as the sun
began setting at the west end of the block,
I felt long shadows gathering at my feet,
swallowing me in darkness,
but still the coin glistened, mocking me.

The next morning I was awakened
by the sound of your alarm clock
through the open window two floors up,
when I heard him say “good morning”
and you closed the blinds.
Then glancing down into the sewer again
I saw a note where the coin had rested
in your handwriting that told me
something I had already figured out,
“It was tails, you lost.”