No one told me,
Death, was a she
She stopped by my house,
We had tea
She spread her black wings
In my sitting room,
She was beautiful
But smelled of doom,
I called her a *****,
She said to me,
"Sorry, my dear,
I'm necessity."

I have no dew
But the tears
From the rain

i am sorry
that i will not have
the time
to grow old
and my heart weeps
that i will not see
the world
just one more time
as it once was
i grieve
for all of the futures
that will not be
and the pasts
that will no longer
be retold
i lament day
and night
that it has come
to this

to be present
at
the end
as it begins

Why not
Chase
Childhood dreams
Why not
Roll
The dice of life
Why not
Start
Upon a journey
Why not
Live
A different life

Why
Hold on
To painful memories
Why
Decide
To give things up
Why
Believe
That you can’t do it
Why
Get stuck
Within a rut

Why not
Run
If legs are able
Why not
Sing
If voices can
Why not
Love
If hearts are beating
Why not
Jump
Because you can

Why
Wait years
To beat the devil
Why
Watch others
Take their stand
Why
Decide
That you’re too tired
To venture through
A troubled land

Why not
Ask
If 'Why?' is blocking
All the
Things
You want to do
Why not
Stop
Procrastination
When ‘Why not?’’s
A better path
To choose

I am a musical note in a guitar
Waiting for the touch of dexterous hands

I am a chrysalis under a paling leaf
Waiting to be turned into a butterfly

I am raw ore in the far depths of the mine
Waiting to be extracted and purified

I am a smoldering piece of coal in the hearth
Waiting to be blown into a flame

I am a rough stone under the Earth’s crust
Waiting to be hewn into a diamond

I am an antique piece long buried in the soil
Waiting excavation to become a treasured exhibit

I am a piece of canvas fixed on the easel
Waiting for the touch of a master artist

How I long to transcend my rawness
Into something better and refined

But can I do anything wholly myself
Never! Everything depends on others will too

I discern I am only a flickering shadow
That has existence only if there is light!

Canoodle away the daze.
Low productivity remains
sadly underpaid.
Dreams do not demand
To Do lists. As yet,
love requires no app.
Perhaps the world is dying
but green, green patches
remain in the shade.
Find a tree, see.
Take your love’s head
in your lap. Be glad
of time and hugs.
Glorify in achieving
that most perfect goal:
no goal at all.
Or one perfect kiss.
Clarity radiates from
exactly where you sit.
You can’t step in that
same stream even once.
Don’t try. Keep your lips
happy and your feet dry.

From a straight back wooden chair, I see
a cyan-blue ceramic bowl filled with
tangerines next to a desktop radio
tuned to NPR &

out the kitchen bay window
birds bicker over seeds
overflowing a feeder,
& a raccoon scours
the earth below --

I keep in mind the fact
all of these things will
be absent from my
sight one
day.