summer

cricket song sounds outside

my window

carried on air thick with

water gathered from

distant seas

while stars faintly glimmer

no more than ghosts of light

in the night sky

the trees are still

the city sleeps

Rising

Aquarius commands the beast to rise

and so bidden, it is born.

Element of water

elevates to air

forming shape and substance

shimmering in moonlight

rising to its god.

reaction

A child’s body

wrapped tight in

anxiety and insecurity

vibrates with the effort

of holding the world

intact.

circles

stitched circles on my quilt
spin off edges

unfurling thread teases

cat paws reach
furthering destruction
begun when all was new

The Plant in My Window

The dipladenia idles on

the window ledge

in my office.

Viny branches reach,

curling among the window blinds

and each other

intertwined like unsure hands.

This is its

third winter indoors.

The once lush plant now

drops leaves

turned yellow and spotty.

My husband thinks it is ill

due to a white spider

infestation.

I believe it is homesick

for its tropical environment where

warm temps and lavish water

nourish it daily.

I believe it is dying to be

outside beneath the sun and stars,

visited by mystic hummingbirds who

carry pollen on their

frenetic flights.

I believe it is ill with

impatience to resume the

life it knows.

It is like me.

What I saw when I was sleeping…

Blind women painting

creating

beauty they couldn’t see

only sense

Deaf men watching

reading the world the way I

read books

voracious and at times

uncomprehending

Children teaching

kindness and cruelty each

in turn

measured and balanced

mostly

Stars spinning and planets

teasing

cold and distant

aloof and lifeless

Northern lights play across

my sleeping vision and

birds ride the waves

of solar atmospheric

splendor

Secret

This news

Fidgets in my belly

Spinning and swirling

In a series of anticipatory

Elipses

Swimming to my vocal chords

Tempting my tongue to talk

But the time’s not right

So I smile, Mona Lisa style

And seal my lips

For now.