that's mrs. mediocrity to you

equality is not the same as experience

and it makes me wonder if
all the first times
have to add up
to the same number
as the last times

and who made that rule
and why do i have
to follow it

it’s all in the numbers
it can all be calculated with
equations and dollar signs

first
smile step kiss

last
kiss laugh breath

not exactly the same
not exact at all

because no one has the right answers
and no one gets to see
the cheat sheet

or all the lines, verbs, nouns and
adjectives that wriggled their way
in between

and the teacher is sitting in the corner
wearing her carefully decorated dunce cap
trying to figure out how to make
her last first time
add up

to all the time
that came before it

and she has all these numbers
crisscrossed on the palm of her hand

but she can’t find one zero anywhere

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Linking up with the fabulous dVerse poets for Poetics, join us!

dawn rips the blindfold from my eyes
forcing me to watch another day

unravel

time slipping through stone and finger
with the same giggle of impermanence

whispers

to a heart that takes no prisoners
and a mind that gives everything

away

a broken belt lies on the floor
tanned flesh and silver buckle

remembering

smaller nights and sunshine’s warmth
and all of those tomorrows gathering

promise

and potential in dust-filled corners
stacked with empty broken boxes

waiting

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Linking up with the fabulous dVerse poets for Open Link Night, join us!

half ghost, half zephyr

alight with silence

no compass necessary

carry me home

everywhere i go i see angry people
lips pursed and stiff with indignation
faces red and closed and pontificating

their way towards purple

and some days it makes me laugh and
other days it makes me frightened so
i stay holed-up in my hermit house

digging in a few feet deeper

watching butterflies and dragons
slay petunias and wayward periwinkle and
cedar waxwings choosing only the ripest

berries from a tangled mass of elders

as i pretend not to notice for fear
of scaring them off with a ruby-lipped
smile and a heart burst open

seeds of joy spilling out

floating

away

like tufts of dandelion

and no one questions if it’s fair or just
or whether the gypsy moth has more right
to be alive than the hard-scabbed ugly

beetle

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Linking up with the fabulous dVerse poets for Open Link Night, join us!

i found her in a box at
the back of a cupboard
all dust-covered and
crinkled with age

at twenty three
already thinking
life was so dim
and so perilous

so blank and filled
with dark possibility
cynical and funny
and cosmically correct

i want to hug her

pat her on the back
and say, there, there
i want to fill her

pages with platitudes
and posture and
cross out words
like bleak and barren

make notes in red
down the sides of
yellowed paper saying
ha! and really?

but instead i hold her
carefully to protect
her vulnerability and
the more i read

the more i smile
because in truth
i find myself
beginning

to fall in
love with her
a little

she gets me

.

.

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Linking up with the fabulous dVerse poets for Open Link Night, join us!

i wrap a blanket
’round my shoulders
and step outside
to search for meteors

blinking blank sky
tinged pink by cityscape
and two low clouds
hung just off center

the southern cross
points slightly southwest
and i face north to seek
that one true star

feeling grounded
and whole and tiny
beneath her ever
standing compass

all i need
to find my way
to all the home
that matters

on the periphery
the pleiades dance
because they know
no one can see

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Linking up with the fabulous dVerse poets for Poetics (A beautiful sadness), join us!

when what i want
is the chaos of doubt

and you

you hide behind
that smokescreen
of birdsong
and pretty sky

where blue
is the color
of everything

but purple

is my favorite

and

three
small planes
crisscross clouds
like geese heading
to triumvirate ponds

while two
grasshoppers vie
for one green leaf

and black eyed susans
force canned laughter
onto the stage

but

the catbird

its very name
an oxymoron

perches high

and watches
a storm roll in

grey squared
in one blind

eye

the butterfly effect
is the quintessential cause
of chaos

we cannot stop living
and so
we keep dying

time waits for us to look away
however briefly
to add tattoos to our skin

hope keeps us going
just long enough to walk into a room
filled with hopelessness

a snake sheds its skin as it grows
and glides into
a larger version of itself

mother nature’s patterns and
illusions only make sense
if you’re a cloud

refuse to look away

refuse to cry uncle

refuse to be broken

for just now

another set of wings
emerges
from a dried-husk brittle
cocoon

translucent

blue and brilliant

flying home

…….

….

.

Sending love and light to the victims of the aurora shootings
and those whose lives they touched.

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dVerse poets Open Link Night

the rules of karma
are hard to follow

…….so much is unintentional
…….and yet, pain is caused

…….i never kill spiders
…….but stay away from me
…….if you’re a fly

…….that hardly seems fair

…….i am biased
…….despite all attempts
…….at magnanimity

i sit here in this garden
i pull weeds that want to grow
i displace ants and snails
…….simply striving to survive

…….we all play god
…….in our own small way

bending rules
breaking promises

…….forgiving
…………forgetting
……………..pretending

…….awards are given
…….for best posture

…….stand tall

…….reach for the sky

…………offer penance
……………..for a pittance

……………..next time,
……………..you will soar

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Linking up with the fabulous dVerse poets for Open Link Night – Anniversary Week, join us!

but what if the rains never come
she said

and of course, i had no answer

wanting to say
i promise

but instead
changed the subject
to ice cream
and good books

as the hard scorched earth
burned up through
the soles of my flip-flops

tomato plants wilted

we talked of dinner
and sucked on ice cubes
from empty glasses
of lemonade

and there was not one cloud
in the sky