Her eyes, without fail,

always hinted at mornings,

around 10am, with French toast

on a tray ready to be enjoyed.

It took some time,

but I was fortunate to find someone

who’s look could cook like that.

Read and leave comments (0)

Her eyes, without fail,

always hinted at mornings,

around 10am, with French toast

on a tray ready to be enjoyed.

It took some time,

but I was fortunate to find someone

who’s look could cook like that.

Read and leave comments (0)

It was 3 a.m., but the orders were piling up

on the chrome-plated spinning rack.

One customer sent their plate back.

"Wants more peas.",

Moon, the waitress said.

I didn't get angry.

I felt there was a kind of sadness

within the request.

I don't particularly like peas,

but everyone got plenty of them after that.

Read and leave comments (0)

The sun, brilliant on the trail today,
throws shadows here and there.

Free from the tyranny of clouds,
the silhouettes cannot hide their delight.

My thoughts add an asterisk to their unrestrained dance.
A bookmark to revisit this performance, offered for free.

Read and leave comments (0)

I couldn't find a solitary word

for someone who makes me happy

by doing nothing in particular.

So, I'll say your name.

Read and leave comments (0)

I was thinking about flames.

How they don't mind sharing their warmth.

And how you used them

to show me they can burn.

Maybe we should have just begun

with rays from the sun.

Plenty of heat for us both.

Read and leave comments (0)

I drove along the Coast highway today.
There, broken clouds were unable to hold
against a persistent sun.

The waves, turbulent like my thoughts,
leaving receding foam to chase
after what they are unlikely to catch.

Like the foam, I realized
I would simply have to meet the next wave
where it collides with its destination.

Read and leave comments (0)

My dog is running in his sleep.
He makes muffled noises,
chasing after who knows what.

He seems to be having fun.
Do dogs have nightmares?

His eyes twitching quicker now,
he must be very close
to running down his dream.
I hope he sees me there with him.

Read and leave comments (2)

We were watching ice skating on television,
and, suddenly, I was desperately missing my mother.
I couldn’t exactly connect the reason why in the moment.
The capriciousness of sadness, I assumed.

She was not into ice skating, as far as I know.
But maybe she could have learned to appreciate it,
and we would have watched it together, had we more time.
The thought welcome, I thanked her for t...

Read and leave comments (0)

I settle back in my chair
and feel the waltz of a Spring breeze.
I contemplate it's travels

simply to pass through here,
perhaps headed somewhere
it may be urgently needed as it waves
to the shore of my thoughts.

Read and leave comments (0)

My compass is getting pretty old now.

Sometimes I tap on the glass

to make sure of the reading.

The needle doesn’t get bothered

by how often I do this.

The bargain seems to be

even if I ask redundant questions

it will keep suggesting true north.

Read and leave comments (0)

The cloud formations come to me free spirited.

They speak without sound. Somedays they sing

all over the canvas of the western sky.

Even though I cannot hear their voices,

I am lifted because these spectacular cumulus

don’t seem to mind sharing space with blue sky.

Read and leave comments (0)

I envy our dogs faces

as they crunch their noisy treats.

Chewing with open mouths,

seemingly as loudly as they can.

Their joy is not possible to overlook.

Even before they have finished,

they secretly hope for another.

Read and leave comments (1)

I hope you stay 

the road between

where I've been 

and my way back home.

Read and leave comments (2)

I scarcely notice the rain pelting my coffee cup.

Or the small House Wrens near a pile of cut branches,

flitting about joyously, welcoming the light shower.

They remind me I need to get that cleaned up sometime,

but I’m hesitant to disturb their preferred habitat

so, I’ll leave them to enjoy their capering.

My reverie does notice the hush of absence

while I wait fo...

Read and leave comments (0)

Walking along the trail, the trees teach me

about having no particular place to be.

A peaceful disposition to have, I thought.

“We’re not going anywhere.”, they seemed to say.

“But we have many things to do

today in a grateful forest.”

Read and leave comments (5)

The sun. Plenty of light for all to share,
although it may have some issues with shade.

Our dogs. Okay, maybe a little around treats.

Grief. It doesn't want more than is needed
to show how much love was there,
paid with a toll that can't be spent.

Read and leave comments (0)

She was whiskey and rain,
with no allusions about their nature.

