Face the Glass

When Courage
enters
the space

Fear
bows down
and hides her face

Rise my
child
it's time to fight

For out of
darkness
there must come light

Here, she beckons
face the glass.

Fear let out a tiny gasp

Honesty
is your sword

First take stock,
and then
move forward

From this place
devise a plan

Steady girl,
I know you can.

With open eyes
in comes the light

just ask the
stars, who
guard the night

Take this
compass
I call it Clarity

These ingredients
will serve you
well

Stand tall
my darling
and break the spell.
A.S.
06/17/09



A.S.
6/17/09

Rantings

Burnt toast
artificial
skin

haunting
day glow
teeth

fifty
dollar
torn tee

do something
more with
your

disposable
income
please
A.S.
6/14/09

One Choice

Two young boys
play around

peering into
my windows

treating my cottage
like a doll house

My wheels
grind gravel

they turn
and freeze

tow haired deer
caught in headlights

I ask nonchalantly
did you find your helmet?

I saw it behind
my chair

beside the pink flowers

This morning I knew
I had spies in my midst

Yes, Amy...

they call me by name

I wonder should I have
introduced myself

as Miss Summers
Ms. Summers perhaps
would invoke more fear

Did you put
this rock in my path?

No, Yes the braver
of the two answers

waiting, hoping for
some gossip

to bring home
to his Grandmother

he hopes to invoke
some sign of impatience

Will you help me
move it? I ask calmly

I can't lift it
I have a bad arm

I flash them
my scar

hoping to elicit some
pity or mercy

Can we come in
and see your place?

The No boy asks
as Yes boy rolls the rock

We already seen it
the Yes boy admonishes

Their drunk Uncle
lived here before

he was evicted

his stale cigarette smoke
lingers behind the

fresh paint.

I'm tired, I tell them
Maybe another time

The house is too messy
I add for good measure

not really caring if
it is believable.

Thanks buds
I say

remembering that
one of them is called

Trever, or Travis.

I need to go in now
and feed Leroy.

Whose Leroy?
The No boy asks

It's her indoor cat
Yes boy offers.

I unlock the door
and they follow me

onto the porch

I close the door
behind me

They stand in the driveway
exhilarated

Not old enough
to disguise their
spying well

I pat Leroy's belly
Next time maybe
I'll let them come in

I pause, but they'll
have to remove their
muddy shoes.

Suddenly I see
myself alone
at ninety

offering the neighbor boys
cookies in exchange for

their youthful smiles
and endless questions

What price happiness?

One choice can effect
so much.
A.S.
6/13/09

Off the Books

It's in the bones
a stiffness

Perhaps if I
were like you

Trust fund
days open like
a fan

There would be
more breath

A lithe spirit

Me, I'm
bogged down

by the weight
of carrying

someone else's
dreams

for fifteen dollars
an hour

off the books.
A.S.
06/13/09

Worry Doll

and those are
my fears...

I whisper into
the worry doll's ear

She is charged
with listening

and then carrying
my burdens for me

Did I make you
my worry doll?

through encrypted
messages

decipher my fears

my history a
bottomless pit

Too steep to climb

What a charge
to carry so much

sorrow

How heavy
it must have
been

Not knowing
where to put
it down

You carried
it upon your
back

Perhaps we
could have

dug a hole

built a nest

fueled a fire

put it to rest.
A.S.
6/13/09

No Such Necklace

His eyes
on her hands
as they
open the
case which holds
the necklace
with two
interconnected
hearts

I ask
May I help
you with that?
Even-though
I know she
is capable

He offers
she is just
looking
and preens
her like a
bird pulling
a seed from
the center of
a flower
from her
hair

I persist
You can try it
on if you'd like

she smiles
back at me
and takes
the necklace
from the pins
which hold it

He fastens it
around her
delicate neck

She is petite
while he stands
like a redwood
towering over
her

Each movement
of his limbs
a serenade

It suits you
I say

Get it
he cajoles

No, she says
smiling at
me

I know why

She already
has it

Two connecting
hearts

The bell on
the door
blesses them
as they walk into
the light

I have no
such necklace.
A.S.
6/13/09

First Drops

First drops
splink

blanket
the day

with fuzzy
moments

of introspection
A.S.
6/13/09

Poet in the Woods

If a poet
read her poem
in the woods
and nobody
hears her
is she really
here at all?
A.S.
6/13/09

A Dash of Dill

A dash of
dill weed

Who else
would
offer
this simple
kindness?

