The Sun and the Moon

The orange sun
was floating
like a big balloon
on the horizon
when I went out
for a walk
one morning
last week
in Florida.

I was there to visit
my mom in assisted
living. She knew me,
of course, since I am
part of her past,
but none of our conversation
made sense.
It was sad for me
but she was happy
wherever she had gone
to while I was there.

So, I got up early
to walk my sadness
away. I started
up the street,
looked up,
and saw the almost
full moon bright
in the blue sky,
hanging in there
until the last
possible moment.

I thought about Kylie
and how she’d asked me
when she’d get to see
her Nana Nana again.
When I said I didn’t know,
she said simply,
“I miss her.”

I miss her, too, Kiki.

The sun warmed
my back
like Kylie time
warms my heart.

I walked on.
The moon got fainter
and fainter.

3WW: Bait, Jump, Victim

Swallowed the bait whole
then jumped around for a while~
another victim
MY HUSBAND’S DIABOLICAL LURING
Another victim
swallows the alluring bait.
The fish jump. I jump.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

To see a picture of the actual fish he caught yesterday click here.

Poetry Train: The Red, White, and Blue

I wrote this one three years ago yesterday on Independence Day.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The Red, White and Blue

Today, I'll hop
on my red bicycle
and ride to the beach.

I'll sit under a blue sky
and watch the white
clouds play tag.

I'll listen to kids
laugh as they run around
their parents.

I'll read a few poems
and maybe write
one of my own

on plain white paper.
I'll stretch out
on my blue towel

and stay as long
as I want.
Later, I'll join friends

for a barbeque
and dip red lobster
meat into melted butter.

Then, in the navy blue
twilight I'll listen
to the pop gun

of fireworks and see
freedom written out
in multi-colored calligraphy.

Sunday Scribblings: Me

Memories Underfoot

Ocean Park Beach
at low tide
provides a firm
surface to walk on.

My steps
leave only shallow
footprints,
little bits
of myself
that I shed
as I walk.

The worry
over money
is way back
at the beginning
because it is really
so insignificant.

That little spat
with Gary
is back there
seeping
into the sand.

School stress is left
a couple steps
behind
so that now
the indentations
are empty
just filled
with promises
and hope.

I breathe
salty air,
hold it in
my lungs,
every last
wordful
of it.

3WW: Hassle, Inject, Wealth

Because it was too much of a hassle,
I decided not to write a poem today.

I had no insights to inject into one
and no wealth of cool words to use

except for the ones from 3WW
and even those were not doing it.

Instead, I hopped on my red bicycle
and pedaled to the beach. I wrote

a letter to my friend who lives in Florida
then read a book for awhile.

I took a picture of an airplane
flying by with an advertising banner

swirling behind saying, “J Greeks
lunch buffet $7.95 11-2.” On my way

back to our campground, I inhaled
the scent of wild roses, admired a field

of clover and buttercups, then sat
on the screen porch typing this nonpoem.

Sunday Scribblings: Life Swap

We are sitting
on our screen porch
at the campground

listening to squirrels
scampering and kids
playing and golf carts

whispering by. Suddenly,
we hear our neighbor’s
piercing voice giving

her husband hell in French.
It’s like taking a hammer
to a row of champagne

glasses and pinging
and smashing every one.
Then her husband’s

banging reply
pounds through the air.
My husband reaches

over, takes my hand
and says, “I’m glad
I got you, Hon.”

3WW: Feign, Imply, Virtue

A woman is walking
her little black dog
in the drizzle
on this gray morning.

The 8:30 Amtrak Downeaster
whizzes by in the distance
taking commuters
to their workday in Boston.

I’m sitting on the couch
in my bathrobe
watching Andy Roddick
feign the direction

of his shot on this third
day of play at Wimbledon.
How lucky I am,
by virtue of summer vacation,

to be lazy in the middle
of the week. Soon, I’ll make
bacon and eggs for breakfast
while my husband

imp(ish)ly tries to cop a feel.
We’ll giggle as I swat
his hands away then, leisurely,
we’ll sip the pleasures of the day.