Two or three ounces
kept the world at bay,

but the storms were always a cascade
of water and spray without redress.

Read and leave comments (0)

It was the few empty pages

in the photograph album that got to me.

Like the end of a story not finished.

As it turned out, I didn’t come apart.

I returned to the items and mementos

that were present, finding refuge in the stories

chronicled there on the wordless pages.

Read and leave comments (0)

Reflecting on your absence

caused me to consider a list

of a few the things I cannot do:

Sort the colors of the wind.

Count the water in my hand.

Or, ask for the sommelier at Denny's.

We always laughed about that.

Knowing all of this to be true,

I would add another item to my list:

Remembering the sound of your voice.

I can see it now, but cannot hear it.

Read and leave comments (0)

My memories of you are messy.

They play outside of the lines

and ignore in what manner

we promised things would be,

and how we were looking

at completely different maps.

Read and leave comments (3)

All of my scars have a story.
Some I can easily touch. Others I can only feel
below the surface. Some speak of epic yarns
of stubbornness and foolishness.

The wounds I feared most were delivered
by the most talented knife of all, love and loss,
seemingly immune to bandages.

I learned to patch them up with time. In this way
when they open again, as they do, it will be gentle
and they’l...

Read and leave comments (0)

It lie there in my path, recently fallen

in the blustery downpour,

having served its original purpose.

Still repelling the rain, not yet succumbing to the deluge,

allows it to form small round windows on its surface

magnifying the petite patterns of the arteries.

The leaf, having discovered a new ambition,

has found another calling; beckoning me

to notice its seco...

Read and leave comments (0)

When I was much younger

romance sometimes felt

as if I was chasing a gale, or

trying to negotiate with the weather.

Looking back these many years on, 

having found more tangible things,

being in the wind and rain was not

a waste of what my time was for. 

Read and leave comments (0)

My daydreams are like clumsy little thieves

poking about for something of value.

Have at it you rascals!

I have some time, and no reason

to put locks on the door.

Read and leave comments (1)

We stepped into the downpour

knowing we had cover

under the colorful patterns

of your automatic umbrella.

Even so, we were soaked

through and through.

Considering this now, I think

about shelter; the kind you and I

thought we had, and how sometimes

it’s just not built to keep.

Read and leave comments (0)

My friend must have had January in his heart.
Yellow sun days something no longer real,
unable to remember how they felt.

If I had known how deep the struggle was
I would have offered untroubled keepsakes
from the capers we shared on warm days

It may not have helped, but now I believe
I would have at least let January know
how I felt about the matter.
 

Read and leave comments (0)

When hummingbirds alight near me,
like the one tattooed on your shoulder,
it feels like you are visiting.

Maybe you see through my eyes
all the love you left behind.
I’ll tend to it as you would,
to all of it in your absence.

Read and leave comments (0)

I ask her in the morning if she slept well,

as I almost always do, unless we fought

the night before. Then I am silent.

She lays waste to my anger

by offering me a cup of coffee

while we stand together in our back yard

on a mild summer morning.

I wonder without speaking,

if a pair of birds splashing in our fountain

might be a gesture of forgiveness too.

Read and leave comments (2)

Sometimes I get angry at my heart
for all the foolishness it has gotten me into.
It seems to have never been afraid of folly.

It reminds me of meeting you at that café,
my silly gift in hand before you took mine in yours.

This Spring afternoon, many years later,
with a bright sun working hard, I watch you
attentively watering the plants in our yard,
indebted to foolishness and all it h...

Read and leave comments (1)

Tethered by your memory,
you come back time and again.
And here you are once more.

And that's kind of the problem.
You visit all the time without being here
when all I want is just a while longer with you.

Read and leave comments (0)

At the light, a life-worn man
jostled his cardboard sign asking for a little help.
I handed him a five-dollar bill.

He smiled and said he liked my Star Wars t-shirt.
I thanked him for the compliment.
He thanked me for help with his next meal.

Before the light changed, he said,
“Maybe somewhere else we might be Jedi Knights.”
“Maybe.”, I replied, “Hopefully without Darth Vader around.”

Read and leave comments (1)

Some were like shooting stars,
crashing into me for a brief time
leaving stardust or debris.

Sometimes I just wasn't sure.
It was difficult to hold on to things
constantly in motion while they were moving on.

Read and leave comments (2)

I don't like calendars. 

