The dogs collapse
in hot heaps.
Summer’s simmering
settles into evening
breeze, but
the sun drops
ever earlier,
and autumn calls.
poem- where August 13, 2014
When you went away
full of dreams and plans
we waved your plane off
and wondered how reality
could possibly live up to
your unreasonable expectations.
We let you go to find your way
and when nothing is
what you thought it’d be
We have faith that
you will figure out
the reason,
and create reasonable
reality
for yourself.
poem-Dusty July 16, 2014
Little brown
Dusty dog
shadow at my
feet
Your blind eyes no
longer help you pick a ball out of the air
leaping four times your height
cookies tossed at your mouth
now bounce off your nose.
Your sore hips
aren’t stable enough
for you to beg
or dance
or roll over
any more.
But still you follow
whenever I leave the room
attached to my ankle
just to be beside me,
my little brown
love
shadow.
.
.
.
When this little brown poodle pup came to live with us, his name was MacBeth. As a family we debated whether to call him Dusty (after the Dusty Strings harps, since he’d be the only Dusty I could afford) or Shadow. He became Dusty, but he was always Shadow.
poem- changes July 9, 2014
The day after she turned fifty,
She found four spider veins
She was sure weren’t there
when she was forty-nine.
poem- grandma June 28, 2014
I have lost her words
The narrative spun away
across the void of time.
I no longer hear her voice
echoing through my mind.
But here
a grocery list
a flash of history
Though mostly she is lost
to time and left
a mystery.
poem- wind June 13, 2014
Change blows in
on the wind
on the sweet scent of honeysuckle
and the stinging tang of chicken manure
Sort the good from the bad,
and set your sail
to catch the breeze you need
for your new direction.
poem- and today May 4, 2014
Today
is one day closer to
The Day
when he goes away.
Flashbacks this morning
to junior high,
“Get up! Your dad is ready!”
“But Mommmmmm!”
You’re too old for this, my boy.
The day is coming,
when you move south
to live your next adventure.
Get up and face today
because you’re here so briefly
and today is unfolding
poem- 11710 April 23, 2014
I dreamt of you
for eleven thousand
seven hundred
and ten nights.
You spoke in
waking dreams.
You whispered
in the blackness,
called across the miles:
Hold on.
I’m here for you.
Stay.
You have commitments.
But after
eleven thousand
seven hundred
and ten nights
you called
to tell me
those words did not
apply to you.
Hold on.
I’m here for you.
Stay.
You have commitments!
I said to you,
but it was too late by then.
I dreamt of you
for eleven thousand
seven hundred
and ten nights,
until I learnt that
you weren’t really there
at all.
poem- expansion April 21, 2014
We grow
to fill the space we have.
Over time, each room fills
with things that we could live without
but gather like memories.
If the deadline is far away
we stretch to fill the time,
break the project into small parts
or forget about it until the final moments
We should expand
into our opportunities
while we have time and space
to grow.
poem- blood February 5, 2014
She smells the metallic tang
iron
copper
inhales the essence
life
death
dreams the future
rock
paper
scissors
blood.
.
Shawn L. Bird 