Fresh cherries
grace my lunch sack

Time to
sip fresh
coffee before
I go
into the world

alone again
I hold

my own hand.

A.S.
06/11/09

3 short poems including "Astral Cat:"

To Ask

To ask
for what
I want

without
attachment
to outcome

yields
sweet
surprises.

A.S.
06/10/09

My Crazy Garden

I'm a crazy
garden
of wild flowers.

A.S.
6/10/09

Astral Cat

Paw prints
on the roof

Bast Cat
bats her

cosmic egg

I keep her
brother

prisoner

in my cottage
by the forest

where he
looks out

upon the trees.

He grins
at me

I am not a prisoner
Mama

The body is
but a shell

The wind rustles
the leaves

he dances with
nature

without
leaving the sill.
A.S.
06/10/09

My Fate Your Palms

You never
knew
how you

held

my fate
in your
palms

I never
told you.
Internally

I waited
for you
to massage

my heart

back to beating
in rhythm
with your own.

Harmonic
convergence
of souls...

How silly
of me
to expect

miracles
A.S.
6/7/09

Emotional Bypass

Serrated edges
catch things
so it seems

So rich
clogged up
with possibilities

Tired of talking
eye to eye
head to head

Smooth stones
allow water to
soothe

without
making
a sound

A.S.
6/7/09

Humili-tea

Hones-tea
a pinch of
candor

extract of
truth
sans the guilt

too bitter
spoils the
potion

best drank
with
friends

who prefer
organic
products
A.S.
6/6/09

Coiled

Shrinking
sinking
feeling

coiled
never
striking

now at
last you
return

only to
reveal
your child

your wife
has
usurped

my throne
made of
lofty dreams

it scatters
feathers
which make

most
chuckle
except

for me.
A.S.
6/5/09

Choppy Waters

contagious
thoughts
multiply

Ten of swords
never turn them
inward

Tara stands
facing mountains
New beginnings

Alone in my boat
with my swords
learning how

to wield them
while not
upsetting

the balance
A.S.
6/4/09

The What If's

Hey you
slow down

Translator, Here!
Who are they?

They're What If's

My goodness
how odd

Hair glows
of fungus

Be careful
they rob

Moon Boots
made of magnets

They'll pull you
right in

They're cunning
the What If's

Why, they're building
a camp

Burn the fields
if you have to

Trust me
they're tramps

A.S.
6/3/09

Pulsing

Illuminated hand
grasps for
elusive muscle

cavernous hole
misplaced keys
i could see

but this,
How could
a light-worker

lose her heart?
Maybe it reabsorbed
from lack of use

Perhaps a match,
foggy lenses
there's an echo

so cold
yodel
couldn't help it

the acoustics
Hel-lo
any body in here?

Hmmm maybe it's
these bandages,
Uncoil them

from my eyes
ahhh now
what's this?

why it's me
all tangled up
in nots

have not
want not
why not?

a bakers
string knotted
round my core

hand roped behind
my back
I am knitting

a prayer shawl
with my fears
unravel this mess

maybe underneath
all this sinew
it waits for me

pulsing

A.S.
6/3/09

Chipped Tooth

Enamel worn away
each tooth
a prayer flag

body barks
limbs play
concerto in B minor

Each day
closer to the dirt
Seismic grumbling

caught between
elements
floating best remedy

moved away
my yesterdays
present for tomorrows

A.S.
6/2/09

Love Mutiny

Love Mutiny
Telescopic Scrutiny
Turn the lens

Try to Focus
Blind Dissection
is Hocus Pocus

Raise the veil
Disturb the matter
tidal wave

climb the ladder.