Bean bags tossed
two and fro

his hands are fast
this man

in his striped shirt
and black pants

literally

he juggles
while I struggle

to balance a marriage,
job

hopes and dreams
seemingly and somewhat absurdly

on the head of a pin

Messages
of common sense

coupled with dimestore
philosophy

slipped neatly
into sugary wafers

while the Great Wall
in faded gloss

exists far across
the dining room

in the beginning
there was light

albeit pale

and our mouths watered
but what we came for

never really transpired
and we left

wanting more

of what we do not
know

No spotlight
that disappeared
years ago

now

just you wearing a madras jacket
loud shirt
and a polyester tie

leaning
against a varnished wooden rail
speaking into an old radio mic


trying to talk
over the Rolling Stones
on a Wurlitzer Jukebox

to no one
in particular

This morning your eyes sparkled
as you talked

to the birds that chirped
through the screen

then you shimmied up
your scratching post

I wish I could take back what happened
to you three weeks ago

and found you before it was
too late

my cross to bear but
bear it I will

Take my wife
PLEASE

STAND UP

as in also
you  stand up
for

LOVE
SPOUSES
for

SISTERS
BROTHERS
for

MOTHERS
FATHERS
f­or

COUSINS
AUNTS UNCLES
for

NIECES
NEPHEWS
and also

United
WE STAND UP
for

EACH OTHER

It's the small acts of magic
like the floating bar napkin

the dime for every quarter
or the clean separation

of two straws
tangled as lovers

matched
somewhere south of heaven

these little sleights of hand
turning heads everyday

and changing minds
forever

White as new sliced snow,
Black as the fallen crow,
Time stills its random flow.

Deep as the lover’s swoon,
Sultry as the summer’s noon,
Tender like the bud in bloom.

As autumn falters in crimson color,
Shivering cold in pale chill fire,
Love’s flame will come to an end.

Only then will they know...
Only then will they know.