Winter Minutes

It's quiet again
friends come and go
now it's just me
and the snow

Icicles melted together
form a curtain
I want to be them
connected, clear, patient

Constantly in contact
with the mother
recycling and always giving
nourishing wisdom in harmony

In the big houses across the lane
smoke wafts from chimneys
Here the heat rises from the floor
which is cold my cottage rests on stilts

I will open my book and read
another's thoughts for a while...

A.S. 1/16/11

Aquarium of Dreams

Submerged inside my Aquarium of Dreams
Fortune Cookie Fishies come apart at the seams
Bright coral reef harbors newfound riches
Amethyst creatures jump out to kiss witches

They too are here, on aquatic broomsticks they glide
Dipping and flipping racing seahourse and snail
Only pausing enthralled by a Dolphin's sweet tale
They weave secrets of ocean into their hair

All high from the thrill that they don't have to share
The Mermaids breathe love-songs into the air
These sisters comb though my dreams, make sure they're fair
Splashing aqua blue light into the creases

A Whale caught my eye and told me earth's secrets
We both had a good belly laugh which caused a great wave
The Whale meant no harm so the sea tribe she saved
We laughed a bit lighter just enough for choppy waters

Until we were hungry twas seafood we ordered.
A.S. 1/6/11

Turtle Up

Turtle upturned
cracked shell
no way out

How much deeper
can the Turtle
retreat?

Under the sea
100 years of
collecting sand,
a shell is born

Inside a soft
creature
takes refuge

At the same time
A great beast
driven by drink

breaks my shell
and I am contained
within

floating

waiting, praying, working
toward regrowth
A.S. 12/30/10

A Few Weeks In

Pain robs me of sleep
palpating my aches
hurting my healing
ripping open my sleep
and knocking, no pounding
on my nerve centers
ice, pills when they let me
still it continues to scratch
no, thrash at me while
I lay, supine, two broken ankles
broken pelvis. Nurse yanking
and pulling me from side to side
she stuffs a plastic bed pan
change the chucks or wedge
ice into hard to reach places
I cry inwardly but ache until
tin tastes invade my essence.
12/17/09

Don't Take my Leg

Inside the Tulip, the red ones
is a black center
with yellow shining through
they open
I'm, no we are
not ready to lose a petal.
03/07/10

4 months In

Bad pen
knee protrudes
suture pokes it head through
thin skin
I am, no my bones are
walking on thin ice
my body and mind
a thawing lake
frozen for Winter
teardrops melting
the top layers
heat rising
sometimes with fury
grasping at slippery
edges desperate
not to go under
frozen forever
can't stop the melting
not a dream
those are quite
new to me again
the waking hours
a magnifying glass
aimed at my heart
my third eye waits
for rescue.
03/07/10

Shoulda been a tattoo

I feel like
an old shirt
kept at the
bottom of
your drawer
that you
don't want
anymore
but can't
throw out
A.S.
9/6/09