She used to see him everywhere
He wove into every conversation
‘All roads lead to…’ they joked
Now the roads go new places
Wind through wishful thinking,
blissful realities
settle comfortably in what is
for what it’s worth.
poem- baking tomorrow November 22, 2019
She is gone
traditions will be different in her absence
I am a poor substitute.
May our Christmas cookies
and your memories
be sweet.
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poem- updating dreams November 21, 2019
Last night
you didn’t come as your youthful self,
my fun, faithful friend.
Instead, bald, broad, and bellied you asked,
your hard question against my thigh:
Why not?
Respect, I said,
Squeamish at your leer.
You lowered your voice to that super serious tone
I remember so well.
Really?
So much doubt.
Yes.
Really.
Even in my dreams I’m over this.
poem- shouting trauma September 13, 2019
Teresa hated her hair-cut
Wore her hat in class.
Held it tightly when the boys wanted to see
What could possibly be so bad.
Ran home in tears.
The next day,
the hat was off, and no one could figure out
what had bothered her so much.
Her hair looked fine.
She just had to get used to the idea of change.
How often are we afraid of something new,
even when it’s innocuous or perhaps
even better than what was?
Half a century I’ve pondered Teresa’s hair.
I still don’t understand,
what she didn’t like.
poem- later July 10, 2019
I expected
in my youth
a natural ending.
You railed against presumption.
Never!
Always!
Hyperbole spun us out,
Now our orbits can’t intersect.
I was okay with that,
until I wasn’t.
We’re not supposed to break promises,
even irrelevant ones.
Curse nostalgia.
poem- weathering May 31, 2019
Blue sky
Slight breeze
Rocking of the lounge
Toss the dog’s ball
Feel summer approach.
Thunder in the south
Booming concussion shakes the land
Storm brewing
Run or
Hold fast?
poem- profile then & now January 12, 2019
(for Nikki)
.
I see joy.
See how you have expanded
until you’re exploding with all
that you’d held tightly
contained, buttoned up?
I see confidence.
See how what was timid
and tentative
now twinkles with the knowing
that you are amazing?
I am so proud
of who you’ve made,
you.
poem-then November 20, 2018
When was the moment
that ‘we’ broke apart?
Or did it just wear away?
All those things in common,
yet nothing holds together.
I rocked you in my arms
dreamed of all you’d be.
Never did I imagine you’d be
without me.
Why did you turn away?
We gave you space to grow
and now we don’t know
if loneliness is the price we pay,
when children make their way,
break their way,
wear away.
poem- vaguely November 15, 2018
It couldn’t quite be
as obvious as that?
Roped mysteries
hauled to lucidity,
tugged into reality.
Something is vaguely changed.
Weary watching,
sidelong looks,
what happens next?
Shawn L. Bird 