Echo Haiku
Your new son sleeps in
your new home. He will
meet Nana today!
Echo Haiku
PTSD
PTSD
I know he’s having
flashbacks when he draws near to
lock eyes and seek love
dog PTSD –
when he needs reassurance
and won’t stop asking
18 inches tall
fierce as a mountain lion
scared as a kitten
two searching black eyes
and a trembling paw that tills
a patch in my arm
abandoned by his
former owner, left to starve
inside a duplex
the day a landlord
turned him in to the rescue
we made him our own
knowing he would be
a challenge with such issues
knowing we’d love him
this is what love is:
dropping all else to show him
that he now belongs
Reconsider
Reconsider
I need to rethink
I need to reconsider
I need my best pen
Good Morning
Good Morning
Awake. Muscles stretch.
A tiny black nose meets mine
from under the quilt.
And another one.
Two boys, ready to go out
and sprinkle the rocks.
Back inside for treats
Breakfast: yogurt, graham crackers
Jeans leg tug of war
But not with dress slacks
They know the difference – pants
mean there’s a meeting
And Dad is thinking
all serious, so no play
when pants are involved
Until time to leave
They sit on the sofa arm
Wagging tails ~ (more treats)
Little ways we live
Dance steps of love with our dogs
That make life better!
Penny
Penny
My therapist died.
She would not dye my hair green
because she knew me.
When things were beyond
my control I would tell her
to cut my hair short.
Penny knew that when
a woman’s world spirals she
tries to change her look.
I’m going to miss
my secret keeper and friend
who kept my head straight.
Rest In Peace, Penny.
Who Lies Here?
Who Lies Here?
who lies here?
a cemetery
a headstone
an urn
a photograph
perhaps no final resting place
perhaps many
who lies here?
someone with a birth weight
delivered, diapered
swaddled in a blanket
placed into the waiting arms
of a tearful mother
full of hope for her baby
who lies here?
someone who stood up
took first steps
fell down but
kept standing up
who lies here?
someone who stood up
in first grade
recited the Pledge of Allegiance
before ever learning to read
who lies here?
someone who stood up
for a friend
on the playground
or in a war zone
someone who
had someone else’s back
who lies here?
someone who stood up
for what was right
who voted
who lived with passion
who felt conviction
who bravely took a side
who lies here?
someone who stood up
and made a promise
and kept it
someone who stood up
who signed up
who enlisted
who lies here?
someone who stood up
for a country
someone who stood up
for rights
and freedom
who stood up for family
who stood up for strangers
who stood up for you
who lies here?
someone with a death weight
delivered home
swaddled in blues
entombed in a flag-draped casket
eternally held
in the indebted arms
of a nation
whose hearts still beat
to the marching cadence
of the memory of
one who stood up
who lies here
Zzzzzzs
Zzzzzs
Those few extra zzzzzs
When he takes the dogs outside
Does your job for you
All so you can sleep
Just a little while longer
Because he loves you……
O. Deer
O. Deer
Her doe name is O.
O. Deer is nibbling breakfast
close to the window.
Fitz and Boo explode!
O. Deer ignores, forages.
She’s One classy doe.
O. takes her sweet time.
She lingers over grasses,
dismisses asses.
Her priorities
do not include arguing
with foolish dog foes.
Satisfaction
Satisfaction
A Chueh-chu short sonnet
aaba cada
Shall I retire at fifty four?
I would be blessed forevermore!
I’d linger with my pen a while
instead of racing out the door.
Retirement thoughts bring dreamy
smiles,
daydreamy gaze of coastal shores ~
I want a plan that lets me breathe
sheer satisfaction to the core.
Oatmeal
Oatmeal
there’s nothing like it
oatmeal
with brown sugar
and cream
oatmeal
there’s nothing like it
with maple syrup
and mixed berries
or with bananas
and milk and honey
there’s nothing like it
oatmeal
versatile oatmeal
with raisins
and cinnamon sugar
there’s nothing like it
(Today’s breakfast was a Viator poem – my first attempt at this form today shifts the refrain in each line to the next sequenced line in each stanza where the refrain is always the final line of the poem)
Common Threads 