winter storm warning

winter storm warning —
a phone call
from my ex-wife

cobwebs

I’m putting the cobwebs back in place. I’m dimming the lights and breaking all of the windows. I’m rehearsing my fear and dread of the boogeyman, even though he and I have promised to remain the best of friends.

fresh snow

fresh snow —
I’ve never been so tired
of fresh snow

I could rule the world

...if I could only find the parts. Instead, I fire rubber bands at chandeliers and otherwise waste office supplies, dreaming of just retribution and an air-tight alibi.

But is revenge always justice? Or is it just a primal cry of skin for skin? I could rearrange your scales to alleviate the boredom, but I digress...

Treasure the aching moments: they might be the only ones you will ever truly feel.

That, and a steady diet of tear gas and rubber bullets. War without end. Amen.

startled from sleep

startled from sleep —
a phone call
I forgot to make

casablanca revisited

Rick knew this blind date
would be no better than the others —
two noisy mosquitoes
trying to drive away the heat
with their wings.
these were not the wings
that took her away from him
but he couldn’t shake the image:
she is on that plane
and is leaving me forever.
an attractive woman waited for him
at the Blue Parrot.
“You must be Rick”, she said.
“I must be”, he replied,
“but I really can’t stay —
please accept my apologies”.
she protested mildly.
he paid for her drink.
she grabbed her purse
and disappeared into the dust.
he bought a bottle of bourbon
and flew back to Paris.

mid-winter thaw

mid-winter thaw —
my foot finds
the last patch of ice

winter fog

winter fog —
now I know
how those skyscrapers feel

Valentine's Day

Valentine’s Day —
awakened by a kiss
from the dog

wax on wax off

wax philosophical,
because the apple is polished for appearance's sake.
because teacher will call on me when I raise my hand.
because I'm going to be somebody someday and you're not going to stop me.
because I'm chanelling my disappointment into a morally acceptable package.
because I can.

abstract

I am trying very hard not to allow myself to slide into despair. Waves of regret conspire to overwhelm me, even when I readily confess that nothing I fear has happened. Yet. A sense of foreboding gnaws at me, a profound and tangible loss of something that isn't even mine.

If I believed in a higher power I just might see this as part of a Grand Design. Instead, I see it as a con game. We lost.

Groundhog Day

Groundhog Day
I have
no shadow