Wishful Thinking

Still a young boy, 
I’d spend hours teaching 
My puppy new tricks— 

Now too old to learn anything 
New and old Fido long gone 
To doggy heaven, sure 

Wish I knew how 
He learned how 
To play dead. 

Eidomeni, Greece: Answers with Questions Not Missing Their Marks

Shoes that fit. 
What? 

Too much of nothing 
And not enough 
Of anything. 

But who’s counting? 
What else? 
Does a refugee need? 

Try it on for size. 

Old Widow Opening Window Shutters

Picture this— 

First day of spring 
Out walking 
At daybreak, 

At the crack 
Of something metallic 
Against stone, you 

Look up to see her 
Two thin arms shooting 
Out of an aperture, 

Securing the shutters hard, 
Fast against the weather- 
Beaten wall so that all 

The light can spill in 
To the dark room— 
Got it? 

Now print it. 

Taking It One Step at a Time

“That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” 
—Neil Armstrong, first man on the moon 

It’s in the stars 
From the word go— 
Spend your life mooning 
Over where you’re going and never 
Once looking back, you’ll never know 
If you’re one step ahead of there 
Where you used to be or 
Simply backtracking, taking off 
On a wrong tack once more. 

Expendable Human Resources

I know 
It’s a long story full 
Of blood, toil, tears and sweat— 

But just stop and think—back 
Then we never knew how 
Much of us was spent— 

What say we 
Take it easy, after all, 
We’re almost there. 

Theater of the Absurd

Always on cue                 light is 

                         a dark angel 

fluttering 

                  in the wings for you. 

Amatorious

no apparitions

                            
                            sprightly

following a long

                         

                            spring

           drizzle, a pair of spar-

rows lightly spar-

ring on

a wet green bough.

Living with the Muse

Looks akin to having a virago 
For a wife, always berating 
You to stop wasting 
Precious time writing 
Trash, verbally 
Thrashing you with her 
God, why can’t you write off 
What you’re doing and do something 
Constructive for a change, 
Like take out the garbage 
Tout de suite, anything 
Anything to show me how 
Much you value your fleeting, 
Stinking life. 

Symbiosis Fated to Be Inevitable

Don’t be selfish, Janus-face—share 
Everything with your other if you must, 

Just so long as you’re aware 
It has to be 

Something you both need and trust.