I’ve never focused much on trivia
That’s all I’ll say

Is my new name

My nightgown fluttered
when the bomb dropped
I tried to hold on but
it swept me away, down the path of all bombs
I screamed
with innocence and violence

I know these well
The sun that rises then falls
The moon that shines then fades
The surf that flows then ebbs
The marriage that soars then fails

Winter is a fickle season
Like Spring
And Summer
And Fall

No
I can’t stop loving you
No
I can’t
No
You can’t love me
No
You can’t
No
We can’t know the future
No
We can’t…

for butterflies
bird cries
cat licks
dog ears
for war
starvation
poverty
malfeasance
for death
divorce
yes, divorce

Wearing my best turtleneck
I open the can of beans
I will prepare for dinner
I sit solitary on
the firm designer stool
in the remodeled kitchen
of my middle age
Around me are wooden cabinets
with groovy hinges and handles
that remind me of the days
when I gave a shit
about remodeling
The scarf around my turtleneck
is black
as is my sweater and slacks
I sit cross-legged
on this stool
in my kitchen of years of stares
and I reminisce
on all that went before
my turtleneck

There are grey teardrops of tomorrow
my undereyes dark with worry and sorrow
I've gone blank thinking of you
and staring out the window
Back yard a dog barks
a chicken crows
the underbelly of hope
sparks me up to the world
atop grey now
And for that I am grateful…

At December’s end
ten year’s past the event that
changed my lifetime
the abyss
that lead to the
neurotic staccato connection
of a doomed situation
fostering abysmal rejection and
securing the self in a dreadful
direction
has ended

Love sewn in
is just that
And the knot that secures
the thread of that love
remains tied