To the One Who Wasn't

within, there

nesting in the 

shallot shaped 

bulb of beginning 

you joined me

created in 

violence, 

I denied you

 

your soul
had a better 

place to begin 

no safety, 

no way to be 

all that you should 

this lineage

of trauma 

mine to stop 

and what
I'd never 

give you 

As Memory Would Have It

was 

she 

ever 

sweet

tongued

soul full

beloved 

her shy 

secret 

lids 

kissed 

words 

inadequate 

for the 

sighted 

lines of 

herness  

somatic 

cues

echoes

like necklaces 

tangled 

Fly Casting

the current seam

words that lure  

the strongest swimmer 
couldn't fight it

a perfected delivery 
nets so many 

of all those 
caught and released

I recognize the cast, still

For Now

she saves 

words 

her weakness

for impermanence

tenuous 

fragile as 

morning webs 

Rope

some 

days

throat 

constricts 

tied to 

the vile 

burden 

of cell 

memory 

masses 

circle jerk 

to a fallacy 

a spiritual 

non-crisis 

her life - 

irrelevant

the few 

empathize

their 

compassion 

eats rope 

like fire 

Paying Attention

My mother asks questions 

she doesn't want answers for 

are you still writing 

what are they doing 

when did that happen 

I finally learned, having spent
a lifetime listening to them

it's not recent behavior 

Her questions a prompt 

for me to ask about her 

Her short, sad answers 

laden with the pull of 

a boat, untethered

rope wrapped 

around my ankles, 

pulling me from shore 

I've learned to stand 

higher up the shore, 

away from the 

last tide's debris 

strewn in the 

damp sand 

between us

Lay Some Sugar On Me

Serve up some flattery

just a pinch will do

words delectable morsels

one more never enough

receptors lie in wait

their long fingers reaching

jonesing for syllables

manna for the love-starved

our ritual dance 

sugarcoated

a quick hit of deliverance

dissolves too quickly 

an insecure hunger

ever insatiable need

lay some sugar on me

I need another fix