leaning forward
to catch a glimpse —
jay stares back
/ / /
6 May 2024
Charlottesville VA
Category: Poetry
Indra’s Net
I am reflected in you.
You are reflected in me.
We are reflected in them.
They are reflected in us.
Through you I become infinite.
Through me you become boundless.
Through them we touch everyone.
Through us they touch everywhere.
They are reflected in us.
We are reflected in them.
You are reflected in me.
I am reflected in you.
/ / /
5 May 2024
Charlottesville VA
For SU4P
catbird singing
in the dead of night
SQUAAAAAAAAAAAWK
/ / /
5 May 2024
Charlottesville VA
new feeder, new seeds
May afternoon
awaiting the arrival of friends
/ / /
3 May 2024
Charlottesville VA
every bird in the world,
singing:
bedroom window
/ / /
3 May 2024
Charlottesville VA
mockingbird on sign
parks where it wants
/ / /
2 May 2024
Charlottesville VA
unexpected company
box fan’s whir
covers the crickets
/ / /
1 May 2024
Charlottesville VA
Organizing
You find the people you can trust
and with them you push down on the lever
that moves the world until you hear
a ripping sound as the old ways
are torn up by the roots, leaving
fresh soil in which to plant the seeds
of the new world, the world where
we’re all free to be
who we were always meant to be.
/ / /
30 April 2024
Charlottesville VA
NaPoWriMo Day 30
On Discovering That Your Dear Friend’s Favorite Live-Action Spider-Man Movie Is Spider-Man 2 Starring The Woefully Inadequate Tobey Maguire
[this space intentionally left blank]
/ / /
29 April 2024
Charlottesville VA
NaPoWriMo Day 29
Muse
Let’s be honest:
These days every poem is about you.
When I write about Palestine,
your fierce conviction fires the lines.
When I write about birds,
your love of nature guides me.
When I write about the night sky,
I see the stars through your eyes.
And when I write about you,
I can never find enough words.
So I’ll kiss you under the streetlight
on a night as warm as day,
wondering at my luck
under the glow of Orion.
/ / /
28 April 2024
Charlottesville VA
NaPoWriMo Day 28
Tempest
A hurricane sweeps through Iowa;
a massive vertical tunnel,
dark as night and fierce as you.
Somewhere ahead is the world
where we love one another,
but the path there is dangerous.
Relatives text in to confirm:
We’re ok, it missed us.
Everyone is safe.
It’s not the desire that’s lacking,
it’s the certainty of the outcome.
There’s never a way to know.
Another text: There were twisters
all around us as we watched
from our balcony.
The danger of the maelstrom
is worth it, though, for the chance
at a life inside your heart.
/ / /
27 April 2024
Charlottesville VA
NaPoWriMo Day 27
fall asleep on a short couch
awaken
to the absence of drones
/ / /
26 April 2024
Charlottesville VA
NaPoWriMo Day 26
All Rise
Would everyone who served in the military please stand up? [polite applause]
Would everyone who’s had their house destroyed by the military please stand up? [silence]
Would everyone who’s lost a child to an attack by the military please stand up? [weeping]
Would everyone who couldn’t finish school because so much of our budget goes to the military please stand up? [single cough]
Would everyone who has risked their physical and emotional safety to impede the actions of the military please stand up? [murmur]
Would everyone who wishes for a world without the existence of the military please stand up?
/ / /
25 April 2024
Charlottesville VA
NaPoWriMo Day 25
starlings in my yard
the memory of you
on my lips
/ / /
24 April 2024
Charlottesville VA
NaPoWriMo Day 24
Disappointment
A three-by-three grid
with one slot unfilled,
the perfect size for a flyer.
Driving by later
to see the space still there,
the lowest bar not crossed.
/ / /
23 April 2024
Charlottesville VA
NaPoWriMo Day 23