blue of sky and green of land
floating plans or dancing reel
mixed by faerie dusted hand:
jeweled, glowing, flowing, teal
The only time she opened a
book to study
was just before an exam,
from 4:30,
when she’d try to cram
a year’s worth of pages
into three hours of
concentrated memory,
after gramps woke her
with biscuits and coffee.
Forever thirty eight years before
whistling was our mutual code
birdbath washing was my signal
yours, binoculars at the door.
Fetus, transgender, diversity,
science based, evidence based...
there! I’ve had the temerity,
the almighty gall and audacity
to quote all seven words in poetry
We remember as we see it
clear as cloudless sky
heart’s beloved memory
living on in you and I
on Valentine’s Day in 1990
an airplane carrying 139 slammed
into the golf course in Bangalore city,
while attempting to land.
Life would be so easy
if I could give my love to you
you always want to please me
it’s naturally what you do
It was past eight that night
when dad decided to
watch elephants.
let’s go camp, he said,
at the foothills of Arnekal
(elephant rock), and
watch elephants cross the hill
silhouetted against the dawn sky.
Janus-like, we have two sides:
expecting, undelivering; wanting, ungiving.
skewed balance coats leather hide,
encasing hopes for life worth living.
every New Year’s Eve, a fixture in my life
was the old man perched on the bonfire
in our front yard.
four mirrored walls enclose us
six and a half feet across
cables an inch in diameter
shudder and pull against the drop
venus fly-trap for skill
pandora locks in secrets
cassandra never surprised
athena gets the bad guys
A friend of mine’s having an art show
I declined because my ankle’s sore
she said she be sad if I didn’t visit
There are chairs, she added, you can sit
Leaders come in all guises.
I’ve worked with every kind
no matter how awful or great they are
they have never determined
my life’s choices
I have power over my performance
I like to keep my life quite calm
careful with the battles I pick
only a few things can cause alarm
such as when my child gets sick
On the stairs at the top
I saw the bus pull up at its stop
a fifteen minute wait if missed
if that happened I’d be so pissed
Rum ti tum ti tum ti tum
see religious crazies come
building to the marching drums
unless we all pull out our thumbs
little black birds perched on
electrical lines of life’s landscape
scoring variegated moods;
only way the dots make sense