These Were the Reasons to Stay

Thursday November 18, 2010

These Were the Reasons to Stay

Twilight
when the air
is flannel.
You
come home
and we sit
in the hug
of evening.

Rain
and you stay home
enjoying the silver day
while I go to work.
I return
and spaghetti sauce
is bubbling
on the stove.

3WW: Abrasive, Handful, Loss

Abrasive meeting after school
Late to get home
Husband follows right after
Loss of me time

What for supper?
Something quick
Old stand-by
Cream of mushroom soup

with tuna on toast
We sit in the warming house
eating on TV trays
Remember leaner years

Usually broke
always happy
Kids chatting about their day
Teasing, laughing,

whining, glowing
We're alone now
Husband glances over
Says, “I love you”

Smiles, goes back to eating
mushrooms and tuna
and a handful
of memories.

3WW: descent, kill, surreal

My feet were killing me
in those white high heels.

The descent seemed too steep
and perilous for my inexperienced

feet. But I held onto the railing
took a deep breath, and started down

while you waited with the minister
in the living room, a confident smile

on your face, the sun flaring over you
creating a surreal atmosphere.

Blinded, I tripped on the last step;
you rushed over, picked me up,

straightened my tiny veil,
and carried me into the brightness.

3WW: Hint, Lust, Sheen

A hint of wrinkles
along with a sheen of gray~
content holding hands.
WHERE HAS LUST GONE?
Not content with hands
he nuzzles under the gray,
kisses each wrinkle.

NaPoWriMo #15: An Old Line

These Are the Things Men Don’t Know about Love

That women divide
the mind and body
unlike men
where everything
blends together

That love is delicate
like lace
and can tear easily

That love is not shown
in words
but in deeds
like picking
up socks
and closing
the toilet seat

That love is a CD
containing many
different songs
and what you enjoy
one day
might annoy
you on another

That love is not
a bouquet of flowers
given because
you have to
Love is wildflowers
with deep roots.

ReadWritePoem Wordle: Red and Lubricious

I can't believe it's been a couple of weeks since I posted a poem.  I have no excuse except for life getting in the way.  I've been writing with my students at school but none of them were post-worthy.

ReadWritePoem is featuring a wordle for this week's prompt.  I chose a couple words (red and lubricious) and wrote the following about a little thing that happened over the weekend.
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Valentine's Day morning
I found my husband
waiting for me
with our granddaughter
in the lobby
of the Holiday Inn
By the Bay
in Portland, Maine.

He was sitting,
sipping coffee,
chatting with Kylie.

Next to him
sat a man
holding red roses,
also waiting.

I walked up and my husband said,
"Oh, by the way,
Happy Valentine's Day."
And I replied, "Thanks,
Happy Valentine's Day
to you, too...

by the way."
We laughed.
The man looked
at his flowers.

Later that night
lying in bed
watching the Olympics
instead of entertaining
lubricious thoughts,
I heard him chuckle.
"What?" I asked.
"By the way," he said.

We turned the TV off.

Organic for Sunday Scribblings

I’m not looking
for a corn-on-the-cob
type of love
that is only sweet
once a year.

And you can keep
your radish
and carrot
and rutabaga
endearments

in the dark ground
where they belong.
Green bean songs
and broccoli flowers
won’t win my heart,

organic or not.
No, I’m holding
out for buttercup
squash love,
as bright as a sunset,

as soft as your smile.
It fills us up
year round
and never
lets us down.

3WW: delicate, night, jaded

Delicate Night Jaded
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“Love is delicate”
she warned her jaded boyfriend.
He laughed in her face

turning lacy thoughts
into leather valentines
the night he left her.

3WW: Intimate, River, Waiting

Intimate River Waiting
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

She’d always heard
that love was a river,

that the more intimate
you became with its depths

the easier you could drown.
So, she avoided the whirlpools

and stayed close to shore.
She didn’t know a waterfall

was waiting around the bend.
It catapulted her over the edge

and into the churning arms
of wet, wild, wonderful lust.

Then she lost herself
and died while the river

continued on, searching
for new victims.

Day 14 of NaPoWriMo

This was the prompt I gave my third block kids today. The males changed it to men, of course.
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These are the Things Women Know About Love

It’s delicate lace
and can tear easily

It’s a robin’s song
in early spring

It’s a shiny penny
in the palm of a child
in a candy store

It’s the last piece
of a puzzle

It’s a geranium
with huge red flowers
in the summer

It’s a dead geranium
in the fall

Sunday Scribblings: On the Road Again

I got home from school
late one evening last week
and my husband
had our stereo on.
We have a stack
of old records
and he had Willy Nelson’s
“On the Road Again” playing.

I put my book bag and purse
down and he snuck
up behind me, spun me around
and we started to dance
and giggle.

He gave me a rum drink
he’d prepared
and when “Mama, Don’t Let
Your Babies Grow up to be Cowboys”
came on we sang
and danced
and danced again.

And the night
swirled around us
silky and smooth
while the day melted
from my shoulders
and the years turned
into black discs
with the power
to transform.

Totally Optional Prompt for Nov. 15: Neighbors Saw

This Is What the Neighbors Saw

At first,
A campfire
licking the stars,

an empty
Coors Light can,
a half-filled
margarita glass,

two people
dancing
to “Beautiful Tonight”
on the deck.

Later,
smoldering embers,
a deserted deck,
lights winking off
in the camp.