Only the pinwheel spiral shapes
of the fuchsia and heliotrope galaxies
tell us in what direction they spin
as they travel at thousands of miles per hour-
yet, in their vastness, they seem as immovable
as the patience of God

Opening the heart
is like the blossoming of a flower --
Once begun
miracles happen --

Each day begins as an unwrapped gift
that when opened should be lived
in the most hopeful way
                But
Sometimes I feel like rewrapping my gift
and going back to bed

When blinks the sun out her eye
that last orange spot between mountain peaks -
and the sky and clouds ignite in flame,
the earth glows in her joy at being bathed
if only for a moment
in twilight's precious gold -

the Puckrum-Buck clan lived down by the Keowee River
     in a tar-paper shack
their heads were either too big or too small
and their eyes were deep-set like in a cave -
     blackened teeth
          blotchy skin
               bald patches
                    and all disproportionate

old Garold was missing one eye, and his left leg
his eye patch was a piece of ***** handkerchief
stuffed right into the socket
he wore dirt-slicked overalls and a homemade pegleg -
Ma Puckum-Buck's filthy hair was ******* with a shoelace
her dresses were floursack rags
stretched over a bloated frame
                but when the Puckrum-Bucks got together
                they could sing like angels -
                a grimy sideshow
                                          of harmonic angels

-----------Just--------------
         how
     good
    does
        a poem
                  have to be
                                 to be on Front page ?                       
                                                                ­    ?
                                                           ­          ?
                                                               ­       ?
                                                               ­         ?
                                                             ­             ?
                                                             ­                ?
                                                               ­                 ?
                                              ­                                       ?
                        ­                                                                 ­  ?
                                                             ­                                   ?
                            ­                                                                 ­        ?
                                                               ­      (I'm asking for a friend)