The constant march of weeks and months,

tracking them methodically as we go.

Fewer days for us to live. 

This morning, I awake

and brush these thoughts aside.

The light through the drapes makes no promises,

but beckons me to rise

and welcome the tiny Pacific Wrens

often seen through our window.

I check the orange tree through...

Read and leave comments (2)

I kept trying to traverse a chasm before me,

seeking a presence I longed for

on a barren range dotted by clouds in the distance.

It took me some time to realize

there were distances that couldn’t be reached

by trying to get there.

Read and leave comments (0)

Sometimes I write about my exes.

Often times about birds, water and boats too.

I've imagined a dead spider’s final thoughts

(still a little melancholy about that one).

And definitely a few verses about yesterdays.

Today though, while I lay on my back

in our yard, more reporting on dogs seemed in the fore.

Our two curious canines wanted to investigate while I lie there.

Read and leave comments (1)

He stands across the room

illuminated from the back,

a glow in his cheeks of polyethylene.

The backlit twinkle in his eyes,

his painted face blushing

       ensure the memories are permanent

like the smile on the face

of my red plastic Santa.

Read and leave comments (1)

Her blue and walk-away eyes

should have made It clear

she was already gone.

It took me a while to get here;

to get you to fade away.

      It was just that my timing was bad.

Read and leave comments (0)

She frequently left questions behind her answers

so, I stopped asking them.

I don't know if she used the concert tickets I left for her,

the ones I purchased for us before we split,

but I know for sure she used a piece of my heart,

without question.

Read and leave comments (1)

We fought the night before.

I can hardly remember what it was about.

We were a little cool towards each other after that.

Today it doesn't matter.

We haven't spoken much, but it's not needed.

Everything is said in her brief text from the cafe,

wanting to know if I'd care for a latte.

Read and leave comments (0)

We drove to the shore at night
and launched bottle rockets over the ocean
from the pitted chrome fender;

maybe the only memory we made together
that hasn’t completely surrendered to rust.

Read and leave comments (1)

We played under the moon

as if it were a kite on a string.

Its red ribbon tail taunting the gloom.

Read and leave comments (0)

I see poetry in places you might not expect.

In your texts, supporting a friend in need.

Hoping your words will be just in time.

When you think you’re wasting time

but realize, abruptly, the thing you’re doing

is feeding your soul in a way you hadn’t counted on.

Or when someone reaches down

into a dark place, fighting back fear,

and brings back something unexp...

Read and leave comments (1)

I was looking for someone who knew
if you listened to a story from a vulnerable heart,
your kindness would hear it too.

But this always seemed to be
the farthest you could have been
away from me.

Read and leave comments (0)

We regaled each other with our magnificent scars.

Tales of failures, love and redemption,

of which there were many.

Things that broke us, healed us, and patched us up

again and again, with a little wisdom of what is real.

And this was just enough for us

to hazard another throw of the dice. 

Read and leave comments (0)

Some left just their initials on my heart.

Others wrote their full name in delicate script.

And there were those

who used a stonemason’s tools

when a feathered quill would have sufficed.

But you laughed as you fingerpainted

all around a hardened heart

in all kinds of lovely colors

just to let me know what could be.

Read and leave comments (0)

“Where do people go when they’re gone?”, asked Piglet.

“I think they prefer to live in here.”, Pooh pointed to his heart.

“Important to have a big one so they have plenty of room.”, offered Piglet.

“Absolutely!”, Pooh replied.

Read and leave comments (0)

Along my favorite path by the water

I imagine I hear whispers in the breeze.

Diamonds on the water, reflecting an incandescent sun,

have things to say too; echoing the wind.

The words, not intending melancholy,

talk over each other, anxious to have my attention.

And have it they will. This chorus of voices

I miss the most, hailing me when the wind speaks.

Read and leave comments (0)

Our youngest dog, Indy,

insists on sleeping under the pillow

at my side. How well they’ve trained us,

our hearts I mean.

Read and leave comments (0)

Our dogs sometimes have trouble settling down

at night, when owls and other critters are in bloom.

Especially when we have guests.

They feel the need to check on them;

to make sure they are well, we suppose.

Once peacefulness is confirmed

they return to the comfort of our bed,

satisfied all is well and that we are not under attack

from the goblins they might i...

Read and leave comments (0)