Diva Winter grips
her sequined white cloak. Clinging,
while we wish for Spring.
haiku-still March 12, 2018
Diva Winter grips
her sequined white cloak. Clinging,
while we wish for Spring.
poem-touch January 21, 2018
This gripping agony
squeezes me thoroughly.
All that exists are those few
square inches,
shrieking at me.
I see the ripples of this pain
on my brows, crossing vision.
The world has shrunk into a tiny piece
of me.
poem- creak December 14, 2017
Creak
Cracks
Broken
Backs
Strung on a rack
Creaking wheel
pulls spine taut
Entreats,
“Sweet mercy!”
Greets pain
Back
broken
cracks
creak.
poem- computer woes November 24, 2017
You ask me for my email address
When given, much to my distress
You claim it’s already registered.
Why yes! I tell machine, that’s me, for sure!
You ask me for user name and password
But when I type them, you claim I’m invalid.
Oh, you passive aggressive machine,
You’re not acting like part of this team!
Inside the circuits of your brain
you’re plotting how to cause me pain.
I can hear your fan blade snicker,
as you plot to raise blood pressure.
Oh computer, use your power for good,
and work like the techies claim you should!
.
.
(Another day, another frustrating encounter with technology!)
poem-tricked November 21, 2017
That sunny day
beguiled.
Promises of warmth.
Such trust to place
in rays,
those sparkling
reflections on the snow.
Liars.
Every
one.
poem-momentary June 14, 2017
I’m walking away from this rain
The painful splashes digging out the flowerbeds
splattering on my head.
I’m walking away.
I’m walking toward the glow
The sun shining joy of divining
possibility. Live ’til you’re dead
I know you know time folds
when old friends meet.
I’m walking toward the momentary
treat of seeing you.
Dreams in mind, I’m walking ahead.
poem-cure May 26, 2017
The demons are hiding around corners
lurking in the shadows
watching you.
I know you feel the weight
of their gaze
hear the clink of their weapons
every day.
On the sunny days,
you outrun them
find smiles to return to those
around you
in their circles of care.
Other days,
smiles are barred growls,
the glow of sinister eyes pacing
around you,
squeezing life and hope
as their circle crushes in,
suffocating you.
Your demons on their unwitting backs
Your demons in their unwitting smiles
Your demons on their unwitting feet
Your demons in their expectations
Your incessant demons
invisible to others,
writhing,
circling,
just
there.
poem- humming April 12, 2017
I feel your humming.
Though you are far,
the vibrations of your present loss
reverberate.
I am humming
remembering you
near
nearer
nearest
wrapped around
my memories
squeezing like
a garbage compactor
humming
as it crushes
moments into
memories.
poem- love letters March 23, 2017
They’re talking love letters
and I hold my tongue
but not my lips.
The tilting corners betray me.
The envelopes with your distinctive hand writing
my name like a caress
glued down like a kiss,
all our hopes and dreams scribbled onto foolscap
by a fool to a fool
giddy from hormones.
And now love letters
are notes on the counter:
“Turn on the crockpot at noon”
“Running errands. Back around 3.”
Messages that mean you still
love me.
poem- ominous omnipotence November 24, 2016
The clouds sink
obscuring hills with billows:
silver, grey, charcoal, black.
Heavy clouds in cold air
ready to coat the highway with danger.
We gaze out our windows
wondering whether we’ll get home before
the first storm of this winter.
Shawn L. Bird 