The day after she died
I passed a woman on the street
The moment we were next to each other
she answered her phone,
“Hi Mom”
and I knew mine was gone forever

Any guilt I ever held about not “honoring thy father”
burned up in the crematory
The ashes of that guilt are buried with you in Mount Carmel cemetery
to lie in eternity with the remnants of all your shortcomings
and your guilt
if you recognized any of it

Happy Father’s Day

I say “I love you”
You say you love yourself, too!
At least we agree….

A cold winter night and Rafael. The room was dark, the chairs were worn, and the café bustled.

That time in history when tourists had not permeated the city, and that time of the year when the deep freeze kept the streets empty late at night.

I don’t remember any conversation we shared, only his burning stare that held me hostage time and time again.

He was my type, but I did not know it then.

We drank cappuccino and ate Italian pastries here on an unremarkable night sometime in 1986.

Stay
One more day
Today
I'll pour the liquor away
If you stay
One more day

(When you’ve had enough of reality and it’s time to consider other options)

Under the surface
Peace
Ears fill with water
Everything is gone
far away
The currents pull my body
Saying, “leave, leave
come away
for all time
Eternity is here
forever.
Just say "yes"
The ocean will pull, pull
Pull.
Soundless
A whirring of the motion
A breath of breeze, and a
bubble massaging
pieces of skin
And a pull
Let me take you
drown you in silence
fill your lungs with
blue, azure, green, and
the darkest black
Unknown to any
Let the fish take your flesh
Dive in your spirit
float and swim
be the ocean and move
forward, away, away and
be the ocean
be the sea
forget what brought you
here
floating, and time never is,
and never will be.