Spinning for bluegills
on a placid lake
As much amusement as my heart can take
Panning for gills in the windslow'd
wakes
Catching a thrill on a perfectly blue Spring day

You gave me candy on the school bus
Gobstoppers, as I recall
I shoved it in my mouth and smiled
We were children
I gave you a kiss in return
In high school, we were inseparable
Till I went to the academy
Then you were there everyday afterward
We were too young
You were my best friend,
You loved me, once
Then you hit me
I was too free for you, I suppose
I didn't love you like that but,
I wanted to keep you
For your smile and candy
Maybe you thought you could beat love into me
I don't know
You hurt anyone who I called friend or family
Shedding blood
Theirs, and mine
Still, I honored our time
I had vowed to
So you needed me again,
As you lay in that hospital bed
I went to you, as the child I once was
Brought you and your blood drenched hands back home with me
You wanted more than I could give, my childhood friend, husband
You weren't content with just a companion, best friend
So you took my freedom, my sunlight

We vowed till death
And that's what you gave me

Was I your prize possession
A trophy on yer mantle
Or just a mule to be flogged
on occasion , an ornery animal to abuse an mishandle
The beaten do return to the whip
Sorry was a slip of the lip
No one knows where ya lie
No marker with religious overtones
No chronological award emblazoned in -
marble
No holiday flowers
Your a memory drowned in a whiskey sour

Rain was made for me
A shower from every shaken tree
Bird bath's filled to the brim
Fledglings taking turns on a bare -
oak limb..

Rain was made for the depressed
To wash away thoughts of loneliness
Lovers neath umbrellas with a million dreams
Thoughts of dry home with
simple , romantic schemes*..

Someone has stopped writing our love story
Are we too happy to be punished like this?

Many moons,
have passed over my headpiece,
as you leave me behind,
in moondust & ashes each night,

You collect on the bookshelves,
I keep here,
collecting on hearts with your light,
dusting my world with your beauty,
diminutives in bits of the white,

This is not the end of the journey,
 this a mere tiny part of the flight,
and I've not seen any more shiny,
or any star nearly as bright,

Though I am unable to see you now,
or touch your skin ever again,
or truly hear you with my ear,
I still miss you so my friend,

I know I cannot be near you now,
I cannot be where you are,
as you are but a twinkling light,
a brilliant & distant, star-

If it was not but for the moon dust,
my heart wouldn't,
be able to see you anymore either.

Ma Cherie © 2017

Full ashtrays , lipstick stains on
white coffee cups
Hashbrowns and waffles , Dwight Yoakam
on the jukebox , waitresses calling orders ,
a lone cook 'in the zone' , the whole scene
becomes a country song
The patrons begrudgingly lip synch along* ...

I hold you tight up against my body
I take you with me even to the party

I rub you back and forth
Up and down from south to north

I love the way you sing hard and soft
I just can't keep my hands off

I pull you close
From coast to coast

You are beautifully sound
I will never pass you around

Magnificently perfect
You have all of my respect

You are my best friend
Till the end