I’ve never known you without Lulu
She has been a part of you
As much as your humor
Your generosity
Your kindness
Your ability to make things happen.
But you are not less for her loss,
She filled you with joy
She warmed your bed
On those cold and lonely nights.
She loved you when
Nobody else would.
One look at her bright eyes
And your day was brighter.
But you are not less for her loss,
Her spirit will reside
Upon a soft fluffy bed
Somewhere inside you.
She will continue to come
Whenever you call her.
How could she not?
That’s what good dogs do.
She will be there to snuggle
When you need comfort,
And wag her tail
When you need a laugh.
If you listen hard
She is barking now
She wants a walk
Or a treat
Or just some affection.
Good dog.

The world is a cauldron of never-ending pain
Do our sympathy and tears ease this pain
Equal even to a teardrop?
And if we are cold and heartless--
Ignoring the suffering and eating our sushi
And driving our cars--
Will their pain cut sharper and deeper
From our indifference?

She was lost in a deep dark chasm
Of pain and desire
Bitter memories that stained
The rock walls.
She scaled the shear cliffs
With each new day
A dawn of hope spurred her forward
Inches every day she rose
Closer to the light
Bathed in sunshine
And warm desert air
With each step she became unshackled
Breaking the bonds of history
Rewriting her life and smelling the sweet
Flowers of the spring for the first time.
Nature’s power to heal embraced her nakedness
A young bird taking flight
From the comforting nest.
Her delicate wings are buoyed
By the updrafts from the canyon.
Rising higher and higher
Above the stagnant river bed.

You look at me, is that pity or compassion?
I’ve made choices you wouldn’t have made
I know self-sacrifice isn’t in fashion.
I’m not in total denial, I see what you see
But it’s my life and I know it,
We are friends, comfortable with each other.
Okay, we spar, we fight, we don’t always
See eye to eye. But we are in it for the long haul.

Ruby lips etched sharply
Against a gauzy memory
Pensively floating on the hope
Of a love long lost.
She resides in a murky present
Time out of place
Creating a romance of a silky past
Delicately draped on her soft shoulders.
Locked in a whirlpool of faded emotions
She yearns for substance that is both
Supportive and translucent
Unsatisfied but not hopeless
Resting upon her reverie
Evening slips into night
Dreams envelop her.

Words can move mountains,
And the pen is mightier than the sword.
Words can heal, and words can uplift.
But a few ill-chosen words
Can bring down a world.
Weigh your words carefully
Such power is hidden in their silence
And an innocent remark
Might be twisted and sharpened
To reveal a hideous weapon
Dripping with slander and guile.
A word is a dove sent aloft
A symbol of peace and white purity.
It flies from your sheltering hands
To encounter a world that knows
Not of peace.
Not of purity.
Like the whale,
It’s whiteness is perceived
As a raptor of evil.
The minds of others can be controlled
Not.
Our words migrate to distant shores
Rejected and misunderstood
Alien beings, unkempt and unwashed
Morphed into a threatening tempest
By its mere presence.
The sea is teeming with words
They buoy your boat
Keep it bobbing on the churning sea
Or they can engulf the rudder
And cast you adrift in meaningless doldrums
Or sink you amid an indefinable whirlpool.

It’s that time of night
Where it’s still today
But maybe it’s tomorrow.
Teetering between the present
And the future.
I’m often like that
Resistant to change,
Complacent in my old ways
But all too aware of the
Inevitability of what’s to come.
It’s the dull comfort of these chains
That keep me moored to the
Perpetual winter.
I am cursed with always knowing
But not wired for doing.
Perched upon this fence
The vista is thrilling and the scenery
enticing.
But sit I must and watch the parade
And clap to the oompah
Of a passing tuba.
Somewhere the sun is rising
I watch the clock
Tethered to yesterday
And not believing in tomorrow.