Poem: UnCivil War

Lips draw tight
In battle lines
Stretching across
Dinner tables
Where brother
Versus brother
Stares daggers

Poem: Perfect Union

Wind sweeps over the battlefield
Carrying the silence
To the ears of the general
While his eyes look over the field
Filled with blood and ichor
Friend and foe frozen in eternal struggles
In the same dirty earth
Resting in eternal peace

Poem: Sequoia Snow

Stark grey skies
Shed frozen tears
Into the silence
Between red trunks
And green pine needles
Broken only by the song
Of the sparrow and thrush

Poem: Ghazal Mask

The things we show in the masks we wear
The things we hide in the masks we wear

Tiny invisible killers fill the air
Leading to choices about the masks we wear

Poem: Emerald City

I came from a place of deciduous trees
And 100% humidity
When I landed at SeaTac in June
It was too cold too cold for my short sleeves
Even though the sun shone high
In blue skies over Mount Rainer

Poem: The Old Neighborhood

Though no one lives there now
I remember the old neighborhood
Where I used to play with all my friends
In a kingdom of make-believe

Poem: Reconstruction

A hollow outline where you used to be
Stands guard in the present
As a window to the past
Of what you may have looked like
When your gray walls still bore chisel marks

Poem: Impeachment Day

Standing before the crowds
Arms raised in a sign of victory
Cheers rise from their hoarse throats
Desert dry from adoration
Or anger or anxiety
Self-loathing and embarrassment

For a moment they are free

Poem: Alamo

Famous last stands On battlefields  Where righteous justice flows In the veins of each warrior Bracing to sacrifice themselves To a dream they were sold Nourished by blood Of kin or enemies To be tread upon by history As winners or losers In memories calling Up their ghosts as proof Of something Though the feet