Hyacinth

bittersweet early bloomerdrunk on the blood of winterswollen in the sleeping soilto thrust a graceful, frilled neckthat soaks up the delight of the sunintoxicating passers by toswoon in half-sorrow longing the perfume cuts throughthe air like an errantdiscus thrown and then struckby the jealous windso sweetness springs fromthe grave where youth fell,to sorrow-seed the fallowContinue reading “Hyacinth”

Eclipse

(For the full Super Flower Moon, May 2022) what more can I say about the moon? my daughter read an articleon rabies that scared the witsout of her, so I am thinkingabout all the wild thingsmarauding out therein the ghostly super light the earth’s shadowscrapes its way across her facea raw red nailturning the whiteContinue reading “Eclipse”

Pansy

I think, therefore I am: beautifulin a simple, smiling kind of a wayvelvety, underfoot, a little somethingto remember me by Let me ease your heartwith bard songs that bringsweet nothings to mind Carry me close, sprinkle mewith sugar and I willgarnish your days,a lion-hearted darlinggracing the garden with a flourishof loamy, bright color-splash Oh theContinue reading “Pansy”

Daffodil

Pride of parks and roundabouts in Britainwhere Wordsworth waxed ecstaticin his regard of those yellow hosts Bright faces perking up the lawnsof New York after a drearyendless winterwaving in the breeze like so manyflags pointing toward warmer daystrumpeting a new season I never noticed their absencein the south, dazzled insteadby the yellow face in theContinue reading “Daffodil”

Day by day. . . .

After spending over a year hemming and hawing, an email from Medium reminding me my membership was fixing to auto-renew finally galvanized my decision to leave there. I’m sorry to do it, because I met some wonderful people and the community atmosphere amongst the poets is – for the most part – tremendous, but atContinue reading “Day by day. . . .”

Iris

Neighborly, she always says hellokeeping a garden of tidy inspirationfrom her motorized chairHer smiles light the air thatsurrounds her, a heartfelt messageof sisterhood arcing the distancebetween us with the swiftnessof a blossom pushing outto announce the arrival of spring Hardy, she has weathered lifewith the persistence of a kernel’dbulb, resisting the devastation of frost,blooming againContinue reading “Iris”

Poppy

sleep bringerdown a dark hallwhere banshees lurkwhite not from puritybut the sear of eternityburning behind theeyelids of escaping man red blood of valiancesoldier cloaks soakedin sacrificial glorya field of men sownin battle, marked withthe kiss of war.Take your last look, Ares;make your last escape For this flower poem I played with the two colors ofContinue reading “Poppy”