You still surprise me,
After millions of words.
The enthusiasm of your greeting,
the warmth of your embrace,
still makes me thankful every day
you came into my life.
poem-down August 22, 2015
I’m upside down
and it makes me dizzy
how so many years later
you can still do this to me.
I’m upside down
inside out and backwards
breathing like I’ve run a marathon
like you’ve decrypted my password.
I’m upside down
like I’m on a circus trapeze
another day with you, our love
is full of moments like these.
poem- haunted August 21, 2015
I have seen her haunted eyes.
You might have believed you’d fooled the world,
but her sad brown eyes told the story long before
your confession.
poem-bangles August 20, 2015
Three brass bangles
Two copper bangles
Artisan wrought
a mature gift to a teenaged babysitter
who couldn’t quite pull them off,
but they stayed in the jewelry box a fond memory
of adorable little boys, a polished professional couple, and a spotless, earthy home.
Enter small daughter to whom the jewelry box
was full of magic, and bangles were magic rings set for a journey.
Journey they did!
What mystical adventure were the copper bangles on for a decade or two?
Four houses later they re-appear in my jewelry box.
If only they could talk.
poem-coming home August 19, 2015
Leaving now
Drive safely
@ Olds
@ work
@ Golden
2:45 TO GO!
Sicamous! Count down to ravishing you!
21 mins………….
.
.
..
^ Real texts, those. It makes for an unconventional love poem. 🙂 The best part about being away is coming home to the one you love and leaping into his arms! I’ve been leaping enthusiastically into those arms for more than half my life. ((((sigh))))
poem-ending? August 18, 2015
This ending
is just another circle.
Your smile is a segment of arc
in my eternity.
poem-glacier death
The rocky mountain tops used to cradle winter.
Bowls of ice, white blankets, held in stone arms
comfort over centuries.
A decade of cataracts, dripped.
Now, monolithic arms are empty,
so even ancient glacier tears are dry.
poem- Jenny August 17, 2015
For Jenny’s mom
.
Jenny,
You are compressed in tender warmth:
moist heat, red tinted scintillance, the beat-beat
beat-beat
beat-beat
of her throbbing love for you.
Silver knife, slice of light;
you are enveloped by gentle hands
that ease you into a gleaming land.
In the mirror your mother’s face beams at
the astonishment in your rounded lips and wide eyes,
as life brings you its first surprise.
Oh!
Jenny,
You are still rooted to
the mysteries of the universe,
branched from blood rich interior monologues,
God’s voice echoing truths,
but this world waits for you.
Your amazed expression reveals your first awestruck impression.
May each day be a glorious gift, for from your birth
your heart was kissed with wonder.
poem-echoes August 16, 2015
I walk on roads I knew.
Familiar houses I name as I pass:
Janet’s house,
Marcie’s house,
Sandy’s house,
Cathy’s house,
Ayesha’s house,
Annette’s house.
I catch glimpses of them playing in their front yards
or waving from their windows,
Though they have not been children for decades.
Their spectral selves run along the sidewalks
and fill the twilight with lost laughter.
.
.
.
It’s eerie visiting in my old neighbourhood. I can actually see my childhood friends out of the corners of my eyes, but when I look, they’ve vanished. Have you had this experience?
poem- Curse on you, jerk! August 15, 2015
While I was attending a conference Saturday, some total jerk keyed Sheila the Bug in TWO places!!! So Sheila (cough) invoked a curse on the perpetrator…
.
Curse on you, jerk!
.
What kind of jerk must you be
to key a car as cute as me?
My adorableness is super-powered
by butterflies and cute pink flowers
Big tough guys have been known to say
“That’s one happy car!” to me on days
when they needed to receive a smile.
Just my presence made them grin a while
But you, you jerk, slice across my paint
and gouge me with your anger taint?
You creep, what did I ever do
to deserve such cutting through?
My words are mild: you jerk, you creep
but know retribution may be deep.
When you attempt to dream,
Angry Bugs will make you scream
as they scrape off your skin
to upholster seats with your leather trim
While you are trying to sleep
You’ll hear Bug horns beep, beep,beep
Then VW exhaust fumes will creep
into your room and poison you
they’ll turn you purple and then blue.
When you are driving on the highway
no passing lanes will go your way.
You’ll constantly be stopped by construction
and innumerable other annoying obstructions.
May you be stuck in traffic jams.
May you fail your driving exams.
May your airbag deploy when you stop at a light.
May your paint job turn that weird foggy white.
For keying cars, you total jerk
I set forever this Auto Curse!
Shawn L. Bird 