100 Short Poems
I was a teenage Pharaoh
Enthroned at nine, I had ten good years
to return things to ma'at and luxuriate in
the wealth of Egypt, the tribute of nations.
When death arrived - too early and all unexpected,
they clothed me in gold, and walled my body up.
Woods after a Winter Storm
After a freezing rain overnight
in their silvered coats of heavy ice
the smaller branches all dip down
not unlike the elderly supplicants in church,
lost in prayer, who lower their heads.
Aspects of moon
The full new moon at 3 AM is gleaming white and high in the sky
- a small, bright globe pinned to the plush black of space.
At 6 AM it is a large orange ball sitting low to the horizon behind a
scrim of clouds in a brightening sky ratcheting toward dawn.
Later, hidden by the sun's dazzle, I can only imagine its latest version.
Discernment
is seeing clearly, at last,
that life is as checkered
as local mail delivery
in an election year
during a global pandemic.
Came the Dawn
Perhaps it is the preferences of a 24/7 culture,
or the vagaries of taste in the 21st century
that made this phrase now seem so passé
- an erstwhile subtitle from the silent movies,
and, like them, now a culture fossil.
Imagination
helped the four faith-filled teenage girls
discover tears in the lifelike glass eyes
of the parish plaster Virgin Mary.
Not so long after, it led them to form a band
and cover songs by Dylan and the Beatles.
Parade
A carnival of marching bands, motorized floats and mounted riders
spills down the broad avenue between the cheering, happy throngs.
Sleek and sequined majorettes toss and catch their batons in unison.
Clowns with huge shoes and large handbags gift children with candy.
The delighted mind can't help but want one like it to jazz up every day.
Morning Mass
How empty the church seems
this midweek morning. In the pews
only two old women shawled in shadow
saying their rosaries. At the altar
the priest prays for all the missing.
Winter Storm
Stepping into this day is an ordeal
featuring wind-whipped bitter cold
knifing in through layered clothing.
and black ice beneath relentless snow
making any movement added misery.
“Passed away suddenly
surrounded by family and close friends."
Apparently sudden only in the particular moment
but not entirely unexpected, what with all those
most vested in that life conveniently assembled
to witness that one not-to-be-passed-up moment.
Before and after
Before was a quiet time of happy effort
with some sweet successes. Life was
a full bowl of varied fruit.
After your raucous, unexpected arrival
the bowl tipped over and the fruit scattered.
House Fire
As if it knows no natural limits
smoke occupies the vacant house.
Emblematic of the flames flickering at first,
heat follows behind increasing explosively
until the house becomes a furnace.