my first gun
was a bb gun
it had begun
second was pellet

then at ten, sleek 22
later, louder shotgun
beware clay pigeons!
can’t take memories away

i had to take
a driver‘s test to
be a regular driver
well regulated

ammendment:
background checks
psych evaluations
no weapons of war:
an assault on us all

Spasms happen
“Hic! SHNICK! Hic…”
Gone when?

A bed asleep?
On the morrow?
Maybe Tuesday?

(Oh god, please
Not three weeks
Like that last time!)

Head back
Nose closed
Backward water

Paper bag
In out, in out
Breath control

Hot rock yoga
Pose 27-a
Release barking frog

Hopping one foot
Turning left then right
Through the night

Nope.
Lil’sips;
Quick as quick

My dad drove a Cadillac
Smooth Catholic operator
Cruising the inside track

My dad kept many boats afloat
Powering through the turbulence
All the while sowing wild oats

My dad was a 60s *******
He knew his cocktail parties
Proud, charismatic fly boy

My dad lived larger than most
Denying himself nothing
The ten of us can boast

My dad loved our mom
And us; in his own way
And carried on with aplomb

The past passes
Frightenly fast
What you were sure was
Wanes to whatever

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Access denied
Memory error

But we remember it
We know it was there
(I made it; it was mine)
Now just victim of time

Dusk to dust
Ashes to ask less
Things fade
Past is pastiche

Yesterday, a poem fluttered by
Fragile clumsy moth
Colorful, felt, smelt,  
It had something to do with
Light, shadows, and
A hint of vanilla
From ponderosa pines

In the breeze
From the trees
In a Mary Oliver forest,
“I thought the earth remembered me
She took me back so tenderly.”

Stillness.
Warmth.
Water.
Eagles.
Paddling.
Friendshi­p.

Sharing food with
Campfire laughter
Loving this life:
Going far away
To come home again

The tired spider
More than retired
Is now expired

Three days in shower stall
Stalking the white wall
No way out, none at all

Eleventy-seven in spider years?
Lifetime tumbling fears?
Multiple eyes filled with tears?

Wait! Spatula rampart!
Put there with heart
By Lady Ann; smart!

Freedom! No: checkmate!
Alas, too little too late
Tragic arachnid fate

— — —

Human.

— — —

Concentration.

— — —

Camps.

— — —

Human:

Dominant earth species

No sub-species

— — —

Look left; look right

Who do you see?

Humans of

All sizes

All colors

All ages

All here

— — —

All endowed with

Inalienable rights

Among them

Life, liberty, happiness

Despite status

Not 3/4 human

No one illegal

All human.

— — —

Concentration.

— — —

Focus with

Deep thinking

Devising resolve

About human rights

Declared by Lady Liberty

Lifting her golden lamp

To those yearning to be free

Welcome to this shore

Huddled masses.

— — —

Camps.

— — —

Huddled masses

Yearning

Human

Children

Concentrated

Not free

— — —

Not right

Un-American

Unimaginable

Untenable

In-human

— — —

Concentration Camps.

— — —

We here now say with

Concentrated resolve

In English,

“No more!”

En español,

Decimos,

“¡No más!”

“¡Nunca más!

¡Nunca más!

¡Nunca más!”

— — —