The Lilac trees were bushes then
In the front yard of where I grew up.
Their perfume filled the small front room
Of the tiny little house we lived in.

Across the yard were Holly trees
One for each of us three kids
Who loved to push each other
Laughing, onto their sharp leaves.

Three Lilacs and three Holly trees
All planted by my mother
And all of them were tiny shrubs
Just like her little children.

The kids and bushes grew in sync
As days and years meandered by
Until the kids were grown and gone
And left the bushes growing there

To mark the passing of the days
That added up to childhoods filled
With  perfume in the afternoons
And sometimes thorns into the fingers.
ljm

There she lay
No beautiful smile
No sparkling eyes
All life's energy spent
Now peace
In eternal sleep

She is gone
Only if we forget
The love she gave
Is ours to keep

We who knew her best
Are compelled by her noble way
To heed a greater love
Beyond flesh and blood

Let us sing her song again
Love is the key
Her spirit is ours
For all eternity

There is nothing
All the jars and cans
Sit empty on the shelves.
There is no hope for more.
The roads to everywhere are closed.
And Greyhound doesn’t stop here any more.

Everything is nebulous.
The equipment is all broken down
And rusting outside in the rain.
We ordered from a catalog
But never got a shipment back,
And our check was never cashed.

There is nothing in the pipeline.
The doorbell doesn’t seem to work.
The screen door has a hole in it,
Patched with pages
Ripped from next week’s calendar,
And the phone declines to ring.

Everything is over now,
The happy times
Are past and gone.
All that’s left to us is weeping
And the Kleenex box is empty,
So the tears make puddles on the floor.

All we see through tear filled eyes:
Another day in paradise.
            ljm

If you feel alone,
look up at the sky.
The stars are always up there
twinkling for you.

Pretty things fare well
Everyone loves pretty things
Pretty flowers, pretty houses, pretty faces
We don't visit ugly places
The under belly, the blood, the snot
Perhaps ugly things are best forgot
Pretty, it fades if we see it each day
Fresh eyes wouldn't focus on the magnitude of decay
But the slight beauty that grows around
Well, that would be found right away

What must it be like
To be a turtle
Hiding its head
For protection
Or a snake shedding
It's skin
A bird soaring
High over the universe
A dog without
A tail to wag
A cat with
No purr
Paradise without visitors
No water for fish
What would it be like
Without you and me
We and they
What would it
Really.be like