Small dog,
heavy on my foot.
Scent of baking muffins
wafts down the hall.
Buzzer calls at last
poem-forgiveness November 4, 2018
This is forgiveness.
Left alone, forgotten, until you
became a dessicated husk.
Discovered, remorse poured on you,
and you rested, recovering,
absorbing all you needed to heal.
One year.
Regret poured onto you.
Two years.
Faith surrounded you.
Three years
You offered a single bloom to give us hope.
Another year.
Patience. Trust.
This is what time and forgiveness bring:
full flowering!
Ah, the anticipation of your full celebration
makes me dizzy.
.
.
![20181104_103441[1]](https://shawnbird.files.wordpress.com/2018/11/20181104_1034411.jpg?w=368&h=207)
.
True story. Took my Christmas Cactus outside to enjoy some summer sun (2014?). Forgot it there. Come fall, it was a wizened shell. It’s taken years to recover, but it HAS! What a metaphor for tragedy in our lives and the patience we need with our recovery.
poem- exasperation November 15, 2016
Your desperation
leads me to exasperation
How many times do I tell you?
How many times did I tell you?
How many times will I tell you?
Too many.
Once more.
If you do it when you’re asked
Begin when assigned the task
You will not be desperate
and I will not exasperate.
poem-virtous August 12, 2016
Men waiting outside the fabric store
young men
old men
Sitting in cars, humming to the radio
Standing with a cigarette watching traffic go by
Sitting, eyes glazed.
Leaning, napping.
These are the patient men,
the blesséd men,
who wait while colours are contemplated
drape is determined
possibilities are dreamed.
These are the rewarded later men,
who chauffeur home happy wives,
smile vacantly, and say
“Yes, dear.”
thankful their wives know nothing
about the cost of tools.
poem- just October 3, 2015
Dude,
She’s just looking for a bit of empathy,
a wrap around her shoulders whisper in her ear,
“It’ll be okay. It’s you and me together, babe” moment.
She’s just hoping for a show of affection,
a finger trailing up her arm shooting sparks,
a kiss held for long enough to know you mean it.
She’s just waiting for you to come back
from wherever it is you’ve been wandering,
just wishing for you,
so don’t call her unreasonable, dude.
Her disappointment is justified.
poem-elevator July 16, 2015
I wait for the elevator.
She waits for the elevator.
They wait for the elevator.
We wait for the elevator.
Wait
Wait
Wait
for the elevator.
Rap Rap Rap, cane on elevator door.
“We’re working on it!” come the call.
Wait.
Wait.
Wait.
for the elevator.
poem- hollows July 20, 2014
I wait
in the hollow place
for you
You happily celebrate
the concavities
but appreciate
the complexities
of the convexities.
In hollow places
grace erases traces
of solemnity and
embraces totality,
while
I wait
for you.
poem- secrets January 26, 2014
I knew
though I waited for the words
and hoped through the years
that I was wrong
I knew
though I waited for the time
when you felt safe to tell me
or came to terms yourself.
I knew
though I waited silently
and didn’t tell a soul
I knew.
Shawn L. Bird 