Poem: Toy Soldiers

Wind them up watch them titter
All the clockwork soldiers
Marching in their rows
Left right left right
Salute

Poem: Ruby Red Lips

ruby red lips
full of vitality
a pained reminder
of the ravages
age upon body

Poem: Epitaph

continually soaring to new heights
until she fell never to fly again

Poem: Existential Conversations–IV. Death

Dear John Paul
You wrote of death
As the definition of life
To which they declared
You an eternal pessimist

Poem: Poisoning the Well (Un)Intentionally

He carries venom in his voice
As he curses at the poisons
They want to inject in his body
Believing that his friends know
Better than the doctors and
Better than simple probability

Poem: Elegy for Words Unsaid

Now we speak words for the dead
That are filled with effusive praise
All the things we wish we had said

Poem: Songs Never to be Heard Again

Sing me to sleep
A sweet lullaby
About the prince
And the princess
Who never left

Poem: Afraid of Stopping

There’s a flurry of motion
Then a stop as she gathers
Her dress and scarfs around
Sitting pretty on cliff edge
Peering into the precipice

Poem: Lost History

They said your name was Cindy
And gave you a last name of Smith
Since your parents had surrendered
Your care to the good Christian nuns
At Saint Carlisle where they taught
You how to be a moral and upright

Poem: Elegy for Nameless

There she resides now
On distant misty shores
Where no mortal can tread

Oh passenger of Charon
I hope you looked back
As you crossed dark waters
To see those that loved you