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everybody
is the sum of their parts

and some of us dream and dabble
our various parts

nip and tuck,
Botox and Ozempic

refresh, redress,
the obvious errors made


by a God-in-a-hurry,
***** got 8 billion  of us

that need care ‘n feeding,
loving and breathing

I know, I know,
this is a simplistic

my poetic tomfoolery,
What? My fav part?

the one on my head,
that separates east & west

an old familiar friend,
not very chic, but comforting

keeps me grounded,
for when I look at me

in my kindergarten
class pictures with

no front teeth, but my best
part,
still extant!

I am true to myself,
which is the most
important
part of truth
People call me observant.
That's not particularly true.

I'm not more observant than any
other human being. People are just so
easy to read -
We bleed emotions even in the way we drink our coffee.

No one seems to notice though, because they're all
too busy drinking their own ****
coffee.
Her feathered cloak was threaded with the gold of the sun
To the queen, celestial bodies did bow
She walks upon still reflections of a pale flaxen moon
Emerald 12-point crown resting upon innocent brow

So came the fire breathing scaled red dragon
To devour the coming male child
So the rotting script told
Whose birth would be challenged by open battle
Transcended from the legends of old

The jade eyed dragon of a human’s dream
  Burnt away innumerable points of light
The creatures flames were all-consuming
The weapons of his strength and might

In fury and anger with bellowing sound
Sharp claws dripping with evil
Ripped through quivering walls of time
Igniting shimmering waves of reality
Reflected off the emerald crown

The dragon’s breath laced with smoke and poison
Alas would avail him naught
Defeated, disgraced and overcome
Spread dark wings and from the queen took flight

The screaming male child born with mercies hand to rule
Paused his breath to hear Gods cry
Ascended to the throne of he who created the world
Forever in the golden house to stand at his side.

All Rights Reserved @ Tammy M. Darby Dec. 16, 2016
sitting in a space surrounded
by rain, I become rainish
I puddle up with distopia
gather rainish-soaked bitter memories
into my heart as though they’re precious
and necessary
my brain acting as rainish gauge
tracking un-data for the un-stats
for making claims like presidential
candidates

the heart knows Truth, knows Love
and never falters nor complains
the heart rests in comfort
like a baby rests in cradling arms
ignores rainish thoughts
and bittered memories
surrounds me with treasured ones
instead
gently leading me back to center

hearting me back to God


c. 2024 Roberta Compton Rainwater
Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com

                                   My New Career as a Doorman

                “The Doors! The Doors! In wisdom let us attend!”

               -in the Orthodox liturgy just before the Nicene Creed

I used to light a candle for you before Mass
With a prayer that ascended to Heaven
For as long as the candle remained lit
Even after everyone departed, deep into the night

Now I open the door for you before Mass
Even though you’re not here, so does that count?
With age I am clumsy in so many things
But I can open the door and say hello

And every candle I ever lit for you
Still shines
Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com

                                Children Abandoned in the Rain

I abandon my children to the cold spring rain:
Tomato seedlings in peeling peat pots
Greenhouse-grown marigolds in muck-splashed rows
Poor pitiful peppers paling along the perimeter

I abandon my children to the cold spring rain:
Sunflower seeds in a desolation of mud
Five different varieties, the packet said
Floating among the zinnias and peonies

The sun will come again to warm each chilly grain
But for now
I abandon my children to the cold spring rain
Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com

            A Book of Numbers with a Picture of a Naked Man

Once everyone owned a book of numbers
No, not the one in the Bible; that’s still in use
But a book of telephone numbers, four digits each
Although you knew your friends’ numbers anyway

On the cover stood a winged Mercury
A handsome man wearing a funny hat
And nothing else, but no one mentioned it
Too much else going on through the party line

A picture of a handsome naked man -
Really, you’d think someone would have noticed
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