you see
i had always felt
that in a dream
i was the absence
of the dream
and then it dawned on me
that i was in a time piece
trapped during forgotten hours
where everything is alien
but vaguely familiar
the beach beneath me wandering
off to anywhere but here
and i straddle the shoreline
palming stray shards of sea glass
always the color of her eyes
and i am abruptly upside down
an upheaval, a maw
where i thought it as
a nightly revenge
for skipping stones
and again i am upended
& back on the beach
born of broken hourglasses
and it makes me think
that god likes to watch things leave me

Rows of starched green and yellow paisley feather stalks
Marching in ordered lines along the road to 57 Eldon Way
Hot dogs and char burgers charge the air with yesterday's homecoming
Buds of moxie memories tipping long ears to big blue
Listening to the chickadees vocal pecking at kernels from the past
Morsels fall to the dirt signal life again for those willing to root
Pulled magpies to lines spy intimate joy-scattered seed below
Promising fortunes creased by hourglasses settled sand
White washed porches with rose printed borders
Nestle a "his and her" swing vantage over familiar fields
Imagined better-time scenes from selfie soaked movies
More real than all the forgotten stones ever stepped upon
Sweet tea sugar fills tall glasses of yarn spun dreams
Glory red and navy rippling a windy beat
To the clang of their steal pole clasp
Dance
Swing with them and recall a time of slower horizons
Of richer baskets
Of brighter springs
Of longer summers
Take a dip in the swimming hole
Naked, together, and happy


© 2019 MJL

frail little girl inside your soul ..
hasn’t eaten for days ;
no food , no drink .

“buddhist fasting .” she says ….

tell me you smell a corpse
and i'll hand you a mirror
i see right through you because these windex tears make everything clearer .

as we grew more familiar with one another’s skin ,
you watched your intake .
I wanted nothing but you ,
and you would inhale nothing but me ,
counted calories like sheep before drifting off to sleep .
the less you ate , the more
room you saved for me .
i begged and i pleaded with you ,
i even fed you by my own hand ,
but it would always end up in the sewage system hours later ..

i love you ….

you’re drowning in sand ..

a person barely within earshot
may absorb the cheerful ring in my voice.
they see me in glimmering gold
embellished with refracting glass -
always with crinkles adorning my eyes.

someone else may be right across the table
and see small smoke tendrils escaping my ears.
laughter follows the smoke, and it fades away.
they see dull gold topped with smashed glass.
the crinkles sometimes disappear,
only to return a few seconds later.

A few can see my heart whenever they like.
they hear unsteady tremors between words.
they see billowing smoke
emanating from my ears and mouth.
they know the wrapping is gold foil
with smashed hourglasses piercing my skin.
the crinkles appear whenever they want.
nevertheless, they see me rise, even as I ache.

I, the permanent resident of this body,
shed the itchy foil whenever I can.
my cells are clouded by smoke,
and the hourglass fractals
swirl into a tornado behind my sternum.
the crinkles have been starched.

But, I remember I am walking on diamonds,
and I slowly sculpt my armor.
I exhale, and the smoke clears, bit by bit.
I reach behind my sternum,
grabbing the fractals to line my armor.
I splash water onto my face,
and the corners of my eyes crinkle again.

She stood head bowed over the empty kitchen sink.
The man stood to side in the doorway watching her.

What could she be thinking in the vacant pause. No dishes or pots there.
No greasy spoons or chipped coffe cups.
A billowing cloud of steaming dreams defferd rose wistfully from the dingy faucets fall that issued forth nothing at all.

Her hands did scald as her heart twirled and spiraled away to the sewers. Gone. Gone her youth.
Wasted. Wasted her precious youthfull ember. It trickled down her nose. Like a lousiana dirge to white rain washed slabs.no cake walk for her eyes.

The man wondered still. and yet stil today.
What could she ever say.