Once-in-a-lifetime Gift

—for Eleni, again 


When I at last reach out 
For something desperately 

Wanting all these years, 
I want that 

Gift to be offered 
By one so well- 

Versed in the artless 
Art of giving that 

The act itself, freely 
Given, leaves nothing 

Wanting in return. 

Ongoing Adult Education Is

Observing your six-year-old 
Granddaughter learning how to 
Form her first letters, discovering 
She made a mistake and then

Watching her erasing it carefully 
Before writing it as it should be, 
Never once asking you to help her 
Write it right again. 

Derailed

Coming from the wrong side 
Of the tracks, we knew straightaway 
What felt right for us was balancing 
For as long as we could on rails 
We thought would lead us away— 
What sidetracked us was that bright 
Shiny penny that blindsided us 
From the right and led us astray. 

Prospective Basket Case #45POTUS

The worst is yet to come scenario 
Runs through the entire thread 
Of his talk and boy how we wish 
He’d hurry up and unravel before
The whole shebang blows up
Under the circumstances, leaving
Us gratefully dead in the head. 

Mushroom Recognition Scene

---for Joseph Hutchison, who first alerted me 

Heads up--just as you boisterously
Catch sight of something precious, 

In the same moment you are 
Already poised to see others 

Massing underground, jostling 
For a view of you, now nodding 

Just ahead, just above 
The silent downy mosses.