Out my Window (Haiku) (2012)

A bug's feelers dance,
Climbing high on my window,
Oh no, it fell, dead.


Leaves blow in the wind,
Twisting and flipping - thirsty,
Here comes the downpour.


Puddles
Collect on my sill,
Drip, Splash.


Clouds soar overhead,
The sun kicks off its blanket,
Time to get to work.


Water vapor drifts
Off the pavement, rainfall's ghost,
Ascending upward.


Laughter and yelling,
Kinds in fresh puddles,
Like birds in a bath.

The Meadow (2012)

I reach out my hand, feeling the rough dew covered shrubs.  Thick blades of grass crunch with each high step.  Leaves hide the chalk moon from my eyes.  The canopy has made a new night sky, devoid of light.  Sporadic flashes from fireflies show the way like dying candles.

At the edge of the wood, the moon tries to imitate the sun with its pale light.  The stars seem too bright, like there are holes in the dark sky, so the sun can shine through.  The tall wild grass gives under my heavy feet.  I part the shrubs like a curtain, and enter the meadow.  Silence does not know this place at night, for it comes alive in the darkness.

I walk along a low stone wall.  My fingers barely graze the smooth rock islands, in the coarse sea of mortar.  My feet are following the wall, and I my feet.  Sitting by itself atop a hill is the willow tree we used to climb.  Our names carved in its skin.  I reintroduce myself, and rest my outstretched hand on its ancient bark.  I sit and lean against its strong body and gaze up at the moon.  I observes its off-color craters.  I sit, doze off and dream of what could've been, under the tree where you first kissed me.

Stateline, NV (2012)

The waves and the shore are shy lovers,
Whispering sweet nothings back and forth,
Gently kissing after each exchange.
Evergreens and drying sun screen, a subtle perfume
Hanging in the air like a gull gliding against the wind.

We are surrounded by mountains like distant predators
Snow covered, as cold as stone hearts.
They claw at the cloudless desert of sky, a
Blue blob of infinity, shapeless and bare, except for
An unblinking eye that shines without limitation.
It reflects off water like a liquid mirror, a
Glass window to a shrouded world I'll never know.

Winter swims in the water during the summer,
The lake is cold water from the garden hose
quenching my skin after playing with the sun,
It washes off the sand sticking to my skin,
My sun baked towel calls to me with an outstretched hand,
come back.

NOthing is SOMEthing (2012)

Nothing can never really be nothing.  Thinking of nothing makes it something.  You may try picturing pitch black or pure white.  Yet, these are colors, and are something and cannot truly be nothing.  You envision nothing as an empty space.  Nothing cannot be this.  A "space" is something that can be given qualities like "emptiness."  You cannot think of nothing.  The word nothing signifies it as something.  However nothing is "no-thing."  It is the absence of something.  Nothing is the absence of thought, of anything, ever.  These words on this paper, the words that I am speaking, and even your thoughts about these words makes nothing something.  Nothing is a concept (or lack thereof) that is incomprehensible. It is beyond us, and is the absence of us, and everything we know or will ever know.  We are beings made of something, and have never and will never experience nothing.

Coffee Cup Sleeve (An Ode) (2012)

Dear Coffee Cup Sleeve,
My bare hands are the damsel and you are the knight
That shields my naked skin from that damned dragon's fire.
You are an oven mitt that I never have to wear,
Sun block that never needs to be applied.

O Coffee Collar,
Your tan tattooed cardboard skin
Has hugged so many cups,
But I'm not green with envy, for
You always come back to me
When my finger are in need.

Here's to you Java Jacket,
You are my palm's messiah,
The selfless saint who never retires,
For you get resurrected and repurposed
when recycled.

O Coffee Cup Scarf,
Before you came into my life,
My waking world was filled with scorching pain.
Before we were introduced in that coffee shop,
I was vulnerable, fragile, timid,
I was scared of being burned and blistered.
You took that fear away.

O Cup Cover,
You not only keep me safe from harm,
But you also keep my beverage warm.
You are a paper prophet, a corrugated cup coat,
A recyclable rescuer, a holder for the heated,
And a cardboard crusader.
Cheers to you Coffee Clutch!

Curses upon Public Restroom "Toilet Paper" (2012)

I hate you; I hate you,
O, do I hate you.
I curse you and your makers.

Let them resort to using you, in
Their most dire and desperate times
With your tissue paper strength.
Let them try using you, like I have.

You are my reason,
For avoiding the public stall,
You with your 1/2 ply physique,
Your wholesale sized roll of discomfort.

Let your makers try,
Your frail and fragile form,
Your gritty and grainy softness.
Let them try.

You're the bane of
My restroom experience.
The thorn in my backside.
The great tease of the enjoyable relief.

Curses upon you,
Public restroom "toilet paper,"
You cruel cost effective demon.

Lost and Found (2012)

Here, I find you sitting,
Retired, old, and forgotten,
In your green garden by the gravel road,
Withering away like a piece of old iron.

Retired, old, and forgotten,
Your face used to light up the room,
Withering away like a piece of old iron,
People used to stare at you in awe.

Your face used to light up the room,
Electric with your flashing colors,
People used to stare at you in awe,
Watching your emotions dance.

Electric with your flashing colors,
You became an escape from the routine,
Watching your emotions dance,
You brought us together with your episodes.

You became an escape from the routine,
Stories of triumph, loss, love, and despair,
You brought us together with your episodes,
We'd listen to and watch you all night.

Stories of triumph, loss, love, and despair,
You're a woman scorned,
We'd listen to and watch you all night,
Dumped on the side of the road.

You're a woman scorned,
Yesteryear's prized possession,
Dumped on the side of the road,
Being replaced by something younger, thinner, prettier.

Yesteryear's prized possession,
You don't seem bitter though,
Being replaced by something younger, thinner, prettier,
Lavender wildflowers and bumble bees furnish your new home.

You don't seem bitter though,
Hungry squirrels and robins listen to your stories now,
Lavender wildflowers and bumble bees furnish your new home,
Rising and falling stars now dance for you.

Hungry squirrels and robins listen to your stories now,
You with your roadside garden,
Rising and falling stars now dance for you,
Peaceful and isolated from that world which birthed you.

You with your roadside garden,
Rusting away with your faded memories,
Peaceful and isolated from that world which birthed you,
Here, I find you sitting.