Iguanas

I am now exploring the diet of iguanas.

Iguanas
Eat flowers
It never
Would have occurred
To me
To watch them
Here in Florida.
They all
Eat flowers.
Nary a one
Spits them out.
They continue
From one
To the next.
If I could see
An iguana smile
I swear
Their favorite ones
Are the tiny purple flowers
Which grow thick
On almost
Every lawn.

Hidey-hole

Families engage in different ways.

I focus
On the good I can.
Communication here
Does not resemble
The familiar.
It is volume
Turned up high.
What do I do
To find respite?
I find a hidey-hole.
I breathe.
I write.
Soon my beloved and I
Will take a walk
Down the block.
I breathe.
I am out of sight
Out of mind
Their minds.

Capybaras

I know no one else so blessed.

I received
A wealth of capybaras
For Christmas.
Not quite enough
For a herd
But still
A wealth.
Every South American predator
Eats them.
A capybara is meek and mild
An appropriate animal
To receive
For Christmas
They are safe
At my house.

Missing creche

You will find Him in El Paso

The creche
Missed its appearance
On the church lawn
This year
Or maybe
I missed it.
Since Jesus was stolen
That one year
And the next
He had
A GPS tracker
Installed.
This year
No creche
No Jesus
Come inside the building
To find Him.
Visit El Paso
Packed to the gills
With migrant families
Families who have walked
For miles.
You will find Him
There.

Imagining

Thank you Alice in Wonderland

I imagined
If I said
I was willing
It would come
To pass.
No
I sit here.
Imagine
Something else.
One impossible thing
Before dinner.
Another impossible thing
Before bedtime
With a cup
Of tea.

Redefinition

This probably does not come as a surprise to those who know me.

Years ago
I was hired
To work in a housing project
Counsel troubled teens
And their parents.
It turned out
The teens
Were troubled
By sheer boredom.
I helped them work
With the younger
Children
We played circle games,
Went on hikes.
No
No
No
You must work
With troubled teens
And their parents.
Eventually
I tendered
My resignation.
I have often been called
To redefinition.

Drones for Christmas

Ugh.

Every Christmas
Has its signature toy.
This year
They are marketing
Drones.
No model trains
On tracks
Around
The Christmas tree.
No new Barbies
No new Lego kits.
No:
Drones
For Christmas.
I wonder if Santa
Might refuse
To carry them
In his sleigh.

For everything I have left behind

I had ideas, good ideas, for what my vocation would look like. No. Topsy-turvy. Stand on my head. Wave my feet in the air.

For everything
I have left behind
And the things to come.
I remember
What I wished
To do
And yes
The wish
Still hangs
In the background
Smoke
From burning leaves.
Begone
Wishes.
May I learn from you
What I need
Send you to waft
Where you will.
Here am I
With what is left
With what
Remains
Right.

I hereby declare

Sound familiar anyone?

I hereby declare
With chutzpah
With a tiny bit
Of trepidation
But still
I hereby declare
With no excuses
Of course
With no apologies
Of course
I hereby declare
I have something
To say.

In my family

My sibling, named exactly after our father, thinks we should have named our children with family names. We didn't.

In my family
Everyone is named
After everyone
Else.
At least some
Moved away
From Minnesota
So we could say
That part
Of the family
Lives in New Mexico.
Or Florida.
Or even
Illinois.
When everyone
Is named after
Everyone else
Geographic dissemination
Allows a person
To find his or her
Own identity.
Then
We can piece it all
Back together
At reunions.
If we have
Reunions.

Native language

I have spoken haiku on occasion.

My native language
Is free verse.
No neat
Orderly
Limericks
Here.
I prefer to write
See where
It goes.
Like this morning.

Poetry people

Mosaics

Some of us
Are not
Poetry people.
Some of us
Are not
Painting people.
Some of us
Do not sculpt
Or throw clay
On a potter's wheel.
All of us
Are
Mosaic folk
We take the pieces
Make pictures
That hold us
To that creative
Vision.
We hold hands
With God.

Weave me into a nest

My daughter has promised.

When I die
Take a pinch of me
Strew it
In the bird sanctuary
So a part of me
Goes to ground.
That part
Will never
Be found.
Perhaps a bird
Will find me
As part of the grass
Make a nest
One year,
Weave me
Into a home
For her chicks.

Jingle bells

There are so many pictures and stories that go with this season. Some lead us into others.

Where do I wish
To speak into things
To allow the ring
Of what I say
To be heard
Like the jingle bells
I wear
Around my neck
In this season.
On Dasher
On Dancer
On Rudolph
On Catharine
What might I say
To lead that sleigh.

$549.01

I don't remember what my Christmas bonus was last year.

Retirement comes
In stages.
Some are paid
Stages
Some
Not so much
My pension fund
Gave me a Christmas bonus
Of
$549.01.
I am stuck
On the penny.
As if I could balance
There.
As if
The penny matters
For anything.
I know
It doesn't.
But still
It does.

Last year's model

Our two year old had hysterics when we took the live tree to the curb after Christmas so we decided "something else" needed to happen the next year. So we ended up with "last year's model."

The artificial tree
We bought
Twenty years ago now
The one
That was
Last year's model
When we purchased it
(It didn't even have
A box
That would stay together)
(That tree)
Will probably not
Be assembled
This year.
Instead we will place
Tweed
And hounds tooth
Reindeer
Throughout the house
Put a star
On an antler
Of the biggest one:
Our son's star
From kindergarten
Twenty-six years ago.
This is the way
Traditions change.

Concierge

Pick one. Give it a try.

One of the gifts
God has given me
Is the one
Of making connection.
Every instance
Says
Do you know
This person?
Have you ever thought
About this?
I have never been good
At telling people
What to do,
Just holding possibilities
On an
Hors d'oeuvres plate
Pick one
Give it a try.

Step two

Sometimes step two is all there is.

When we name steps
We have no idea
How many steps
Come next.
It remains
To be seen
But first
Step two
Then step three.
Sometimes step two
Is all there is.
Then we breathe.
Think about
What comes next.

Just like in the movies

Just like in the movies

I can often tell
When I wake up
Singing
Particular songs
What the sound track
For the day
Will be.
My Beloved and I
Wish each day
Came prepared
With a sound track
Happy bouncy music
When sun
Is around
The corner
Foreboding music
When something
Is ready
To leap out
From the bushes.
Just like
In the movies.

All it takes is one person

All it takes is one person

There is always risk
When we let anything
Out
Into the world.
Risk
It will not find
An audience
Anywhere.
All it takes
Is one person
To hear
One person
To listen
Back.
Then
There is hope
All
Might be well
Eventually.
All it takes
Is one person.

Kitchen window

One more in the "lady in red" series.

The lady in red
Has a kitchen window
Always lit.
For her?
For the ducks?
From the looks of it
It appears
She is always home.

Always others

The older cat has moved to the kidney disease infusion stage. The younger cat continues racing through the house. This is the way of things. 

There must always be
Two cats
One older
One younger.
There is learning here.
Not just for them
Also for us.
When one sickens
Then dies
Another must be found.
This is the way
Of living creatures
Even cats
Who might prefer
To reign over
The household
No 
We say
There are always
Others
Don't forget
There are always others
Even if
One is
A cat.

Mirror balls

What have you just noticed?

Just noticed
The lady in red
Who lives across the creek
Has a mirror ball
In her backyard.
My Beloved says
It's been there
All along.
Ok
Well
So
It's my gift today
To notice.
So many things
Have been there
All along
And we just noticed.
I dare say
It's the way
Of most
Such gifts
Mirror balls
Strewn
Throughout
The world.